Champions Saracens will get their Premiership title defence underway at home to Sale Sharks on Saturday, October 16.

The fixtures for the new campaign were released this morning with the Men in Black handed a home tie against Sale at Allianz Park.

Usually Saracens would be part of a back-to-back double-header at Twickenham on the opening weekend. But owing to the Rugby World Cup, that has been put back to Saturday, November 28 instead, which Worcester will be their opponents.

London Irish face Wasps in the other fixture on the day.

Sarries will face Harlequins in their traditional Wembley clash in round 20 of the Premiership, which falls on Saturday, April 16.

Last term the match saw Saracens defeat Quins in front of a world record crowd of 84,068.

A trip to Wasps awaits on Sunday, December 27 – the nearest fixture to Christmas Day – whilst the regular season ends with a visit to Worcester on Saturday, May 7.

The season gets underway a week after the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup and director of rugby McCall admits it will be a test of the squad.

He said: “The opening fixtures are hard to forecast for us, as we currently have 21 players away on international duty in their respective training camps, with guys away with England, Scotland, Argentina, South Africa, Romania, USA and Namibia, the list goes on.

“It’s a massive test for the depth of our squad as the season starts a week after the Rugby World Cup pool stages, so until then we don’t know exactly who we’ll have available but it provides the younger members of our squad with the opportunity to get some valuable Aviva Premiership experience.”

Full 2015/16 fixture list:

OCTOBER

Week 1: Saracens vs Sale Sharks, Aviva Premiership Round 1: Saturday 17 October 2015 14.00 at Allianz Park

Week 2: Gloucester vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 2: Saturday 24 October 2015 15.00 at Kingsholm

Week 3: Saracens vs London Irish, Aviva Premiership Round 3: Saturday 31 October 13.00 at Allianz Park

NOVEMBER

Week 4: Northampton Saints vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 4: Saturday 07 November 2015 15.00 at Franklin’s Gardens

Week 5: European Champions Cup Round 1: Saturday 14 November 2015

Week 6: European Champions Cup Round 2: Saturday 21 November 2015

Week 7: Saracens vs Worcester Warriors, Aviva Premiership Round 5: Saturday 28 November 2015, 15.15 at Twickenham Stadium

DECEMBER

Week 8: Newcastle Falcons vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 6: Sunday 06 December 2015 15.00 at Kingston Park

Week 9: European Champions Cup Round 3: Saturday 12 December 2015

Week 10: European Champions Cup Round 4: Saturday 19 December

Week 11: Wasps vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 7: Sunday 27 December 2015, 15.00 at Ricoh Arena

JANUARY

Week 12: Saracens vs Leicester Tigers, Aviva Premiership Round 8: Saturday 02 January 2016 15.00, Allianz Park

Week 13: Harlequins vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 9: Saturday 09 January 2016 15.00 at Twickenham Stoop

Week 14: European Champions Cup Round 5: Saturday 16 January 2016

Week 15: European Champions Cup Round 6: Saturday 23 January 2016

Week 16: Saracens vs Bath Rugby, Aviva Premiership Round 10: Saturday 30 January 2016 15.00 at Allianz Park

FEBRUARY

Week 17: Exeter Chiefs vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 11: Saturday 06 February 2016 15.00 at Sandy Park

Week 18: Saracens vs Wasps, Aviva Premiership Round 12: Saturday 13 February 2016 15.00 at Allianz Park

Week 19: Saracens vs Gloucester Rugby, Aviva Premiership Round 13: Saturday 20 February 2016 15.00 at Allianz Park

Week 20: Sale Sharks vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 14: Saturday 27 February 2016 14.30 at AJ Bell Stadium

MARCH

Week 21: Saracens vs Northampton Saints Aviva Premiership Round 15: Saturday 05 March 2016, 15.00 at Allianz Park

Week 22: London Irish vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 16: Saturday 12 March 2016 15.00 at Madejski Stadium

Week 23: Leicester Tigers vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 17: Saturday 19 March 2016 15.00 at Welford Road

Week 24: Saracens vs Exeter Chiefs Aviva Premiership Round 18: Saturday 26 March 2016 15.00 at Allianz Park

APRIL

Week 25: Bath Rugby vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 19: Saturday 02 April 2016 15.15 at The Rec

Week 26: European Champions Cup QF

Week 27: Saracens vs Harlequins, Aviva Premiership Round 20: Saturday 16 April 2016 15.00 at Wembley Stadium

Week 28: European Champions Cup SF

Week 29: Saracens vs Newcastle Falcons, Aviva Premiership Round 21: Saturday 30 April 2016 15.00 at Allianz Park

MAY

Week 30: Worcester Warriors vs Saracens, Aviva Premiership Round 22: Saturday 07 May 2016 15.00 at Sixways

Week 31: European Champions Cup Final: Saturday 14 May 2016

Week 32: Aviva Premiership Semi Final: Saturday 21 May 2016

Week 33: Aviva Premiership Final; Saturday 28 May 2016 at Twickenham Stadium