Preview: Premiership, Round Five
It will be a replay of last year's Premiership final when Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints meet in their East Midland derby this weekend.
Both teams have suffered just one loss in their four matches this season, so this one should be as tense as ever when they meet at Welford Road on Saturday.
Tigers tighthead prop Dan Cole admits he can't wait to get going again against Jim Mallinder's men, with the game the one he looks for when the fixtures are released.
"We always look forward to playing against Saints and these games are the reasons why you play rugby really," he said.
"Going on last year's performance we are the best two teams in the country and we are local rivals so it should be one to remember.
"They have a good forward pack and like to use it and so do we so I am expecting a busy game but I can't wait to get going really," added the burly prop.
We take a look at all of the fixtures:
Friday, October 4
Sale Sharks v Bath
(Salford City Stadium – Kick-off: 19.45, 19.45 GMT)
Ross Batty, Ollie Devoto and Will Spencer will make their first starts of the Premiership season when Bath Rugby travel to the AJ Bell Stadium to face Sale Sharks
David Seymour is scheduled to play his 100th game for Sale Sharks. Jonny Leota returns after missing the last three games with a facial injury and Sammy Tuitupou is among the replacements having recovered from his broken jaw sustained at Cardiff Blues in a pre season game.
Batty comes into the front row alongside the international duo of Paul James and David Wilson, whilst Will Spencer partners captain Stuart Hooper in the second row. The back row is unchanged from last weekend's victory over London Irish, as Matt Garvey, Guy Mercer and Leroy Houston complete the scrum.
Peter Stringer and George Ford continue to build their halfback partnership, with Kyle Eastmond and Jonathan Joseph linking up in the midfield once more. Tom Biggs replaces Matt Banahan on the left wing, as Semesa Rokoduguni lines up on the opposite side. Devoto, a member of the England U20s Junior World Championship winning side, completes the line-up at fullback.
There are notable returns on the bench for Carl Fearns and Ben Williams, who could both make their return to first team action tomorrow night should be they called upon.
Banahan, Dave Attwood, Rob Webber, Dominic Day, and Anthony Watson all picked up injuries in the game against London Irish and were unavailable for selection this weekend.
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Phil McKenzie, 13 Andy Forsyth, 12 Jonny Leota, 11 Mark Cueto, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Dwayne Peel, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.
Replacements: 16 Marc Jones, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Kirill Kulemin, 20 Andrei Ostrikov, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Sammy Tuitupou.
Bath: 15 Ollie Devoto, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Tom Biggs, 10 George Ford, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 David Wilson, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Paul James.
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Anthony Perenise, 18. Kane Palma-Newport, 19 Carl Fearns, 20 Alafoti Fa'osiliva, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Ben Williams, 23 Gavin Henson.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Stuart Terheege, Paul Burton
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Saturday, October 5
London Irish v Harlequins
(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 15.00)
London Irish have won just one Premiership match this season: 20-18 away at Worcester in Round Two. The Exiles 23-29 reversal to Exeter at Madejski Stadium in Round Three was their first defeat at the venue in any competition.
All four of Harlequins encounters this season have been won by the nominated away side on the day, in
fact ‘Quins away form since the tail end of the 2011/12 season has seen them record only five defeats in
their last twenty trips in all competitions.
Harlequins have won their last five encounters with the Exiles in all tournaments since London Irish beat
their visitors 15-9 at Madejski Stadium in the Premiership on 26th February 2011. There has not been
try bonus point scored in this fixture since 2007.
Teams:
London Irish: TBC
Harlequins: TBC
Referee: David Rose(115thPremiership game)
Assistant Referees: Kevin Stuart & Roger Baileff. TMO:David Sainsbury.
Saracens v London Wasps
(Allianz Park – Kick-off: 15.00)
Saracens recorded a fourth straight Premiership victory at Harlequins on Saturday, and have not lost at home in the tournament in the regular season since Harlequins were the visitors to Wembley
Stadium in March 2012.
London Wasps eleven game losing run came to a welcome end with their convincing bonus point victory over Worcester at Adams Park on Saturday. Wasps have been defeated in their last six Premiership away games but have at least recorded four losing bonus points in that sequence.
Wasps only victory over Saracens in their last six fixtures was 20-15 at Twickenham during the 2011 London Double Header. This is Wasps first visit to Allianz Park.
Teams:
Saracens: TBC
London Wasps: TBC
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Peter Huckle, Gareth Copsey
TMO: Keith Lewis
Worcester Warriors v Newcastle Falcons
(Sixways – Kick-off: 15.00)
Worcester Warriors have slipped to nine straight defeats their worst run in professional rugby.
The Warriors have been defeated in their last four clashes at Sixways in the Premiership, since
beating Wasps there 29-23 in March.
Newcastle Falcons only win so far was 15-14 at Sale in round Two, whilst they scored their only try of the
season so far just 52 seconds into their home defeat to Gloucester at Kingston Park on Sunday.
The Falcons only victory over the Warriors in their last nine meetings in all competitions was 14-3 at
Kingston Park in the Premiership in November 2009. Newcastle have not been victorious at Sixways
since September 2004.
Teams:
Worcestor Warriors: TBC
Newcastle Falcons: TBC
Referee: Martin Fox
Assistant Referees: Andrew Pearce, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Geoff Warren
Leicester Tigers v Northampton Saints
(Welford Road – Kick-off: 15.00)
The two clubs that contested last season’s Premiership final once more lock horns at Welford Road.
The Tigers only loss in their last seven fixtures came at Bath, whilst they have been defeated only once at Welford Road in any competition in the last twelve months: 27-32 to Saracens in February.
Northampton Saints have lost just once so far this season: 24-26 at Gloucester. The Saints have won six of their last eight away games in the Premiership.
The Tigers have been victorious in their last eight fixtures with The Saints, their best run against their
near neighbours and East Midlands rivals since the 1980s.
Northampton have not won at Welford Road since their 10-9 victory there in the Premiership in February 2007
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: TBC
Northampton Saints: TBC
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Paul Dix, Robin Goodliffe
TMO: David Grashoff
Sunday, October 6
Gloucester v Exeter Chiefs
(Kingsholm – Kick-off: 14.00 GMT)
Gloucester began the Premiership season with defeats to Sale and Saracens, but have since turned this around with victories over Northampton and Newcastle.
Perhaps surprisingly the Cherry and Whites have recorded just one try bonus point in the Premiership at
Kingsholm since the end of the 2010/11 season.
Exeter Chiefs’two game winning run in the Premiership was halted by champions Leicester at Sandy
Park on Sunday. Exeter’s only reversal in their last five away games came at Northampton on the
opening weekend.
The six previous Premiership encounters between the two clubs have been shared evenly with three wins
apiece, whilst the Chiefs only previous victory at Kingsholm in competitive rugby was 28-27 in March
2012.
Teams:
Gloucester: TBC
Exeter Chiefs: TBC
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant Referees: RoyMaybank, Ashley Rowden
TMO: Rowan Kitt
