Friday
Worcester Warriors*v London Irish 14:00
Northampton Saints* v London Wasps 13:45
Tomorrow Saturday
Bath* v Sale Sharks 08:15
Leicester Tigers* v Exeter Chiefs 08:15
Sunday
Harlequins* v Saracens 08:00
London Welsh v Gloucester Rugby* 09:00
* Denotes Fav
All times Houston Tx
Preview: Northampton v Wasps
From Planet Rugby
Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has named his starting XV for Friday's Aviva Premiership clash with London Wasps at Franklin's Gardens.
The Saints go into the match-up as one of only two teams currently unbeaten in the Premiership.
But, according to Mallinder, London Wasps will be challenging opponents for his team on Friday.
"Wasps have started the season well," he said.
"They have been very competitive in every game and shown their willingness to play as a team for the full 80 minutes.
"They soundly beat London Irish two weeks ago and put over 40 points past Harlequins in Round one as well.
"They have some of the most dangerous runners in the league, experienced playmakers at half-back and a pack which has the ability to produce quality ball.
"They have shown several times what can happen if they are given the chance to play and put 40 points on both Harlequins and London Irish. "So we know that we will have to be on top form in every minute. We certainly cannot afford a repeat of the last 20 minutes of the game against Worcester, where we nearly threw away all the hard work that had been put in during the first hour.
"That said, in the opening 60 minutes we played some excellent rugby and scored some good tries, and we will be looking to build on that side of our performance tomorrow night."
Meanwhile, Tim Payne will make his 250th appearance for Wasps in this encounter. Payne - who is in his tenth season at Wasps - has won an array of domestic and European titles with the club, and continues to be its first choice loose-head prop.
"Tim has been a tremendous servant to London Wasps and English rugby and he continues to perform at the very highest level for his club," said director of rugby Dai Young.
"He has been an ever-present in the front row since I have been here and is one of the key leaders within the group we have here."
In other changes to the side, wing James Bailey makes his Wasps debut while there are also starts for Chris Bell, Tom Lindsay, Billy Vunipola and Nick Robinson while Joe Launchbury comes into the back-row in place of Jonathan Poff, who has picked up a knock.
Sam Jones is in line to make his first appearance this season with a place on the replacements bench.
Ashley Johnson is unavailable this weekend for family reasons, while Stephen Jones has recovered in time from a stomach illness which has forced him to miss training this week, to take his place on the bench.
Form: Northampton Saints have really hit the ground running in Aviva Premiership Rugby this season with a perfect played four, won four record. The Saints have now won their last six regular season matches in the competition. Northampton's solitary home Premiership defeat in the last twelve months was 21-35 to Leicester on 14 April. London Wasps' only victory in their last eight encounters in all competitions was 43-14 over London Irish at Adams Park in round three. The Londoners have not won an away game since they visited Rovigo in the European Challenge Cup on 14 January. Northampton have won their last six fixtures with Wasps in all competitions, whilst Wasps most recent victory at Franklin's Gardens came on 12 November 2005.
The teams:
Northampton: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Rhys Oakley, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dylan Hartley (capt), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Tom May.
Wasps: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell, 11 James Bailey, 10 Nick Robinson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Joe Launchbury, 4 Tom Palmer, 4 Marco Wentzel (c), 3 Zak Taulafo, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Tim Payne.
Replacements: 16 T Rhys Thomas, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Fabio Staibano, 19 Sam Jones, 20 James Cannon, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Stephen Jones, 23 Elliot Daly.
Date: Friday, September 28
Top Try Scorers (This Season): Luther Burrell (Northampton) 3; Christian Wade (Wasps) 4.
Top Point Scorers (This Season): Stephen Myler (Northampton) 29; Stephen Jones (Wasps) 34.
Pete Says;
Saints are one of only two unbeaten teams in the Aviva Premiership but their director of rugby Jim Mallinder expects a tough test from Wasps.
