Preview: Premiership, Round 13
Table-topping Saracens will be feeling the heat from the chasing pack as the Premiership recommences this weekend.
Only three points clear of second-placed Northampton Saints, Sarries – fresh off a win over Super Rugby side the Sharks – can ill afford a slip-up and will be sure not to underestimate lowly London Irish on Saturday.
Round 13 gets underway on Friday when Worcester Warriors welcome Leicester Tigers to Sixways while Sale Sharks host Gloucester.
On Saturday, Bath and Newcastle Falcons face off while Saracens play the Exiles before Exeter Chiefs tackle Saints.
The action concludes on Sunday when Harlequins host London Wasps.
We look at all the Round 13 action!
Friday, February 7:
Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers
(Sixways – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Worcester Warriors have lost all 12 Premiership matches they have played this season, whilst their only victory in the competition since December 2012 was 29-23 at home to London Wasps on March 1.
Leicester Tigers’ only defeat in their last five Premiership encounters came at Saracens on December 21. The Tigers have picked up just nine points in their five away games in the Premiership this season.
Worcester have recorded only two victories over Leicester in any competition; both in the Premiership at Sixways, in 2005 and 2008. Leicester have won their last 10 encounters against the Warriors.
Teams:
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Josh Drauniniu, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Ravai Fatiaki, 11 David Lemi, 10 Paul Warwick, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Jonathan Thomas, 7 Sam Betty, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 James Percival, 3 John Andress, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Ofa Fainga'anuku.
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 George Porter, 18 Rob O'Donnell, 19 Dean Schofield, 20 Leonardo Senatore, 21 Paul Hodgson, 22 Ignacio Mieres, 23 Josh Matavesi.
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Blaine Scully, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Anthony Allen, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Toby Flood (captain), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Ed Slater, 4 Louis Deacon, 3 Logovi'i Mulipola, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Boris Stankovich, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Steve Mafi, 20 Pablo Matera, 21 David Mélé, 22 Owen Williams, 23 Scott Hamilton.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Gareth Copsey
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Sale Sharks v Gloucester
(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 20.00; 20.00 GMT)
Sale Sharks won their Round 12 Premiership fixture 16-8 at Newcastle, but have not recorded back-to-back victories in the competition in the same season since last February.
The Sharks have won their last five encounters at AJ Bell Stadium in all tournaments since Bath won there in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on November 8.
Gloucester have won just two of their last eight Premiership fixtures, at home to Worcester in Round 10 and away to London Irish in Round 11.
The Cherry and Whites’ two away wins in the Premiership this season came at Newcastle in September and at London Irish over Christmas.
Gloucester’s only victory in their last five matches against Sale in the Premiership was 29-3 at Kingsholm in November 2012.
Gloucester have not beaten the Sharks on their own turf since a trip to Heywood Road in June 2002.
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Robert Miller, 14 Thomas Brady, 13 John Leota, 12 Sammy Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 James Gaskell, 7 David Seymour, 6 Daniel Braid, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Johnathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Thomas Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Tony Buckley, 19 Viliami Peauafi Fihaki, 20 Mark Easter, 21 William Cliff, 22 Nicholas Macleod, 23 Tom Arscott.
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Martyn Thomas, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jimmy Cowan, 8 Gareth Evans, 7 Matt Cox, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 James Hudson (captain), 4 Elliott Stooke, 3 Sila Puafisi, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Nick Wood.
Replacements: 16 Koree Britton, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Rupert Harden, 19 Will James, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Dan Robson, 23 Shane Monahan.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Gordon Goodliffe, Ashley Rowden
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Saturday, February 8:
Bath v Newcastle Falcons
(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Bath have recorded only one defeat from their last 17 matches: 25-43 at Northampton in Premiership action on December 28.
Bath’s only loss at the Rec in any competition since December 2012 was when Stade Francais were the visitors in the quarterfinal of last season’s European Challenge Cup.
Newcastle Falcons have won two of their last three matches in all tournaments but in the Premiership have slipped to six straight defeats. The Falcons’ most recent away win in the competition was 16-11 at Worcester in Round Five.
Newcastle’s sole victory in their last 17 encounters with Bath in all tournaments since 2004 was 27-16 at the Rec in the Premiership in October 2009.
Teams:
Bath: 15 Nick Abendanon, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nathan Catt.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Anthony Perenise, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 20 Leroy Houston, 21 Micky Young, 22 Gavin Henson, 23 Horacio Agulla.
