Preview: Premiership, Round Seven
REJUVENATED: After three weekends off the Premiership Rugby Cup roars back into league action on Friday with matches at The Twickenham Stoop and Kingsholm Stadium kicking off what promises to be an intriguing Round Seven.
It was a record-breaking opening six rounds of Premiership Rugby action, with 226 tries scored, beating last season’s best of 218, as well as 1,905 points being tallied up – another record, beating the previous best of 1,899 in the 1998-99 campaign.
With England taking on Japan at Twickenham, there are some early kickoffs on Saturday, Round 7 ending with a blockbuster of a west country derby on Sunday where a bumper crowd is heading for Ashton Gate to see Bristol Bears take on Exeter Chiefs.
Friday, November 16
Gloucester Rugby v Leicester Tigers
(Kingsholm, Kick-off: 19.45, 19.45 GMT)
Gloucester Rugby won their most recent Premiership Rugby encounter 35-21 at Wasps but have not won successive matches in the tournament since last December. Gloucester’s only defeat at Kingsholm in any competition this season was 25-27 to Harlequins in round five of Premiership Rugby. Leicester Tigers have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches, at home to Sale Sharks and over Northampton at Twickenham. The Tigers most recent away win at a regular club ground was in round 22 last season at Sale.
Gloucester’s 24-17 victory over Leicester in round 14 last season ended a run of seven straight defeats to the Tigers in all competitions. Leicester have won on two of their last three visits to Kingsholm.
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Matt Banahan, 13 Billy Twelvetrees, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Freddie Clarke, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Gareth Evans, 5 Ed Slater (captain), 4 Tom Savage, 3 Fraser Balmain; 2 James Hanson, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Gerbrandt Grobler, 20 Ben Morgan, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Tom Hudson
Leicester: 15 George Worth, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Jordan Olowofela, 10 Joe Ford, 9 Ben White, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (captain), 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Jake Kerr, 17 Facundo Gigena, 18 Gaston Cortes, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Mike Fitzgerald, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Tom Hardwick, 23 Matt Smith
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal & Wayne Falla.
TMO: Geoff Warren.
Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons
(Twickenham Stoop, Kick-off: 19.45, 19.45 GMT)
Harlequins have won just once in the last five rounds of Premiership Rugby: 27-25 at Gloucester in round five, whilst their only home win in the tournament since March was against Sale on 1 September.
Newcastle Falcons are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions but in Premiership Rugby, their only win in their last eight encounters was at Worcester on 15 September.
The Falcons have won their last three fixtures with Harlequins including a double in Premiership Rugby last season and a 23-21 win at The Stoop in round two of this year’s Premiership Rugby Cup.
Teams:
Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Mike Brown, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Charlie Mulchrone, 8 James Chisholm (captain), 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Alex Dombrandt, 5 George Merrick, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Will Collier, 2 Elia Elia, 1 Lewis Boyce
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Phil Swainston, 19 Ben Glynn, 20 Dave Ward, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 James Lang, 23 Francis Saili
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Pedro Bettencourt, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Michael Young (captain), 8 Callum Chick, 7 John Hardie, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Andrew Davidson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Sam Lockwood
Replacements:16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Trevor Davison, 18 David Wilson, 19 Glen Young, 20 Ryan Burrows, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Ben Stevenson
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant Referees: Michael Hudson & Peter Allan.
TMO: Sean Davey.
Saturday, November 17
Bath Rugby v Worcester Warriors
(Recreation Ground, Kick-off: 12.45, 12.45 GMT)
Bath Rugby are without a victory in their last seven matches in all competitions, their worst run since 2009. Bath have lost just once at the Recreation Ground in Premiership Rugby since March: 24-39 to Exeter in round 6.
Worcester Warriors’ five-game winning run in all tournaments ended at Saracens on Sunday. Worcester have won just one of their last seven away games in Premiership Rugby, 44-37 at Leicester on 23 September.
Bath have lost only one of their last eleven encounters with Warriors: 19-25 at Sixways in April 2017, whilst Worcester have lost on all 12 previous visits to the Recreation Ground in Premiership Rugby.
Teams:
Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Tom Ellis, 6 Matt Garvey (captain), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements:16 Jack Walker, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Luke Charteris, 20 Levi Douglas, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Max Wright, 23 Ruaridh McConnochie
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Perry Humphreys, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Matti Williams, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black
Replacements:16 Niall Annett, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Wynand Olivier
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales & Roy Maybank.
