Premiership: Saints in ruthless mood
The Premiership returns this weekend with the most competitive league in Europe poised for a fascinating round of matches.
The focus would be on table-topping Northampton Saints, who will be hosting English giants Leicester Tigers at Franklin's Gardens in Round 10.
Saints, having tied down seven new contracts this week, are determined to continue their recent run of impressive form.
One of those who signed on, England lock Courtney Lawes, is expecting more success down the line.
Lawes, Calum Clark, Alex Waller, Ethan Waller, James Craig, Gareth Denman and skipper Dylan Hartley each put pen to paper at Franklin's Gardens.
It is a welcome boost ahead of this weekend's derby clash with Tigers, as the reigning Premiership champions seek to maintain their spot at the top of the table over Christmas.
With Harlequins away completing 2014 and a string of tricky encounters to come after New Year, Lawes knows there is still a lot to do – but he is confident of helping the club to more silverware soon.
"It is good, especially with a few long-termers like me and Dylan signing new deals," he said.
"He is the skipper and he is very integral to the team, just in terms of who we are. He leads from the front and helps create our identity, which we follow.
"We have got a lot of contracts tied down and a lot of very good players staying and I can really see us pushing on for the rest of this season and moving forwards.
"It wasn't really a straightforward decision. I was willing to move if I had to.
"This is probably going to be the biggest contract of my career and I had to be prepared to look at other offers, but Northampton were able to offer me a great deal and I am enjoying my time here."
Saints are coming off the back of a productive European fortnight, beating Benetton Treviso twice – the latter a 67-0 thrashing in front of their home crowd.
And Lawes insists the club's ruthless nature, which has already seen them collect crushing league wins against Gloucester, Sale Sharks and London Welsh, is an important asset.
He added: "We went into the two weeks against Treviso and said 'this is 10 points – it has to be'.
"As a team it is what we have to expect from each other and it is what we have got to strive for."
We look at all the Round 10 action!
Friday, December 19
Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs
(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Sale Sharks have won their last three Premiership matches and climbed from 10th to sixth place in the league table in the process. The Sharks' record at AJ Bell Stadium this season is won three, lost one, scoring 14 tries and conceding only four during the three victories.
Exeter Chiefs are the second best side in Premiership on current form having amassed 22 league points from their last six matches, just two points behind table-topping Northampton's haul. The Chiefs have won their last eight matches in all competitions since tripping up in Bayonne in the first round of this season's European Challenge Cup.
Exeter's only defeat in their last six Premiership away games came at Newcastle in Round Five. Both fixtures between the two clubs last season were won by the away side on the day, whilst the tally between the two in Premiership rugby is led by Exeter with six wins to two.
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Jonny Leota, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Magnus Lund, 6 Daniel Braid (captain), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Shalva Mamukashvili, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 James Flynn, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 David Seymour, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Ben White, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm (captain), 3 Moray Low, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Haydn Thomas, 22 Sam Hill, 23 Adam Hughes.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Robin Goodliffe and Kelvin Stewart
TMO: Graham Hughes
Saturday, December 20
Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Newcastle Falcons have won three of their last five encounters in Premiership, but away from home their only win in their last dozen trips in the competition came at struggling London Welsh on 11th October.
Newcastle have won just one of their last nine fixtures against Harlequins in Premiership Rugby: 33-18 at Kingston Park in March 2011, whilst the Falcons have not won at the Stoop in the tournament since September 2000.
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 George Lowe, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Tim Swiel, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 James Chisholm, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Joe Trayfoot, 5 George Robson (captain), 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Will Collier, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 George Merrick, 21 Danny Care, 22 Ross Chisholm, 23 Ugo Monye.
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alex Tuilagi, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Mike Blair, 8 All Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Calum Green, 3 Scott Wilson, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Mark Irving, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Josh Furno, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Andy Tuilagi, 23 Noah Cato.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell and Gareth Copsey
TMO: David Grashoff
Saracens v London Welsh
(Allianz Park – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Saracens have won their last two games against Sale in the European Champions Cup but in the Premiership their only victory in their last five contests came at home to Gloucester in Round Six.
Saracens have lost just one of their last eleven matches at Allianz Park ion all tournaments: 24-31 to Northampton in Premiership on November 23.
London Welsh remain without a victory in any tournament in 2014/15 and have only managed to score more than two tries in a match on one occasion, during the 26-53 defeat at Bath in Premiership Rugby on September 13.