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Noah Cato, 13 Gonzalo Tiesi, 12 Jamie Helleur, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Warren Fury, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Andy Saull, 6 Will Welch (captain), 5 Fraser McKenzie, 4 Scott MacLeod, 3 Oliver Tomaszczyk, 2 Matt Thompson, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Franck Montanella, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 Sean Tomes, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Chris Pilgrim, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Adam Powell.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Roy Maybank
TMO: David Grashoff
Saracens v London Irish
(Allianz Park – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Saracens’ only two defeats in any tournament since October have both been away from home, at Toulouse in the European Cup and at Northampton in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
Sarries have won their last 11 matches at Allianz Park since the Saints beat them there in last season’s Premiership semifinal.
London Irish have lost just one of their last five fixtures in all competitions: 15-22 away to London Wasps in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on January 25.
The Exiles’ only away victory in the Premiership since January 2013 was 20-18 at Worcester in Round Two this season.
London Irish have beaten Saracens only once in their last six encounters: 16-29 at Madejski Stadium on February 9, 2013.
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Neil de Kock, 8 Ernst Joubert 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Mouritz Botha, 4 Steve Borthwick (captain), 3 Matt Stevens, 2 Jamie George, 1 Richard Barrington.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 James Johnston, 19 George Kruis, 20 Matt Hankin, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Joel Tomkins, 23 Jack Wilson.
London Irish: 15 James O'Connor, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Fergus Mulchrone, 12 Eamonn Sheridan, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Tomás O'Leary, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Kieran Low, 5 George Skivington, 4 Nic Rouse, 3 Jamie Hagan, 2 David Paice, 1 Matt Parr.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 John Yapp, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jebb Sinclair, 20 Gerard Ellis, 21 Alex Lewington, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Sean Kennedy.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, Andy Watson
TMO: Keith Lewis
Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints
(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 19.00; 19.00 GMT)
Exeter Chiefs have won their last three matches in all tournaments, but in the Premiership their only victory in the last five rounds was 16-3 at home to Newcastle on December 21. The Chiefs have won only two of their last five matches at Sandy Park in all tournaments.
Northampton Saints have recorded eight successive victories since their loss to Leinster at Franklin’s Gardens in the European Cup in December. The Saints have won seven away games in a row following their 13-19 reversal at Castres in the European Cup in October.
Exeter’s only previous victory over the Saints in the Premiership came at Sandy Park in March 2011. They did also beat the East Midlanders 28-19 in the Anglo-Welsh Cup at Sandy Park last February.
Teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Matt Jess, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Phil Dollman, 11 Tom James, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Kai Horstmann, 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm (captain), 3 Alex Brown, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Hoani Tui, 19 Don Armand, 20 Tom Johnson, 21 Haydn Thomas, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Fetu'u Vainikolo.
Northampton Saints: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Dom Waldouck, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Phil Dowson (captain), 6 Calum Clark, 5 Christian Day, 4 Samu Manoa, 3 Salesi Ma'afu, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Ross McMillan, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 GJ Van Velze, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Alex Day, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Fa'atoina Auagavaia.
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Kelvin Stewart
TMO: Ashley Rowden
Sunday, February 9:
Harlequins v London Wasps
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)
Harlequins have slipped to defeat in two of their last three Premiership matches, but have won their last three home games in the tournament (two at Twickenham Stoop and one over the road at HQ).
London Wasps’ five-game winning run in all tournaments ended with their defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on Saturday.
The Wasps’ only two defeats in their last seven fixtures in the Premiership have strangely both been at Adams Park – they have won their last three away games in the tournament, but have not won four in a row on the road in the Premiership since 2008.
Wasps’ only victory over Harlequins in their last nine encounters in all competitions since 2009 was 17-16 at the Twickenham Stoop exactly 12 months ago.
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 14 Sam Smith, 13 Tim Molenaar, 12 Jordan Turner-Hall, 11 Ugo Monye, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Karl Dickson, 8 Nick Easter, 7 Maurie Fa'asavalu, 6 Tom Guest, 5 George Robson, 4 Nick Kennedy, 3 Paul Doran Jones, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Tom Casson.
Wasps: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Will Helu, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell (captain), 11 James Short, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Sam Jones, 7 James Haskell, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 James Cannon, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Brett Sheehan, 22 Joe Carlisle, 23 Charlie Hayter.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Simon Mcconnell
TMO: Sean Davey