They have been very competitive in every game and shown their willingness to play as a team for the full 80 minutes. They soundly beat London Irish two weeks ago and put over 40 points past Harlequins in Round 1 as well
saints easy winners although it took awhile 24-6
Preview: Worcester v London Irish
Richard Hill has made three changes to his
Worcester Warriors starting side for the Aviva Premiership clash with
London Irish at Sixways on Friday.
Josh Matavesi is recalled after his impressive try scoring
exploits off the bench at Northampton last weekend and will partner Alex
Grove in midfield.
Scrum-half Jonny Arr is also handed a starting spot, forming a half-back pairing with Andy Goode.
One change in the pack will see Matt Kvesic named at number eight. Dean Schofield will once again captain the side from the second-row.
Two notable call-ups in the replacements are centre Jon Clarke, who could make his league debut for Warriors after a switch from Northampton, and scrum-half Ollie Frost.
Scrum-half Shaun Perry and wing Josh Drauniniu are among those ruled out of the game.
"You can't ignore the fact that those players that came on at Northampton really turned the game around and many of those deserve selection so there are some changes to the starting line-up," said Hill.
"Matt Kvesic, Jonny Arr and Josh Matavesi are all recalled while others like Craig Gillies are pushing very hard for starting spots and Josh Drauniniu would have been in contention before he unfortunately picked up an injury in training this week.
"Friday night games under the floodlights at Sixways always create a brilliant atmosphere so we're all looking forward to the game with London Irish," he added.
"We have performed well on home soil so far this season, but are yet to reap the rewards we feel we deserve.
"We know we're performing well and doing the things we should be doing. The morale is terrific and the players are working very hard. Everything is going the right way, but we want that first win to really kick us on."
Meanwhile, Sailosi Tagicakibau and David Paice have both been named in the London Irish starting line-up for the game at Sixways.
Samoa International, Tagicakibau, will start his first competitive match of the season on the wing after playing in the centre for his previous three appearances. David Paice replaces Scotland International, Scott Lawson, as hooker.
"Worcester have been highly competitive so far this season and played some good rugby. We played well last weekend but we know that counts for nothing, we have to front up again tomorrow night against the Warriors in their own backyard," said Director of Rugby Brian Smith.
Form: Worcester Warriors are still searching out their first Aviva Premiership Rugby win since round 18 last season against relegated Newcastle. The Warriors are winless at Sixways since beating Saracens there 16-11 on 24 February. London Irish opened their 2012/13 winning account at home to Bath on Saturday, but have not managed back to back victories since September 2011. The Exiles have won just once on the road in any tournament in 2012: 25-16 in this equivalent match back in April. London Irish are unbeaten in their last eleven Premiership encounters with the Warriors, Worcester's most recent win over Irish in the tournament was way back on 11 September 2005 at Madejski Stadium.
The teams:
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Nikki Walker, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 David Lemi, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Matt Kvesic, 7 Sam Betty, 6 Chris Jones, 5 Dean Schofield (c), 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ollie Hayes, 17 Ceri Jones, 18 James Currie, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Semisi Taulava, 21 Ollie Frost, 22 Joe Carlisle, 23 Jon Clarke.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Steven Shingler, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Ian Humphreys, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Declan Danaher (capt), 5 Matt Garvey, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Shaun Malton, 17 Jerry Yanuyanutawa, 18 Alan Cotter, 19 George Skivington, 20 Alex Gray, 21 Topsy Ojo, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Jack Moates.
Date: Friday, September 28
Kick-off: 20:00 BST
Venue: Sixways Stadium
Top Try Scorers (This Season): Jonny Arr, James Currie, Josh Drauniniu, Alex Grove, Ollie Hayes, David Lemi, Joshua Matavesi, James Percival (Worcester) 1; Halani Aulika (London Irish) 2.
Top Point Scorers (This Season): Andy Goode (Worcester) 51; Steven Shingler (London Irish) 44.
Pete says
This is a hard game to predict. Iirish have great backs but warriors not too shabby.
Worcester Warriors are still searching out their first Aviva Premiership Rugby win since round 18 last season against relegated Newcastle.