The Exiles have only ever won one Premiership away game: 29-19 at Sale in September 2012.
Saracens have won their last three meetings with London Welsh since the Exiles' 23-7 victory at Bramley Road in League Division Two on 12th September 1987.
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil De Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert (captain) 7 Kelly Brown, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 George Kruis, 3 James Johnston, 2 Brett Sharman, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Petrus Du Plessis, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Nick Tompkins.
London Welsh: 15 Will Robinson, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Olly Barkley, 11 Elliot Kear, 10 Piri Weepu, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Carl Kirwan (captain), 6 Lachlan McCaffrey, 5 James Down, 4 Peter Browne, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Rickey Reeves.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Dean Schofield, 20 Ben Pienaar, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Tom May, 23 Nick Scott.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Roger Baileff and Simon McConnell
TMO: Keith Lewis
Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers
(Franklin's Gardens – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.15 GMT)
Northampton Saints only defeat in their last nine first team games was 18-24 at home to Exeter in the Premiership on November 14.
That reversal remains the Saints only loss at Franklin's Gardens in any tournament since Leicester were the visitors in March.
Leicester Tigers are unbeaten in their last four Premiership encounters since going down at Gloucester in Round Five.
The Tigers two away victories this season in Premiership came at Exeter in Round Two and at London Welsh in Round Eight.
Northampton's 21-20 win the last time the East Midlands rivals met at Franklin's Gardens in last season's semifinal ended a 10-game winless run against the Tigers in all competitions. Leicester have won their last three regular season encounters at Northampton's home.
Teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Tom Stephenson, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Samu Manoa, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Dylan Hartley (captain), 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 Jamie Elliott, 23 Ben Foden.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Graham Kitchener, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Leonardo Ghiraldini, 17 Fraser Balmain, 18 Michele Rizzo, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Robert Barbieri, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Miles Benjamin.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle and Tim Wigglesworth
TMO: Sean Davey
Gloucester v Bath
(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 17.30; 17.30 GMT)
Gloucester have won their last three matches in all tournaments, at London Irish in the Premiership and home and away against Zebre in the European Challenge Cup.
Gloucester have lost two of their last three Premiership encounters at Kingsholm, to Exeter in Round Three and Harlequins in Round Seven.
Bath have won their last five matches in all tournaments since their 6-18 reversal at Exeter in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on November 8.
Bath's two away victories in the Premiership this season came at Sale and at London Irish.
Bath have won their last three fixtures against Gloucester in Premiership and have not won four in a row in the tournament against their fierce rivals since 2001. Bath have been victorious on their last two visits to Kingsholm in all tournaments.
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Steve McColl, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Purdy, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ross Moriarty, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Tom Palmer, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Nick Wood, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 James Hudson, 20 Elliott Stooke, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 David Halaifonua
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Rob Webber, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Micky Young, 22 Ollie Devoto, 23 Sam Burgess.
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant referees: Paul Dix and Roy Maybank
TMO: Geoff Warren
Sunday, December 21
Wasps v London Irish
(Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 14.00; 14.00 GMT)
The Ricoh Arena becomes the 34th different venue to stage a Premiership game, whilst the most recent game of rugby to be played there was an RFU Championship encounter between Coventry and Bedford in December 2009.
Wasps have lost their last two Premiership matches and have not lost three in a row in the tournament since March.
The Ricoh Arena will become Wasps fourth different home venue in the tournament following Loftus Road, Adams Park and nine games at Twickenham, but they did take a European Cup home fixture to the venue, beating Munster there, 24-23, in November 2007.
London Irish's six game losing run in all competitions ended with their 34-23 home win over Cardiff Blues in the European Challenge Cup on Saturday.
The Exiles have not won away from home in the Premiership since beating Leicester at Welford Road in Round Four.
The two sides have already met once this season – in the Anglo-Welsh Cup at Adams Park on November 9, where Wasps won 43-22.
Both meetings last season in Premiership were won by the away side on the day whilst the overall tally between the two clubs in Premiership is 20 wins to Wasps and 14 to London Irish.
Teams:
London Wasps: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Chris Bell, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Edd Shervington, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre , 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Rob Miller.
London Irish: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Luke Narraway, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Kieran Low, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Geoff Cross, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Harry Allen, 17 Leo Halavatau, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Sean Cox, 20 Conor Gilsenan, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Chris Noakes, 23 Alex Lewington.
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Paul Burton and Nigel Carrick
TMO: Rowan Kitt
