Harlequins 1/25 fav vs London Welsh
Ugo Monye returns to Harlequins' starting XV to face London Welsh in Round Two of the Premiership at Twickenham Stoop on Friday.
Monye is back from injury to start on the wing, enabling George Lowe to return to his more familiar outside centre position where he partners Jordan Turner-Hall.
Karl Dickson, who made a great impact from the bench against London Wasps, starts at scrum-half, with last week's Man of the Match Nick Evans at fly-half.
There is one change among the forwards from last Saturday, as Tom Guest starts in the back-row with Maurie Fa'asavalu and captain Chris Robshaw.
Ben Botica, who has yet to make his senior debut, is named among the replacements after kicking 17 points in Monday's Aviva 'A' League game against Saracens Storm.
Meanwhile, London Welsh boss Lyn Jones has made five changes - including one positional - to his starting line-up.
Matt Corker comes in for Russian international Kirill Kulemin in the second-row for what will be appearance number 155 for the Exiles, and reforms his partnership with captain Jonathan Mills from the Championship final.
There are wholesale changes in the back-row with Mike Denbee named at openside in place of Lee Beach and Ed Jackson selected at number eight - the position from which he contributed 11 tries to Welsh's Championship winning season.
Daniel Browne moves from number eight to blindside flanker in place of Ed Williamson.
The only change in the backs is at scrum-half, where Welsh give a first start to Tyson Keats, who joins the Exiles from disbanded Italian side Aironi.
Friday's meeting will be the first between the two clubs since Harlequins' 2005/06 National League One promotion winning season. Harlequins winning both games, which were both played at the Stoop, 43-23 and 28-17.
Form: Harlequins staged the biggest comeback in Premiership history in overhauling Wasps 27 point advantage to win 42-40 at Twickenham on Saturday. The Aviva Premiership Rugby champions have now won their last four matches in the competition. Quins have won five of their last six games at the Twickenham Stoop. London Welsh began life in the Premiership with a 13-38 reversal at the hands of Leicester Tigers. The Exiles have actually won their last four away games and have not lost on the road since a trip to Cornish Pirates on 29 January. The two clubs met twice in the RFUs National One league in season 2005/06, with Harlequins taking both encounters 47-23 and 28-17, with both games curiously being played at the Stoop, after London Welsh chose to move their "home" game there!
The teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Williams, 13 George Lowe, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 UgoMonye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Chris Robshaw (c), 6 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 5 George Robson, 4 Olly Kohn, 3 James Johnston, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Nick Easter, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Matt Hopper.
London Welsh: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Phil Mackenzie, 13 Sonny Parker, 12 Hudson Tonga'uiha, 11 Joe Ajuwa, 10 Gordon Ross, 9 Tyson Keats, 8 Ed Jackson, 7 Mike Denbee, 6 Daniel Browne, 5 Matt Corker, 4 Jonathan Mills (c), 3 Paulica Ion, 2 Neil Briggs, 1 Frank Montanella.
Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Arthur Joly, 19 Kirill Kulemin, 20 Alfie To'oala, 21 Nick Runciman, 22 Seb Jewell, 23 Nick Scott
Date: Friday, September 7
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19.45 BST (18.35 GMT
What more can be said than Quins by alot. Lets say 32
game over Quinns win 40-3.
I'm afraid I missed the ret of th preview as I had heart issues and went to hospital.
My picks on superbru were
Wasps to beat Bath by 2. An exciting team with great backs should beat Bath who are so one dimensional. But wasps have a big handicap in their crap coach.
Bath won 30--23
I had Leicester to beat worcester at home (who wouldn't ) by 18 and they could only win by 8...pathetic.
I had Gloucester to bbeat london irish away from home by 1 as I wasn't exactly confidant which Glaws team would show up.
They won 40-31
I had Sarries to win away from home against usual underachievers sale by 5 and they duly won by 8. Sale's only try was an intercept. So not really close.
Tomorrows game
Northampton 1/4 favs vs Exeter
This from Planet rugby. A very good assessment.
Exeter have made a positional switch to
their starting XV for Sunday's Premiership clash against Northampton at
Franklin's Gardens.