Irish forwards are doing a good job and their backs just need a sniff of the ball.
Irish by 1
Another miserable performance by Irish losing 35-11
Preview: Bath v Sale
Olly Barkley will start his final game for Bath at fly-half against Sale Sharks at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.
Barkley, is leaving to join Top 14 side Racing Metro 92, has
amassed over 230 appearances for Bath and scored over 2160 points in his
time.
He re-joins Michael Claassens in the half-backs, with Stephen Donald switching to inside centre, partnering Dan Hipkiss in the midfield. Tom Biggs and Kyle Eastmond line up on the wings, as Nick Abendanon starts at full-back.
In the pack, David Wilson is back at tighthead, with Paul James handed the loosehead shirt.
Dave Attwood makes his first start of the season at lock, combining with captain Stuart Hooper.
"I've had an amazing time here and I've made some fantastic memories, played in some amazing teams and met some wicked people, and I leave with nothing but absolute love for this place and these people," said Barkley.
"The task for me now is really to just concentrate on the game. It's a big occasion for me and for my family, but most important is getting four points. We need to get back on the horse after losing the last two on the bounce and have been working very hard to right the wrongs. It's not about me leaving, it's about the four points, and if I can say goodbye having helped the team to a win, then I'll be happy."
Meanwhile, Sharks' Director of Rugby Bryan Redpath has made six changes to his side with Nick Macleod and Cillian Willis forming a new half-back partnership.
21-year-old former Leicester flanker James Doyle is set to make his senior debut for the club. 19-year-old scrum-half Nathan Fowles will make his first appearance in the Aviva Premiership if he comes off the bench. Fowles, a used replacement in the club's Amlin Challenge Cup game at C.R.La Vila last January, comes from Rochdale and gained experience with Preston Grasshoppers last season.
Will Addison returns to the squad after a two game absence, whilst Dwayne Peel, Richie Gray and Henry Thomas are ruled out through injury.
"There are opportunities for some of the younger boys in the club. It's been tough after last Friday's match and what followed at the weekend," said Redpath.
"We're desperate to get another game under our belt because some of the parts of last week's match weren't what we expected.
"James Doyle and Nathan Fowles are two young members of the group. James has played exceptionally well for the Jets. He's come in and worked really hard to put pressure on others at the club. They both need to go out and enjoy the game as much as they can.
"Last season, Sale Sharks went to Bath on the back of a disappointing home performance and won, later going on to complete a double. As I've said, last week was unacceptable and hopefully we can show a big improvement."
Form: Bath have slipped to a pair of losing bonus point reversals to Northampton and London Irish in recent weeks. Bath have not suffered back to back defeats at The Rec in Aviva Premiership Rugby since last December. Sale Sharks have made their poorest ever start to a league season since they lost all eleven division one matches in the inaugural season for the RFU leagues in 1987/88. Sale's most recent away win came at Gloucester on 21 April. Sale achieved the Premiership double over Bath last season for the first time since 2005/06, and are going for successive wins at The Rec for the first time in their history.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Kyle Eastmond, 13 Dan Hipkiss, 12 Stephen Donald, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Michael Claassens, 8 Simon Taylor, 7 Ben Skirving, 6 Carl Fearns, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Stuart Hooper (c), 3 David Wilson, 2 Lee Mears, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Will Skuse, 21 Mark McMillan, 22 Sam Vesty, 23 Jack Cuthbert.
Sale: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Tom Brady, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Nick Macleod, 9 Cillian Willis, 8 Andy Powell, 7 David Seymour (capt), 6 James Doyle, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Fraser McKenzie, 3 Tony Buckley, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis-Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Joe Ward, 17 Vadim Cobilas, 18 Aston Croall, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Nathan Fowles, 22 Danny Cipriani, 23 Will Addison.
Date: Saturday, September 29
Kick-off: 14:15 BSTpete says.
Sharks are horrible aided by one of the worst coaches in Redpath. bath play boring shit rugby, but have to go with bath by 15...should be more if they were ever to use their backs well.
