Preview: Premiership, Round Three
Undone on the opening day away to local rivals Bath, Rob Baxter's side bounced back to winning ways at the first attempt last weekend and, according to Welch, was just the tonic the Chiefs needed after the frustration of coming so close against Bath just seven days earlier.
"The fact that we came so close, but just fell short against Bath was obviously a bit of a kick in the teeth, so it was good to get back to Sandy Park and get good a win. We put right some of the things we got wrong against Bath too, so that was quite satisfying," he said.
For Welch, getting a win on the board so early in the season is seen as vital and now he wants the Chiefs to kick-on further at Kingston Park.
"It is one of those things where, every season, you worry about getting that first win – it's human nature I suppose. We talk a lot about making Sandy Park a fortress and if we are going to do that then we need to be winning all of our home games.
"We were all kicking ourselves after the Bath game because we didn't impose ourselves as much as we would have liked in that one. Our maul was a bit ineffective and our scrum was ineffective, but I think against Irish, what people saw was a good performance from the forwards who wanted to put right the mistakes of the previous week," he added.
Although it was a positive outcome for the Chiefs, one which brought the necessary five-point haul, Welch believes the current crop of players at Sandy Park have the capabilities to achieve so much more.
We look at all the Round Three action!
Saturday, October 31
Saracens v London Irish
(Allianz Park, 13.00 GMT)
Saracens are one of only two sides to have begun the new Premiership campaign with a pair of victories, the other being Leicester Tigers. The champions have won their last five fixtures in the tournament since losing 20-24 to Exeter Chiefs at Allianz Park in May.
London Irish are one of only two sides to have begun the new season with two losses, the other is Newcastle Falcons. The Exiles are without a win since they beat Sale Sharks 25-23 at Reading in Round 19, whilst their most recent away victory came at London Welsh in February.
London Irish are one of only three sides to have beaten Saracens at Allianz Park in the Premiership, the others are Northampton Saints (twice) and Exeter Chiefs.
Teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Duncan Taylor, 11 Mike Ellery, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ernst Joubert, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Jackson Wray, 5 Alistair Hargreaves (captain), 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Jamie George, 1 Rhys Gill.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Jim Hamilton, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Brad Barritt, 23 Chris Wyles.
London Irish: 15 Topsy Ojo, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Tom Fowlie, 12 Fergus Mulchrone, 11 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 10 Chris Noakes, 9 Brendan McKibbin, 8 Rob McCusker, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Jebb Sinclair, 5 Matt Symons, 4 George Skivington (captain), 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Smallbone.
Replacements: 16 Gerard Ellis, 17 Tom Court, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Eoin Sheriff, 20 David Sisi, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Shane Geraghty, 23 Alex Lewington.
Referee: Greg Garner
Assistant referees: Simon McConnell, Paul Dix
TMO: Trevor Fisher
Bath v Harlequins
(Recreation Ground, 13.30 GMT)
Bath's only defeat at the Recreation Ground in the last fifteen fixtures was to Northampton Saints in February. Bath have lost two of their last three encounters in the tournament, including last year's final.
Harlequins have won just one of their last four matches, 26-21 over Wasps at the Twickenham Stoop in Round One, whilst their only victory on the road in the tournament since January came at Sale Sharks in April.
Harlequins have beaten Bath just once in any tournament since April 2013, 19-16 at home in May 2014, whilst they have not been victorious at the Recreation Ground since November 2011.
Teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Ollie Devoto, 12 Kyle Eastmond, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Niko Matawalu, 8 Leroy Houston, 7 Guy Mercer, 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood (captain), 4 Dominic Day, 3 David Wilson, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Max Lahiff.
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Stuart Hooper, 20 Max Northcote-Green, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Tom Homer.
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 George Lowe, 12 Harry Sloan, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Nick Evans, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Chris Robshaw, 6 Jack Clifford, 5 Sam Twomey, 4 James Horwill, 4 James Horwill, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler.
Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Ben Botica 23, Ollie Lindsay-Hague.
Referee: Matthew Carly
Assistant referees: Andrew Pearce, Roy Maybank
TMO: David Sainsbury
Gloucester v Worcester Warriors
(Kingsholm, 14.00 GMT)
Gloucester's five game unbeaten run at Kingsholm ended with their 15-17 reversal to Saracens on Friday. Gloucester's solitary victory in the last three rounds of the tournament was 39-27 at Newcastle in Round One.
Worcester Warriors last five encounters have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst Warriors have won just once on the road in the tournament in their last 28 away trips since 2012.
