Preview: Premiership, Round 22
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There will be four teams gunning for the two remaining play-off spots in the final round of Premiership action on Saturday.
With table-toppers Northampton Saints and Bath having already secured their place in the semifinals, the only question remaining is which teams will join them in the knock-out stage of the competition.
With all six fixtures kicking off at the same time on Saturday, there is sure to be plenty of drama as the play-off race goes down to the wire.
Sarries suffered a setback in their bid to return to the Premiership semifinals in Round 21, falling to defeat at the hands of fellow top-four hopefuls Exeter Chiefs.
However, the fact remains that Saracens are firm favourites against London Welsh this weekend – and the semifinal race could well go down to who scores the most points.
With Saracens and Chiefs level on wins, the latter currently hold fourth spot by the slenderest of margins, with a superior points difference of three.
Saracens face the winless London Welsh, and will no doubt be gunning for a full-house of five log points, while the Chiefs host Sale Sharks at Sandy Park.
Leicester Tigers, currently in third place in the standings, know victory will be enough to ensure they make the semifinals for an 11th year in a row.
But defeat to their fierce rivals Northampton Saints in their East Midlands derby at Welford Road would leave Exeter Chiefs and Saracens an opportunity to pounce.
Wasps have an outside chance of sneaing into the semifinals, but they will need to beat London Irish well and hope that both Sarries and Chiefs fail to secure even a single bonus point in their respective matches.
With Bath already guaranteed a home semifinal and Gloucester able to finish eighth at best, it could appear there is little to play for at the Recreation Ground, but both sides will be looking to build momentum ahead of a crucial period, with Bath gearing up for the semifinals and Gloucester preparing for a key European play-off after their Challenge Cup victory.
All of Saturday's match details:
Bath v Gloucester
(Recreation Ground – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Sam Burgess, 5 Dominic Day, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Matt Garvey, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Horacio Agulla, 23 Tom Homer.
Gloucester: 15 Rob Cook, 14 Steph Reynolds, 13 Henry Purdy, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Steve McColl, 10 Aled Thomas, 9 Callum Braley, 8 Lewis Ludlow, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Elliott Stooke, 5 James Hudson, 4 Tom Hicks, 3 Shaun Knight, 2 Aleki Lutui, 1 Nick Wood (captain).
Replacements: 16, Darren Dawidiuk, 17 James Gibbons, 18 Yann Thomas, 19 Sam Underhill, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Lloyd Evans, 23 Mark Atkinson.
Referee: Dean Richards
Assistant referees: Kelvin Stewart, Simon McConnell
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Exeter Chiefs v Sale Sharks
(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
Exeter: 15 Jack Nowell, 14 Ian Whitten, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Ben White, 6 Don Armand, 5 Mitch Lees, 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 Damian Welch, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Max Bodilly, 23 Byron McGuigan.
Sale: 15 Tom Arscott, 14 Tom Brady, 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 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Ciaran Parker, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Mark Easter, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mike Haley.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Roger Baileff
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
(Welford Road – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
Leicester: 15 Niall Morris, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Mathew Tait, 12 Christian Loamanu, 11 Adam Thompstone, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Ben Youngs (captain), 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Ed Slater, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Brad Thorn, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Sebastian De Chaves, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Jack Roberts
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 Jamie Elliott, 13 Dom Waldouck, 12 Tom Stephenson, 11 Tom Collins, 10 James Wilson, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Jon Fisher, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Phil Dowson (captain), 5 James Craig, 4 Sam Dickinson, 3 Salesi Ma’afu, 2 Mike Haywood, 1 Alex Corbisiero
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Christian Day, 20 Ben Nutley, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Sam Olver, 23 Howard Packman
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Tim Wigglesworth, Peter Huckle
TMO: Rowan Kitt
London Irish v Wasps
(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
London Irish: 15 Andrew Fenby, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Eoin Griffin, 12 Shane Geraghty (captain), 11 James Short, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Darren Allison, 8 Tom Guest, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway, 5 Jebb Sinclair, 4 Dan Leo, 3 Richard Palframan, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.
Replacements: 16 Jimmy Stevens, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Ollie Curry, 20 Ofisa Treviranus, 21 Callum Watson, 22 Eamonn Sheridan, 23 Andrew Short.
Wasps: 15 Andrea Masi, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Sailosi Tagicakibau, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Charlie Davies,8 Guy Thompson, 7 James Haskell (captain), 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 James Gaskell, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Tom Lindsay, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Simon McIntyre, 17 Will Taylor, 18 Kearnan Myall, 19 Sam Jones, 20 Thomas Young, 21 Piri Weepu, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Rob Miller.
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Ian Tempest, Andrew Pearce
TMO: David Grashoff
London Welsh v Saracens
(Kassam Stadium – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
London Welsh: 15 Seb Jewell, 14 Alan Awcock, 13 Nic Reynolds, 12 Tom May (captain), 11 Chris Elder, 10 Olly Barkley, 9 Rob Lewis, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Darren Waters, 6 Ben West, 5 Matt Corker, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Jack Gilding, 2 Koree Britton, 1 Eddie Aholelei.
Replacements: 16 Nathan Morris, 17 Nathan Trevett, 18 Ben Cooper, 19 Daniel Browne, 20 Richard Thorpe, 21 Paul Rowley, 22 Will Robinson, 23 Seb Stegmann.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Chris Wyles, 11 David Strettle, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Neil De Kock, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Rhys Gill, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Maro Itoje, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Duncan Taylor.
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Darren Gamage, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Newcastle Falcons v Harlequins
(Kingston Park – Kick-off: 15.30; 14.30 GMT)
Teams:
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Adam Powell, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Tom Catterick, 9 Mike Blair (captain), 8 Uili Kolo’ofai, 7 Mark Wilson, 6 Richard Mayhew, 5 Scott Macleod, 4 Calum Green, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Alex Rogers, 19 Will Witty, 20 Andy Saull, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Andy Tuilagi, 23 Zach Kibirige.
Harlequins: 15 Ollie Lindsay-Hague, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Netani Talei, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 George Merrick, 3 Matt Shields, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Darryl Marfo.
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Rob Buchanan, 18 Seb Adeniran-Olule, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Joe Trayfoot, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Tom Williams.
Referee: Thomas Foley
Assistant referees: Steve Lee, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: David Sainsbury
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