Game over Bath won by 21
Preview: Leicester v Exeter
New signing Dan Bowden will make his Leicester debut in the Tigers' home game against Exeter Chiefs.
Former London Irish centre Bowden is named in the Tigers line-up
for this Round Five fixture and will run out at Welford Road for the
first time.
Front-rowers George Chuter and Logovi'i Mulipola come into the Tigers forward pack and there is a return for Thomas Waldrom at number eight with Jordan Crane moving across the back-row to 6.
Ed Slater is included in the squad for the first time this season after recovering from a knee injury.
"We've all been very honest about the performance against Harlequins last week and the only way we know to correct that is to work hard in training and to front-up again on Saturday," said Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill.
"Exeter had an excellent win last week and they are a team to be respected. They're tough opponents and they've added to their game again this season.
"We've played some decent rugby in the season so far and we've been resilient in defence but we need to be more accurate and composed on the ball."
Anthony Allen and Steve Mafi took knocks in the game against Harlequins last week, while Tigers are also without injured club captain Geordan Murphy, Miles Benjamin, Tom Croft, Louis Deacon, Rob Hawkins, Manu Tuilagi, Micky Young and Ben Youngs.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs will travel to the East Midlands having been forced to make one change to their winning line-up.
Back-row James Phillips injured his knee in the Saracens encounter and is set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines, but Exeter have a more than able replacement in the shape of England international Tom Johnson, who himself was forced to sit out last week's action.
The only other change in personnel comes in the back division where Kiwi centre Jason Shoemark returns to the fold at the expense of Phil Dollman.
Shoemark's inclusion in the midfield alongside Sireli Naqelevuki means summer signing Ian Whitten is switched to the right wing. Dollman, meanwhile, starts on the bench in place of Mark Foster.
So with a familiar feel to the Exeter line-up, coaches Rob Baxter and Ali Hepher are hoping their troops will perform in the heat of battle.
"Last week was good, but equally we've kept level headed about it all. Like always we didn't get carried away when we lost at London Welsh - and equally we haven't got carried away having beaten Saracens," said Hepher.
"We're well aware going to Leicester is always a tough ask. Yes, we may have won there last season, but at the same time you have to remember they were numbers down on that day because of the World Cup.
"It will be a different story this weekend, we know that, but equally we're in good form ourselves and we've played some good rugby apart from one game.
"As always we will look to play our game and challenge Leicester in different ways."
Form: Leicester Tigers have not scored a try for 166 minutes - their longest barren spell in the Premiership since November 2010. The Tigers' 9-22 home defeat to Harlequins on Saturday was only the sixth time in Premiership history that Leicester have come away from a game at Welford Road with no league points. Exeter Chiefs' last five games have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst the Chiefs have lost their last three away games. The Devonians achieved the Aviva Premiership Rugby double over the Tigers last season and are attempting to join a select band of clubs who have managed back to back Premiership wins at Welford Road after Northampton, Harlequins, Saracens and Wasps.
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Niall Morris, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Dan Bowden, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jordan Crane (c), 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George Chuter, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Ed Slater, 20 Brett Deacon, 21 Patrick Phibbs, 22 George Ford, 23 Adam Thompstone.
Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Sireli Naqelevuki, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 James Hanks, 4 Tom Hayes (c), 3 Carl Rimmer, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Ben White, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Phil Dollman.
Date: Saturday, September 29
Kick-off: 14:15 BST
Great to see Bowden play but Leic missing so many good backs. Their fwd pack is strong enough and should hold Exeter. Leic at home and should win by 5.
Leic won easily 30-8
Preview: Harlequins v Saracens
Harlequins have made two changes to their
starting line-up for their hugely-anticipated Premiership clash with
Saracens at the Stoop on Sunday.
Among the backs, Seb Stegmann comes in for the injured Tom
Williams and in the forwards, Tom Guest starts at blindside, with the
dynamic Maurie Fa'asavalu covering from the bench.