Each side won its respective home game when the two clubs last met in the 2013/14 season, while Worcester's only previous victory at Kingsholm came on April 21, 2009.
Teams:
Gloucester: 15 Charlie Sharples, 14 David Halaifonua, 13 Billy Twelvetrees (captain), 12 Bill Meakes, 11 Jonny May, 10 James Hook, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ross Moriarty, 5 Sione Kalamafoni, 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paddy McAllister.
Replacements: 16 Chris Brooker, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Paul Doran-Jones, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Jacob Rowan, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Henry Purdy.
Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Tom Biggs, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 Gerrit-Jan van Velze (captain), 7 Marco Mama, 6 Phil Dowson, 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Na'ama Leleimalefaga.
Replacements: 16 Dan George, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Joe Rees, 19 Darren Barry, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Ben Howard.
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Tom Foley, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Keith Lewis
Sunday, November 1
Newcastle Falcons v Exeter Chiefs
(Kingston Park, 13.00 GMT)
Newcastle Falcons' only victory since January was 37-21 at home to Harlequins in Round 22 last season, while the last time the Tynesiders failed to score a try in a match, in the tournament, was on a trip to London Irish in April 2014.
Exeter Chiefs have lost just one of their last four encounters, 17-19 at Bath in the opening round of the new season. Exeter have won only twice on the road in the competition since last November – at Harlequins in February and at Saracens in May.
The Falcons have beaten Exeter just once in their last eight encounters in all tournaments.
Teams:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Tom Penny, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Giovanbattista Venditti, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Micky Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Nili Latu, 6 Will Welch (captain), 5 Calum Green, 4 Mouritz Botha, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Eric Fry.
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Taione Vea, 19 Joshua Furno, 20 Todd Clever, 21 Ruki Tipuna, 22 Tom Catterick, 23 Belisario Agulla.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Matt Jess, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Sam Hill, 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 Ian Whitten, 23 Olly Woodburn.
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Steve Lee
TMO: Sean Davey
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints
(AJ Bell Stadium, 14.30 GMT)
Sale Sharks' last four matches have all been won by the home side on the day, while the Sharks' only reversal in their last six fixtures in all competitions at AJ Bell Stadium was 23-25 to Harlequins in April.
Northampton Saints' three game losing run in the tournament ended with their 42-16 defeat of Newcastle Falcons at Milton Keynes on Saturday. The Saints have not been victorious away from home in any tournament since beating Bath 21-13 at the Recreation Ground in February.
The last five fixtures between the two clubs have all been won by the home side on the day. while The Saints' record at AJ Bell Stadium in their four previous visits in all competitions is an even won two, lost two.
Teams:
Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Tom Arscott, 13 Johnny Leota, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Will Addison, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Chris Cusiter, 8 Josh Beaumont, 7 TJ Ioane, 6 Dan Braid (captain), 5 Jonathan Mills, 4 Bryn Evans, 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 Peter Stringer, 22 Nick Macleod, 23 Sam James.
Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Jamie Elliott, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali'i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Tom Wood (captain), 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller,
Replacements: 16 Dylan Hartley, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Christian Day, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Ahsee Tuala.
Referee: Andrew Small
Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Andrew Jackson
TMO: David Grashoff
Leicester Tigers v Wasps
(Welford Road, 15.15 GMT)
Leicester Tigers have lost just one of their last six matches – at Bath in last season's semi-final, while they are unbeaten at Welford Road in their last 10 fixtures in the tournament, a run which includes eight wins in a row.
Wasps' three game winless run ended at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday with their 16-9 victory over Bath, while their only win on the road in the competition in 2015 came when they visited London Welsh in April.
The Tigers achieved a double over Wasps last season. Wasps most recent victory at Welford Road was in September 2008.
Teams:
Leicester Tigers: 15 Mathew Tait (captain), 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Matt Smith, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Opeti Fonua, 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Mike Fitzgerald, 4 Mike Williams, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs, 1 Fraser Balmain.
Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Logovi'i Mulipola, 18 Tiziano Pasquali, 19 Dom Barrow, 20 Jordan Crane, 21 Jono Kitto, 22 Seremaia Bai, 23 Telusa Veainu.
Wasps: 15 Ruaridh Jackson, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 James Downey, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 James Haskell (captain), 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Carlo Festuccia, 1 Matt Mullan.
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Bradley Davies, 20 Guy Thompson, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.
Referee: Tim Wigglesworth
Assistant referees: Ross Campbell, Simon Harding
TMO: Stuart Terheege
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