Preview: Premiership, Round Four

He was speaking ahead of Saturday's Premiership fixture between the Saints and Sarries at Franklin's Gardens.

The Saints beat Sarries in the 2014 Premiership Final to become champions for the first time and in both of the 2014/15 campaign's regular season fixtures between the sides to ensure they topped the table heading into the play-offs.

However, The Men in Black won 29-24 in May's semifinal before going on to defeat Bath 28-16 to lift the title.

"It is the first game at home and we are facing the champions so the boys are champing at the bit," Haywood said.

"So far we have had a great week's training and we are looking forward to it.

"Losing in the play-offs last year does add that little bit of fire in us and the boys really are champing at the bit; I can't wait for it.

"Saracens are a tough side who have a lot of great players and a lot of experienced players. We have to make sure we are switched on and we get our detail right.

"We are back in our stadium and with the new Barwell's Stand, so there will be a few extra fans to cheer us on. I hope we can do them proud.

"Franklin's Gardens is our fortress; we want to make sure we don't lose here," Haywood added.

Owen Farrell kicked 19 of Saracens' 29 points in the play-off win over the Saints in May and is expected to be named in the XV at the weekend.

"This is a massive game for us. Northampton are a brilliant side and they will be coming out fighting off the back of a loss last week," the England flyhalf said.

"I'm sure they will be up for it and will want to put in a good performance in front of their home crowd.

"We want to keep winning and keep the points ticking over in the Premiership and pick up as many points as we can before we head into Europe."

He added: "It is good to be back at a brilliant club [following the World Cup] and have some big games to get my teeth into."

* Meanwhile a fast start to the Premiership season would have been on every club's agenda but Leicester Tigers' desire to make an early statement is the reason why they remain unbeaten according to prop Fraser Balmain.

The Tigers recorded their third straight Premiership victory on Sunday, showing further signs of improvement as they downed a dangerous Wasps side 24-16 at Welford Road.

A strong Tigers pack and some resolute defensive work were matched with such creativity in attack that produced the high calibre tries scored by Vereniki Goneva and Telusa Veainu.

The addition of head coach Aaron Mauger is certainly beginning to show signs of promise and given the extended pre-season the team had together, Balmain believes they are reaping the rewards of their hard work.

"It was always going to be tough against Wasps but it was great to get a result and we were pleased with the performance as much as anything," he said.

"I think it was always going to take time for the combinations and the new formations to get going but we are getting used to playing that way, especially with the international boys back with us now.

"We have been improving step by step and perhaps the long pre-season has actually helped with that. It has helped me put on some timber but also when you have to learn a new system it eases you into it.

"It can be a rush sometimes in pre-season to learn things but we have taken advantage of having more time and it is showing.

"I just think there are a lot of positives this year and going out onto the pitch there is a different atmosphere, it has improved, and we knew how important it was to get a good start."

* Danny Cipriani is confident that his side are mentally prepared for their Friday night fixture against Harlequins.

The Sharks are back in action swiftly following Sunday's victory against the Northampton Saints.

"In these next couple of days, it's about mentally making sure you're on it and turning up on Friday," said Cipriani.

Speaking about the team's current form in the Premiership, Danny said, "What we need to do to make sure we win games and not forget what we're good at. In the last couple of weeks, we've just got back to that, whilst still trying to improve".

We look at all the Round Four action!

Friday, November 6

Harlequins v Sale Sharks

(Twickenham Stoop – Kick-off: 19.45)

Harlequins have won two of their three matches so far in Premiership to find themselves in fourth spot in the table.

Quins only loss in their last four encounters at Twickenham Stoop in the tournament was 26-27 to Bath on 8th May.

Sale Sharks have won their last two Premiership matches, at home to Worcester and Northampton Saints, but away from home have won only once in the competition since November: 52-12 at London Welsh in February.

Harlequins only defeat to the Sharks in their last nine Premiership  fixtures since 2010 was 12-16 at the Twickenham Stoop in November 2014.

Sale have actually won on their last two visits to the venue in all tournaments.

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 George Lowe, 12 Matt Hopper, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 Charlie Matthews, 3 Will Collier, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Jack Clifford, 20 James Chisholm, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica, 23 Ollie Lindsay-Hague.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Bryn Evans, 4 Jonathan Mills, 3 Vadim Cobilas, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Ross Harrison.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 James Flynn, 18 Brian Mujati, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Magnus Lund, 21 James Mitchell, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Johnny Leota.

Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

Assistant referees: Matthew Carly & Ashley Rowden

TMO: Sean Davey

Saturday, November 7

London Irish v Bath

(Madejski Stadium – Kick-off: 15.-00)

London Irish's most recent Premiership victory was at home to Sale on 12th April.

The Exiles were defeated 16-28 by Leicester in their previous game at Madejski Stadium and have not lost successive Premiership  fixtures at the venue since last November.

Bath  have slipped to back-to-back defeats at Wasps and at home to Harlequins but have not lost three in a row since February.

London Irish have won just one of their last eleven Premiership encounters against Bath: 29-22 in Reading in September 2012.

Bath have won on 7 of their last eight visits to Madejski Stadium.

Teams:

London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Shane Geraghty, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 David Sisi, 6 Tom Guest, 5 Matt Symons, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Leo Halavatau, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Smallbone.

Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Court, 18 Halani Aulika, 19 Eoin Sheriff, 20 Luke Narraway, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Chris Noakes, 23 Dom Waldouck.

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Alafoti Faosiliva, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dom Day, 4 Stuart Hooper (captain), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nick Auterac.

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nathan Catt, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Tom Ellis, 20 Max Northcote-Green, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 George Ford, 23 Jeff Williams.

Referee: Tom Foley

Assistant referees: Wayne Falla & Nigel Carrick

TMO: Rowan Kitt.

Worcester Warriors v Newcastle Falcons

(Sixways – Kick-off: 15.00)

Worcester Warriors have lost their last two Premiership matches at Sale and at Gloucester.

However, at Sixways they have achieved back-to-back wins 17 months apart and have not won three in a row in the competition at the venue since December 2012.

Newcastle Falcons suffered their worst Premiership defeat since season 2009/10, and their worst ever home reversal in going down 3-41 to Exeter Chiefs at Kingston Park on Sunday. The Falcons only victory in the tournament since round 13 last season was at home to Harlequins on 16th May.

Worcester have lost just once to Newcastle in their last five Premiership  encounters: 16-11 at Sixways in October 2013 on the Falcons most recent visit to the venue.

Teams:

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Na'ama Leleimalefaga, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Tevita Cavubati, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Giamba Venditti, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Alesana Tuilagi, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Michael Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Nili Latu, 6 Will Welch, 5 Kane Thompson, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Eric Fry, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Tom Penny.

Referee: JP Doyle

Assistant referees: Peter Huckle & Paul Dix

TMO: Stuart Terheege

Northampton Saints v Saracens

(Franklin's Gardens – Kick-off: 15.15)

Northampton Saints only victory in their last five Premiership matches was 42-16 against Newcastle at Milton Keynes in Round Two.

Saints have lost just one of their last twelve regular season Premiership  matches at Franklin's Gardens: 18-24 to Exeter on 14th November 2014.

Saracens have won their last six Premiership encounters since Exeter beat them at Allianz Park on 10th May.

Sarries only defeat in their last five away games in the tournament was 20-25 to Northampton at stadiummk in April.

Saracens 29-24 victory over The Saints at Franklin's Gardens in last season's semi-final ended a three game winning run by the East Midlanders over the Londoners. Saracens have won their last two visits to the venue having also beaten Exeter Chiefs there in the Anglo-Welsh Cup final in March.

Teams:

Northampton Saints:  15 Ben Foden, 14 Jamie Elliot, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickson, 7 Tom Wood (captain), 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Christian Day, 4 James Craig, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Michael Paterson, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Ahsee Tuala.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jacques Burger, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 George Kruis, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola.

Replacements: 16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Juan Figallo, 19 Michael Rhodes, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Marcelo Bosch.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Peter Allan & Andy Watson

TMO: Trevor Fisher

Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers

(Sandy Park – Kick-off: 17.30)

Exeter Chiefs have won their last two Premiership matches tallying six tries in each and conceding just one in total.

The Chiefs have been beaten just once at Sandy Park in the tournament since Round Two last season: 26-25 by Gloucester on 3rd January.

Leicester Tigers have made their best start to an Premiership season since they also won their opening three fixtures in 2008/09.

The Tigers have lost just one regular season away game in the tournament since January: 6-22 at Saracens in April.

Leicester have won their last six Premiership  fixtures against Exeter with The Chiefs only two victories over Tigers in the tournament both being in season 2011/12.

Teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 James Short, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain),  9 Will Chudley, 8 Don Armand, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Moray Low, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Thomas Waldrom, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Sam Hill, 23 Matt Jess.

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Seremaia Bai, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jordan Crane, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Fraser Balmain.

Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Riccardo Brugnara, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Mike Fitzgerald, 20 Laurence Pearce, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Peter Betham, 23 Mathew Tait.

Referee: Greg Garner

Assistant referees: Paul Burton & Ross Campbell

TMO: Geoff Warren

Sunday, November 8

Wasps v Gloucester  

(Ricoh Arena – Kick-off: 15.00)

Wasps have won just one of their last five Premiership matches: 16-9 over Bath at the Ricoh Arena on 24th October.

Wasps have not won back-to-back Premiership  encounters at the venue since March.

Gloucester's only defeat in Premiership so far this season came when they entertained table-topping Saracens in round 2.

Wasps have won their last five Premiership  fixtures against Gloucester since the Cherry & Whites were victorious 29-22 at Kingsholm in September 2012.

Gloucester have won only twice on Wasps soil in any competition since 1990: both in Premiership  at Adams Park in 2008 and 2011.

Gloucester have however won a game at the Ricoh Arena – having beaten Ospreys there 17-0 in the semifinal of the Anglo-Welsh Cup in March 2009.

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Frank Halai, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Ben Jacobs, 11 Christian Wade, 10 Ruaridh Jackson, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Lorenzo Cittadini, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Simon McIntyre.

Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

Gloucester: 15 Charlie Sharples, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 12 James Hook, 11 Jonny May, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Greig Laidlaw, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Ross Moriarty, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Purdy, 23 Rob Cook.

Referee: Ian Tempest

Assistant referees: Darren Gamage & Robin Goodliffe

TMO: David Sainsbury

Source: @premrugby