With Ross Chisholm unavailable through injury for up to eight weeks, Sevens specialist Ollie Lindsay-Hague is among the replacements from where he will hope to make his first appearance as a senior squad member following promotion from the Academy this season.
Meanwhile for Saracens, Rhys Gill gets his first start of the season while Schalk Brits, Petrus du Plessis, Ernst Joubert, Richard Wigglesworth, Chris Wyles, Joel Tomkins and captain Steve Borthwick also return to the line-up for the match against the reigning champions.
On the bench, John Smit comes into the matchday 23 while there are also first outings of the season for second-row George Kruis, flanker Andy Saull and wing David Strettle after the trio missed the start of the term through injury.
Form: Harlequins, the defending Aviva Premiership champions, have made the perfect start to their defence with five straight wins. Quins have lost just one Premiership encounter at the Twickenham Stoop since Saracens won there in round 22 of the 2010/11 campaign. Saracens have gone 180 minutes without scoring a try - their longest tryless spell for two years. Sarries are winless in their last two games and have not had a three game run without a victory in the competition since March 2010. Harlequins ended a five game losing run against Saracens with their 24-19 win at Wembley Stadium in March, whilst Saracens have won on four of their last five visits to The Stoop.
The teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Tom Guest, 5 George Robson, 4 Olly Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 4 Steve Borthwick (capt), 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 John Smit, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Matt Stevens, 19 George Kruis, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 David Strettle.
Date: Sunday, September 30
Kick-off: 14:00 BST
Venue: Twickenham StoopPete says either team could win this. Quinns by 3
Preview: London Welsh v Gloucester
London Welsh will be chasing a third
consecutive Premiership win when they welcome the Cherry and Whites to
the Kassam Stadium on Sunday.
Exiles coach Lyn Jones makes one change to the starting line-up
that beat Sale 29-19 - a result that saw Welsh back up their win over
Exeter Chiefs.
Seb Jewell comes into the side at full-back for his first start of the season, with Tom Arscott moving to the wing in place of Phil MacKenzie. The Canadian is named among the replacements.
The only other change to Welsh's matchday 23 sees back-row forward Alfie To'oala restored to the bench in place of Ed Williamson.
Among the other replacements is scrum-half Nick Runciman, who began his career at Gloucester before spending three seasons at London Welsh. He re-joined the Cherry and Whites in 2011 for a season before recently returning to the Exiles.
Welsh will gladly take a repeat of the last time the two sides met, at Kingsholm in a pre-season in August 2011. The Exiles came out on top, 24-23, thanks to tries from Mike Powell, Vili Ma'asi and a late effort from Rob Lewis, with Ross kicking the winning conversion.
It's more than fourteen years since London Welsh and Gloucester faced each other in a competitive match when Gloucester ran out 34-18 winners
Meanwhile, Gloucester director of rugby Nigel Davies keeps faith with the majority of the line-up that defeated Wasps, but does introduce three new faces. The only change to the backline sees Mike Tindall swap places with Henry Trinder to partner Billy Twelvetrees.
Up front, Australian Huia Edmonds is in for Darren Dawidiuk who picked up a knee injury against Wasps while number eight Ben Morgan is ruled out with a dead calf.
Finally, Peter Buxton, who has been in fine form in the Aviva Premiership A League, is named at blindside flanker with Sione Kalamafoni moving across to number eight.
It will be Gloucester's first clash with London Welsh in the Premiership at Kassam Stadium.
"It's very important that we've got the right mindset going into Sunday to play London Welsh," said Redpath.
"It's going to be a physical encounter. I think that the two sides that they've beaten probably didn't give them enough respect and, because of that, they finished on the wrong end of the result.
"They're a very strong team, a proud side. They've got a lot of points to prove, individually and collectively, and, if you get it wrong against them, they will beat you."
Form: London Welsh have now recorded successive Aviva Premiership victories over Exeter and Sale. The Exiles have won two of the three league games they have played at Kassam Stadium. Gloucester are unbeaten in their last three encounters since their opening day defeat at home to Northampton. Gloucester's most recent away loss was to London Irish at Madejski Stadium on 5 May. The two clubs have not clashed in competitive rugby since a 4th round tie in the Tetley's Bitter Cup at Old Deer Park on 3 January 1998 where Gloucester ran out 34-18 victors.