An injury to Kiwi centre Jason Shoemark, sustained in the 43-6
win over Sale, means he misses out this weekend, so Phil Dollman
switches from full-back to the midfield, whilst the number 15 spot is
filled by Luke Arscott.
On the bench, the visitors welcome back Fijian powerhouse Sireli Naqelevuki as one of their three options in the backs.
The loss of Shoemark can be considered an untimely blow, but Chiefs assistant coach Ali Hepher said the quality and depth of the current Exeter squad is there to be seen and he says the competition for places right across the board is helping to bring out the best in all of the players.
"The guys are on good form and there is pressure for places in every position," he explained.
"That is why you get a performance like that of last week because there are those guys pushing hard behind. For us as coaches, that's really important and with the Braves winning on Sunday in the A League, that was vital as well as it keeps everybody working hard."
Hepher expects a tougher assignment against the Saints this weekend as the Chiefs have claimed just a solitary losing bonus point in two previous top flight visits to the East Midlands venue.
"Sunday will be a great challenge for us," he said.
"They're obviously a top team, not just in the Premiership, but also in Europe as well and that's where we need to be testing ourselves. I think this weekend will give us a good gauge as to how good a side we are."
Hepher was also delighted with the way the Chiefs attacked the Sharks, particularly in the second half where Exeter ran in five tries and will be looking to repeat that showing.
"We have tried to simplify things and give a balance to our attack," he said.
"We are always looking for space and options within our attacks, some of them came off last week and some didn't, but it's a case of developing the players and developing their understanding and decision-making.
"That's coming on really well and we are starting to threaten sides in the wide spaces, so we are happy with the way it went, but equally we missed a couple of golden chances and we know we have to be clinical if we are going to get anything out of the game this weekend."
Meanwhile, Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder has named the same starting line-up that beat Gloucester 24-19 in their opener last week.
Despite that win, Mallinder believes his team need to take a step up from last weekend's performance at Kingsholm.
"It's vital that we get off to a good start at home," the Saints boss said.
"Last weekend at Gloucester we got a good away win and now we have to build on that on Sunday afternoon.
"At times we played well and scored three good tries, but in the last 10 minutes we had to dig deep as well.
"We shouldn't have got ourselves in that position in the first place, but the team spirit was fantastic, we held our defensive patterns and held them out.
"So we know we have to build on both our attack and defence this weekend.
"Exeter are a quality side, as they have shown for the last couple of seasons. The players work hard for each other and they played well in their win over Sale last Saturday.
"It's going to be a big game and a tough game, but it is one that we are looking forward to."
Form: Northampton Saints prevailed against Gloucester at Kingsholm last Saturday. The Saints have won five of their last six matches at Franklin's Gardens in all competitions. Exeter Chiefs kicked off the new Aviva Premiership Rugby campaign with a comprehensive victory over Sale at Sandy Park. The Chiefs lost their most recent Premiership away game at Saracens, a loss which ended a run of four successive wins on the road in the competition. Exeter's solitary victory over Northampton in any competition remains their 30-9 win at Sandy Park in the Premiership on 6 March 2011. The Chiefs have lost on all three previous visits to Franklin's Gardens.
The teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Vasily Artemyev, 10 Ryan Lamb, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 GJ Van Velze, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Soane Tonga'uiha.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Mark Sorenson, 20 Rhys Oakley, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Luther Burrell.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Josh Tatupu, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Phil Dollman, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Ignacio Mieres, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Richard Baxter, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Tom Johnson, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Tom Hayes (c), 3 Craig Mitchell, 2 Chris Whitehead, 1 Brett Sturgess.
Replacements: 16 Simon Alcott, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Chris Budgen, 19 James Hanks, 20 James Phillips, 21 Kevin Barrett, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Sireli Naqelevuki.
Date: Sunday, September 9
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Kick-off: 15.00 BST (14.00GMT)
Petes prediction.
I have looked at all the reasons why exeter could and should take Saints and I really cannot see it happening away from home where there is a 6 pt advantage to Saints IMO.
After last weeks brilliant win against sale by Exeter I was looking for all the good backs who could be used by Exeter and I think they have come up shy and are looking for a bruising battle up front.
But for me it must be Saints by 10
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