Preview: Premiership, Round 15
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Table-topping Northampton Saints take on second-placed Bath in the weekend's standout clash on Saturday, with both sides looking to pull away from the clubs chasing hard in pursuit.
Christian Day is hoping his side will be back at Franklin's Gardens by the time the end-of-season semifinals come around.
The reigning Premiership champions stuttered to an unconvincing 15-9 victory over London Irish in the last round of fixtures, but having lost just one league game in their last seven, they look an imposing prospect as the home straight comes into view.
And the Northampton lock, who was voted the Players' Player of the Year in a memorable 2013/14 campaign, sees the mouth-watering clash with Bath as an opportunity to move closer to that dream final four scenario.
"We want to keep pushing because we want a home semifinal," Day said.
"We know that with a semifinal at home you give yourself a good chance to get to Twickenham and set yourself up for another big match.
"We are well poised and we are proud of our position in the league at the moment, but the other teams are chasing hard so we have to keep going.
"We have had a couple of disappointments this season, but overall we are going pretty well.
"We are top of the Premiership, into the Anglo-Welsh Cup semifinals and have got a European quarterfinal as well, so we are certainly well positioned for the back-end of the season – but we have got some really tough games coming at us."
The Saints sit five points above their next opponents following Friday's success at a wet Franklin's Gardens, although the hosts were below their devastating best in a tight affair.
Day admitted that a repeat performance would not yield the same result this time around.
"I think our execution in the final third was our biggest issue," he added.
"We created a lot of chances but we just couldn't put points on the board.
"Every time we get into the opposition 22 we want to come away with some points, but four or five times on Friday we came away with nothing.
"It will be a big game against Bath. It's not a make or break fixture, but there's no doubt it is a big one.
"We have prepared well because we know that we are facing a very high quality team, and we will need to be better than last week to come away with anything."
The 31-year-old is likely to start alongside Samu Manoa at the Rec as the pair continue their second-row partnership, but with the American off to Toulon next season, Northampton's acquisition of Michael Paterson from Sale Sharks for the 2015/16 campaign is one that Day is full of praise for.
"Samu is a pretty unique talent and he will be a difficult man to replace because he can play any position in the back five of the pack so effectively, which not many players can do," the Saints lock said.
"But he (Paterson) can do it. He played really well at No.8 for Cardiff, he can play at 6 and he is very good in the second row as well.
"He is a multi-talented forward, and he has been showing his qualities this season for Sale, so there is no doubt he will be a good addition."
All the teams and match details:
Friday, February 20
Newcastle Falcons v Wasps
(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 19.45; 19.45 GMT)
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Sinoti Sinoti, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Noah Cato, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Mike Blair, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch, 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Josh Furno, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Rob Hawkins, 1 Rob Vickers.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Juan Pablo Orlandi, 18 Scott Wilson, 19 Kane Thompson, 20 Richard Mayhew, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Rory Clegg, 23 Gonzalo Tiesi.
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 James Downey, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).
Replacements: 16 Edd Shervington, 17 John Yapp, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Tom Bliss, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Andrea Masi.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth, Andy Watson
TMO: Sean Davey
Saturday, February 21
Sale Sharks v Saracens
(AJ Bell Stadium – Kick-off: 14.00; 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
Sale: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Nathan Hines, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Marc Jones, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Alberto de Marchi, 18 Ross Harrison, 19 Magnus Lund, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Tom Arscott.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Ernst Joubert, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Brett Sharman, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Hayden Smith, 20 Matt Hankin, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Chris Wyles.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Tim Wigglesworth
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Gloucester v London Welsh
(Kinghsholm – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Billy Burns, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Bill Meakes, 11 Henry Purdy, 10 James Hook, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 James Hudson, 4 Tom Savage (captain), 3 John Afoa, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Dan Murphy.
Replacements: 16 Darren Dawidiuk, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Sila Puafisi, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Mark Atkinson, 23 Jacob Rowan.
London Welsh: 15 Elliot Kear, 14 Seb Stegmann, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 James Tincknell, 11 Alan Awcock, 10 Will Robinson, 9 Piri Weepu, 8 Ben Pienaar, 7 Carl Kirwan (captain), 6 Ben West, 5 James Down, 4 Dean Schofield, 3 Taione Vea, 2 Rob Elloway, 1 Eddie Aholelei.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Jack Gilding, 19 Matt Corker, 20 Lachlan McCaffrey, 21 Rob Lewis, 22 Olly Barkley, 23 James Lewis.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, Andrew Pearce
TMO: David Grashoff
Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs
(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 15.00; 15.00 GMT)
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Ugo Monye, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Matt Hopper, 12 Tom Casson, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care, 8 Nick Easter (captain) 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Jack Clifford, 5 George Robson, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Mark Lambert.
Replacements: 16 Rob Buchanan, 17 Darryl Marfo, 18 Matt Shields, 19 Netani Talei, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Jack Nowell, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Henry Slade, 9 Will Chudley,8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Ben White, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm (captain), 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Alex Brown, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Tom Johnson, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Gareth Steenson, 23 Byron McGuigan.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Roy Maybank
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Bath v Northampton Saints
(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 15.15; 15.15 GMT)
Teams:
Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Sam Burgess, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Ollie Devoto, 9 Micky Young, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Francois Louw, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Alafoti Faosiliva, 20 Leroy Houston, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Luke Arscott.
Northampton: 15 James Wilson, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Lee Dickson (captain), 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Samu Manoa, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Gareth Denman, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.
Replacements: 16 Matti Williams, 17 Alex Corbisiero, 18 Tom Mercey, 19 Teimana Harrison, 20 Phil Dowson, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Ahsee Tuala.
Referee: Gregory Garner
Assistant referees: Peter Huckle, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: Keith Lewis
Sunday, February 22
London Irish v Leicester Tigers
(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 14.00; 14.00 GMT)
Teams:
London Irish: TBC
Leicester Tigers: TBC
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Ashley Rowden
TMO: David Sainsbury
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