The teams:
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 11 Nick Scott, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Michael Hills, 6 Daniel Browne, 5 Matt Corker, 4 Jonathan Mills (capt), 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Frank Montanella.
Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Arthur Joly, 19 Kirill Kulemin, Alfie To'oala, 21 Nick Runciman, 22 Ryan Davis, 23 Phil MacKenzie.
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Jonny May, 13 Mike Tindall, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 James Simpson-Daniel, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Andy Hazell, 6 Peter Buxton, 5 Jim Hamilton (capt), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Rupert Harden, 2 Huia Edmonds, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Dan Murphy, 18 Shaun Knight, 19 Will James, 20 Akapusi Qera, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Martyn Thomas.
Date: Sunday, September 30
Pete says. I am not a fan of London welsh. Their 3 wins to date have been flukes and I foresee them eventually going back down to lower divisions.
Gloucester to win by 12.
A big thanks to superrugbytips for giving us all a quick precis/summary of the weekend's games. They are pretty accurate.
Summary
- Saints 24 - 6 Wasps
Friday kicked off with 2 games. Wasps off to a terrible start when an aimless kick was run back by Pisi before passing to Wilson to score in the corner. Wasps didn′t help their cause when Payne was yellowed (should have been red) for dropping his knees on to Artemeyev who was trapped in a ruck. IIRC, Payne was done for stamping against Glaws a few seasons back. Something nags me that he did something like this against Biarritz in an HEC game? Anyone? This game, Saints didn′t allow an opposition comeback. Lawes made a shambles of Wasps′ previoulsy good lineout.
- Warriors 35 - 11 Irish.
. Wuss have suddenly developed a habit of scoring trys although they seem to take a while coming each game and then arrive in numbers like buses. Bar 2 awful reffing decisions in earlier games, they′d be in a lofty top 6 position now. Irish were 8-0 up and that was pretty much it. 2 yellows was never going to make their leaky defence any easier.
- Bath 31 - 10 Sale Sharks
Olly′s last match and a run out for Donald at 12. This was only ever about the margin. Little of interest in the 1st half but Sale′s indiscipline allowing Bath to rack up points from the boot. When prop Wilson twice made massive gains through feeble tackling, the 2nd effort found him over the whitewash. Game over. Sale look the worst side in the comp at present.
- Tigers 30 - 8 Exeter
2 losses on the bounce at home for the Tigers? Not sure when this last happened. This was one way traffic with a hat trick for newbie wing Thompstone as Flood found some form. Interesting that Austin Healey is saying that Ford needs to find a new club to get game time. Saints could do with a FH...... Tigers scrum and Goneva were dominant throughout. Exeter proving a bit erratic this year.
- Harlequins 16 - 18 Saracens.
At this point, several players were on for a Grand Slam. Unbeaten and on fire Quins at home to Safacens: surely no upset here? All the talk in the run up was about Farrell′s unreliable kicking at FH and being selected over Hodgson. Instead, it was Evans who folded up. The best FH (probably in the NH) for the past few years went all Brock James. Missed 5 pens and immediately after the last one, he sliced an up and under that went backwards which caught Brown offside: pen to Safacens. Game over.
The men in red continue to prove their are the best defensive outfit in Europe; conceding no trys despite playing with 14 for 20 mins against the best side in Eng.
- Welsh 25 - 31 Gloucester.
A sign of the times when that would have been zero at the start of the season. They won′t lie down and die and were 25-24 up with 6 on the clock. A midfield turnover saw a break from Simpson-Daniel which led to a ruck deep in Welsh 22. At this point, Welsh looked to have legitimately won the ball but Glaws, perhaps fortunately, were allowed to claw it back and this led to sub Knight, who hadn′t touched the ball having come on as sub, to go over for the game winner.
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