TMO: David Rose.
Northampton Saints v Wasps
(Franklin’s Gardens, Kick-off: 13.00, 13.00 GMT)
Northampton Saints three-game winning run in all competitions ended at Gloucester in the Premiership Rugby Cup on Friday. The Saints have lost three of their last five Premiership Rugby matches played at Franklin’s Gardens.
Wasps are without a win in their last six first-team matches, their worst run since 2013. Wasps only two defeats in Premiership Rugby this season have both been at the Ricoh Arena, to Exeter and Gloucester.
The Saints 15-14 victory over Wasps in Coventry in round 2 of the Premiership Rugby Cup ended a six-game losing run to their midlands neighbours. Wasps have won on their last three visits to Franklin’s Gardens.
Teams:
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Taqele Naiyaravoro, 10 James Grayson, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Lewis Ludlam, 6 Tom Wood, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ben Franks, 2 James Fish, 1 Alex Waller (captain)
Replacements:16 Reece Marshall, 17 Will Davis, 18 Karl Garside, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Jamie Gibson, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Luther Burrell, 23 Ollie Sleightholme
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Gaby Lovobalavu, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Ashley Johnson (captain), 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Ben Harris
Replacements:16 Antonio Harris, 17 Tom West, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Michael Le Bourgeois
Referee: Matthew O’Grady
Assistant Referees: Simon McConnell & Paul Dix.
TMO: Trevor Fisher.
Saracens v Sale Sharks
(Allianz Park, Kick-off: 13.00, 13.00 GMT)
Saracens are unbeaten in their last 17 first team fixtures since Leinster knocked them out of last season’s Champions Cup at the quarter-final stage, a run which includes a 15-all draw against Sale in Salford two weeks ago. Saracens solitary defeat at home in 2018 was to Leicester in Gallagher Premiership Rugby in February.
Sale Sharks have been defeated only once in their last six matches in all tournaments: 3-35 at Worcester in the opening round of the Premiership Rugby Cup. The Sharks have lost their last five away games in Premiership Rugby.
Saracens only defeat to Sale since 2011 in Premiership Rugby was 10-14 at AJ Bell Stadium in February 2015. Sale’s only three victories in league play on Saracens soil were in 1994 in Division Two at Bramley Road, a year later at the same venue in Division One and a 40-32 victory in Premiership Rugby at Vicarage Road in September 2005.
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Max Malins, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Mike Rhodes, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Dom Day, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Richard Barrington
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Hisa Sasagi, 19 Joel Kpoku, 20 Calum Clark, 21 Ben Earl, 22 Tom Whiteley, 23 Marcelo Bosch
Sale Sharks: 15 Sam James, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 James O’Connor, 12 Johnny Leota, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Jono Ross (captain), 5 James Phillips, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Andrei Ostrikov, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Luke James, 23 Arron Reed
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant Referees: Tim Wigglesworth & Philip Watters.
TMO: Keith Lewis.
Sunday, November 18
Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs
(Ashton Gate, Kick-off: 15.00, 15.00 GMT)
Bristol Bears two victories in Premiership Rugby this season were both by a margin of seven points at Ashton Gate, against Bath in round 1 and Harlequins in round 4. The Bears only defeat in their last seven games at Ashton Gate in all competitions was 40-45 to Northampton in round 5 of Premiership Rugby.
Exeter Chiefs solo defeat in their last eleven first team games was at Castres in round 2 of the European Champions Cup. The Chiefs have lost only once in their last fifteen Premiership Rugby encounters and that was in last season’s final to Saracens.
Exeter have won their last five fixtures against Bristol since The Bears 25-16 victory at Sandy Park in the RFU Championship in December 2009.
Teams:
Bristol Bears: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Will Hurrell, 11 Ryan Edwards, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Nick Haining, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steve Luatua, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Ed Holmes, 3 John Afoa, 2 Shaun Malton, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements:16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Lewis Thiede, 19 Joe Joyce, 20 George Smith, 21 Harry Randall, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Sam Bedlow
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Santiago Cordero, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Alex Cuthbert, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Don Armand, 5 Mitch Lees, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Greg Holmes, 2 Jack Yeandle (captain), 1 Moray Low
Replacements:16 Elvis Taione, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Wilhelm van der Sluys, 20 Dave Dennis, 21 Nic White, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Sam Hill
Referee: Greg Macdonald
Assistant Referees: Jonathan Healy & Steve Lee.
TMO: Stuart Terheege.
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