Flanker Steffon Armitage, lock Louis Deacon, number eight Jordan Crane, centres Mathew Tait and Dan Hipkiss and scrum-half Paul Hodgson all drop down, while Harry Ellis - who endured an injury-plagued season - misses out on both the squads.
Along with assistant Paul Moriarty and a host of specialist coaches and analysts, Tait has revamped the backroom set-up at the club, but it is on the field where the biggest impact is expected.