Preview: Premiership, Round 14

The Warriors must turn their troubles around from away from home as they are just one of two sides to have lost all six games on the road in the Premiership this season – the other being London Irish.

And the Saints' only defeat at Franklin's Gardens in any tournament since early November was 11-24 to Wasps in Round Ten.

But Waller and company have not forgotten Worcester's stunning opening night win over the Saints at Sixways – and the prop admits they have played better than their loss column suggests.

"You saw in the first game of the season at Sixways what they are capable of, they have a great pack and some young backs who can play," Waller said.

"It's going to be a tough test. They have only narrowly lost out to some of the big names recently and they showed what they can do in the Sale game to get the win.

"They capitalised on a few of our mistakes and they really wanted to make an impact in the first game of the season. 

"We took a bit of a backwards step last week so it's important that we put that right this weekend."

The Warriors will be looking to record a season's double over Saints for the first time since 2004/05, the only occasion they have managed the feat.

And hooker Jaba Bregvadze – who made his first start for the club against Sale last week – believes his side can steam ahead after finally turning a corner.

The last few months we have prepared fully for every match, in some places we were unlucky but a few of our details in the game were not 100 per cent," he said. "But last week, everything we had practiced for in training came out in the game.

"Most games we are winning for the first 50 or 60 minutes, but small mistakes have cost us the game. We started to show what we can do for the whole 80 last week.

"We are going to Northampton to win again; we need to continue what we have been doing. We need to stay in this position because there are many more important games coming up."

We take a look at all the Round 14 action!

Saturday:

Sale Sharks v Saracens

(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)

Saracens are the second best team in the Premiership on current form, along with Sale Sharks and Newcastle Falcons, all gaining 18 league points from their last six matches. Saracens only defeat away from home in any competition since April was on their trip to Harlequins on January 9. 

Sale have won just one of their last seven encounters with Saracens in all tournaments: 14-10 at AJ Bell Stadium in this equivalent fixture in round 15 last year.

Teams:

Sale Sharks : 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Sam James, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Tom Arscott, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Mark Easter 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Eifion Lewis-Roberts, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Jonathan Mills, 20 TJ Ioane, 21 Chris Cusiter, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mark Jennings.

Saracens: 15 Ben Ransom, 14 Mike Ellery, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Charlie Hodgson (captain), 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, , 6 Kelly Brown, 5 Jim Hamilton, 4 Hayden Smith, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jared Saunders, 1 Titi Lamositele. 

Replacements: 16 Dave Porecki, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Kieran Low, 20 Michael Rhodes, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Nils Mordt, 23 Nathan Earle.

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

Assistant referees: Matthew O'Grady, Simon McConnell

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Northampton Saints v Worcester Warriors

(Franklin's Gardens – Kick-off: 14.45; 14.45 GMT)

Worcester Warriors 13-game losing run in all tournaments ended with their 31-23 defeat of Sale Sharks at Sixways on Saturday. Warriors are one of just two sides to have lost all six away games in Premiership this season, the other being London Irish. 

Worcester won the closest of games by a single point courtesy of a Tom Heathcote penalty in injury time when the two clubs met in Round One. Worcester have only once before achieved a season's double over Saints, in 2004-05.

Teams:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Tom Wood, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 James Craig, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 George Pisi.

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Carl Kirwan, 6 Dewald Potgieter, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jaba Bregvadze, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.

Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Na'ama Leleimalefaga, 18 James Johnston, 19 Dan Sanderson, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Andy Symons.

Referee: Matthew Carley 

Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Nigel Carrick

TMO: Stuart Terheeg

Gloucester v Northampton Falcons

(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)

Newcastle Falcons have lost only one of their last five matches in all tournaments and that by a single point to Wasps at the Ricoh Arena in the Premiership on February 6. 

The Tynesiders have not won away from home in any competition since they visited London Irish in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on February 7, 2015. 

Gloucester's only defeat in their last five Premiership fixtures against the Falcons was 10-20 at Kingston Park in November 2014. Newcastle have won just once at Kingsholm since 1998: 29-20 in Premiership Rugby in April 2012.

Teams:

Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook; 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Bill Meakes, 12 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 11 Henry Purdy, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Lewis Ludlow, 7 Jacob Rowan, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Jeremy Thrush, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Henry Trinder.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Giamba Venditti, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Richard Mayhew, 5 Mark Wilson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers. 

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Michael Young, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Juan Pablo Socino.

Referee: Tom Foley

Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Paul Burton

TMO: Rowan Kitt

Sunday:

Exeter Chiefs v Bath

(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 13.00; 13.00 GMT)

Bath have won just one of their last eight encounters in all competitions: 16-14 at Worcester Warriors in Round 12 of the Premiership. Bath have actually tallied more league points away from home than they have at home this season.  

Exeter's only victory in their eleven Premiership encounters with Bath was 16-6 at Sandy Park in this equivalent fixture in Round 16 last season.

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Sam Hill, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Dave Lewis, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Don Armand, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Geoff Parling, 4 Jonny Hill, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Will Hooley, 23 Max Bodilly

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Matt Banahan, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Leroy Houston, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Max Lahiff.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 David Wilson, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Matt Garvey, 21 Guy Mercer, 22 Jonathan Evans, 23 Max Clark.

Referee: Gregory Garner 

Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Paul Dix

TMO: Geoffrey Warren

Leicester Tigers v London Irish

(Welford Road – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)

London Irish's three victories in the Premiership this season have all come in the last seven rounds, against Northampton, Newcastle and Worcester. 

The Exiles have failed to gain a single league point from any of their six away games in the Premiership this season. 

The Tigers have lost just one of their last 14 encounters with London Irish: 19-22 at Welford Road in the Premiership in September 2014.

Teams:

Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Manusamoa Tuilagi, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Telusa Veainu, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Jono Kitto, 8 Ed Slater (captain), 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Mike Fitzgerald, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Marcos Ayerza. 

Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Logovi'i Mulipola, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Matt Smith.

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Topsy Ojo, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Theo Brophy Clews, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Ofisa Treviranus 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Smallbone.

Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Will Lloyd, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Johnny Williams.

Referee: Ian Tempest 

Assistant referees: Peter Allan, Andy Watson

TMO: David Sainsbury

Wasps v Harlequins

(Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 15.15; 15.15 GMT)

Harlequins ended a four-game losing run with their 25-19 victory over Leicester at Twickenham Stoop on Friday. Harlequins have not won away from home since they visited Worcester in the Premiership on January 3. 

Harlequins only loss in their last five Premiership meetings with Wasps was 6-37 on their only previous visit to Ricoh Arena in Round 14 last year.

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Charles Piutau, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson,8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 Thomas Young, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 James Cannon, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).

Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 Alex Rieder, 21 Jamie Stevenson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Brendan Macken.

Harlequins: 15 Ross Chisholm, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Winston Stanley, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Tito Tebaldi, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 James Chisholm, 5 James Horwill (captain), 4 George Merrick, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Rob Buchanan, 1 Mark Lambert.

Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Beau Robinson, 21 Sam Egerton, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Matt Hopper.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys 

Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, Kelvin Michael Stewart

TMO: David Grashoff

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