All to play for in the Premiership (permutations)
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With this weekend marking the penultimate round of Premiership Rugby, the stakes are higher than ever. Every game has something riding on it, and at least one team playing that has something massive to play for. See below:
Sale Sharks v Bristol Bears
Perhaps the most important game of the weekend in the race for The Play-Offs will take place on Friday night when Bristol Bears travel to Sale Sharks.
Third and fourth respectively, either side could conceivably wrap up a post-season berth with victory and other results going their way. If Sale were to lose, a Saracens win or loss with an extra bonus point, then the Sharks would put them in the top four. Bristol losing would also mean that Sarries would have an opportunity to overtake, so there is a very real chance that whoever loses drops out of the top four going into the final day.
TEAM NEWS
Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Rekeiti Ma’asi-White, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford 9. Gus Warr, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Tadgh McElroy, 3. Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4. Ernst van Rhyn, 5. Jonny Hill, 6. JL du Preez, 7. Ben Curry (c), 8. Dan du Preez
Replacements: 16. Alfie Longstaff, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Sam Dugdale, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam Bedlow, 23. Alex Wills.
Bristol Bears: 15. Rich Lane, 14. Kalaveti Ravouvou, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Harry Randall, 1. Jake Woolmore, 2. Gabriel Oghre, 3. George Kloska, 4. Josh Caulfield, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Santiago Grondona, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Viliame Mata
Replacements: 16. Will Capon, 17. Ellis Genge, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. James Dun, 20. Joe Owen, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Harry Byrne, 23. Siva Naulago
Northampton Saints v Saracens
Saracens have a real chance to burst into the top four with a win. Saints are gearing up for their Champions Cup final and won’t see a win as essential; however, spoiling the party in their last game of the season at Franklin Gardens could be on the agenda.
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Tobias Elliott, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rotimi Segun, 10 Fergus Burke, 9 Ivan van Zyl; 1 Eroni Mawi, 2 Jamie George, 3 Marco Riccioni, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Nick Isiekwe, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Phil Brantingham, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Theo McFarland, 21 Andy Onyeama-Christie, 22 Charlie Bracken, 23 Angus Hall
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Fraser Dingwall (c), 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tom Litchfield, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell; 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Curtis Langdon, 3 Trevor Davison, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 5 Tom Lockett, 6 Alex Coles, 7 Josh Kemeny, 8 Henry Pollock
Replacements: 16 Craig Wright, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Elliot Millar Mills, 19 Ed Prowse, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Jonny Weimann, 22 Jake Garside, 23 Tom Seabrook
Gloucester Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
Gloucester Rugby will continue their bid for The Play-Offs against the Newcastle Falcons
Currently sitting in sixth, just three points behind fourth spot and have experienced mixed form of late having struggled on the road, falling to 38-19 defeat away at Harlequins last time out, and are without a win away from Kingsholm since November.
Meanwhile The Falcons will be aiming for a strong finish to their campaign in their final home match. Gloucester need to win this game if they are to have any chance of finishing in the top four, but it still might not be enough.
Teams News:
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Ben Redshaw, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Ben Stevenson, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Murray McCallum, 4 John Hawkins, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 6 Cameron Neild, 7 Tom Gordon, 8 Callum Chick
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Micky Rewcastle, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Oscar Usher, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Joe Davis, 22 Oli Spencer, 23 Max Pepper
Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson
11 Jack Cotgreave, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 1 Ciaran Knight, 2 Jack Singleton, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 4 Arthur Clark, 5 Freddie Clarke, 6 Freddie Thomas, 7 Lewis Ludlow, 8 Ruan Ackermann
Replacement: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Afolabi Fasogbon, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Caolan Englefield, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Will Butler
Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers
Tigers will almost certainly finish second, or third at worst, so wouldn’t meet table-topping Bath until the final if both were to get through. These sides have a real opportunity to show that they are better than the other and put out a real statement.
Team News:
Bath Rugby: 15 Ciaran Donoghue, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Cameron Redpath, 12 Will Butt, 11 Will Muir, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben Spencer (c); 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Alfie Barbeary,
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ross Molony, 20 Guy Pepper, 21 Tom Carr-Smith, 22 Max Ojomoh, 23 Arthur Green
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Solomone Kata, 12 Joseph Woodward, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet; 1 Nicky Smith, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 3 Joe Heyes, 4 Cameron Henderson, 5 Ollie Chessum, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Olly Cracknell
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Matt Rogerson, 20 Emeka Ilione, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Jamie Shillcock, 23 Dan Kelly
Harlequins v Exeter Chiefs
Legendary scrum-half Danny Care announced his retirement from professional rugby this week, which means that the last two games of the season are his last in Quins colours.
With this game marking the last at the Stoop of the season, Care is set to be given one final farewell by the supporters.
Team News
Harlequins: 15. Tyrone Green, 14. Rodrigo Isgro, 13. Oscar Beard, 12. Ben Waghorn, 11. Cadan Murley, 10. Marcus Smith, 21. Will Porter; 1. Fin Baxter, 2. Jack Walker, 3. Titi Lamositele, 4. Jonny Green, 5. George Hammond, 6. Jack Kenningham, 7. Will Evans, 8. Alex Dombrandt (c)
Replacements: 16. Sam Riley, 17. Jordan Els, 18. Ollie Streeter, 19. Joe Launchbury, 20. Tom Lawday, 9. Danny Care, 22. Sean Kerr, 23. Nick David
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Tommy Wyatt, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Tamati Tua, 11 Paul Brown-Bampoe, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Stu Townsend; 1 Kwenzo Blose, 2 Jack Yeandle, 3 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 4 Rusi Tuima, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 6 Jacques Vermeulen, 7 Richard Capstick, 8 Ethan Roots
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Marcus Street, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Martin Moloney, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Nick Lilley
