Northampton vs Gloucester
Kickoff: 3pm Saturday TNT Sports
Team news:
Northampton
1.West 2.Langdon 3.Davison 4.Munga 5.Coles 6.Scott-Young 7.Pearson 8.Augustus
9.James 10.F.Smith 11.Sleightholme 12.Hutchison 13.Litchfield 14.Hendy 15.Furbank(C)
16.Wright 17.Iyogun 18.Green 19.Lockett 20.Pollock 21.Mitchell 22.DIngwall 23.Ramm
Northampton have chosen to immediately bring back their England stars for today's fixture. The only player not returning is Tommy Freeman. The big news for Northampton is that ALex Mitchell is fit enough to be on the bench and will make his first appearanc of the season on Saturday. Having selected their first-choice team, the Saints will be hoping to pick up a crucial win against a dangerous Gloucester team.
Gloucester
1.Rapava-Ruskin 2.Singleton 3.Fasogbon 4.Clark 5.Thomas 6.Clement 7.Ludlow(C) 8.Mercer
9.Englefield 10.Anscombe 11.Thorley 12.Atkinson 13.Llewellyn 14.Wade 15.Carreras
16.Blake 17.Knight 18.Gotovtsev 19.Alemmano 20.Ackermann 21.Chapman 22.Harris 23.Hathaway
Gloucester have shown improvement from last season having won 2 games so far this year and sitting 6th in the league. However, a key pillar of that success was the signing of Tomos Williams at scrum-half who is currently unavailable having suffered an injury whilst on international duty. This is a rare occasion in which Gloucester may feel they can establish some dominance up front with their massive front row and quality players in the tight five. Their forwards will likely need to have success in order for the backs to be able to compete with the talent that is possessed by Northampton.
My prediction
Northampton 32 vs 24 Gloucester
Bath vs Exeter
Kickoff: 5:45pm Saturday TNT Sports
Team news
Bath
1.Du Toit 2.Dunn 3.Stuart 4.Roux 5.Ewels 6.Hill 7.Pepper 8.Reid
9.Spencer 10.Russell 11.Muir 12.Butt 13.Lawrence 14.Cokanasiga 15.De Glanville
16.Annett 17.Van Wyck 18.Verden 19.Molony 20.Bayliss 21.Schreuder 22.Redpath 23.Barbeary
Will Stuart's performances over the autumn for his country seem to have convinced Johann Van Graan to give him a start on Saturday with the formidable Springbok, Thomas Du Toit, showcasing his versatility and moving to loosehead prop where he is also comfortable. This is pretty much a full strength Bath team with only Obano and Underhill missing. It looks to be a mighty test for the winless visitors.
Exeter
1.Sio 2.Frost 3.Street 4.Tuima 5.Capstick 6.E.Roots 7.Vermeulen(C) 8.Fisilau
9.Townsend 10.Slade 11.Wyatt 12.Rigg 13.Tua 14.Feyi-Waboso 15.Hodge
16.Innard 17.Goodrick-Clarke 18.J.Roots 19.Molina 20.Vintcent 21.Becconsall 22.Haydon-Wood 23.Hammersley
This is a strong Exeter team but it faces an uphill struggle away at the Rec. Henry Slade starting at fly-half is more evidence, if it was needed, that Exeter need better half-backs in order to properly compete with the best in the Premiership. A potential vulnerability for the chiefs lies in midfield; Bath have four centres who would probably start ahead of the players wearing 12 and 13 for Exeter today. This means that Rob Baxter has to hope that the Premiership Cup games, in which he played a strong team, have helped build cohesion which will allow his team to play as more than the sum of their parts.
My prediction
Bath 37 vs 18 Exeter
Sale vs Leicester
Kickoff: 3:15pm TNT Sports Sunday
Team news:
Sale
1.Rodd 2.Cowan-Dickie 3.Opoku-Fudjour 4.Van Rhyn 5.Andrews 6.T.Curry 7.B.Curry 8.D.Du Preez
9.Warr 10.Ford 11.Reed 12.James 13.R.Du Preez 14.T.Roebuck 15.Carpenter
16.Mcelroy 17.Mcintyre 18.Harper 19.J.Du Preez 20.Burrow 21.Dudgale 22.Quirke 23.Addison
All of the Du Preez's start today, in a strong Sale line-up. George Ford returns to the Sale starting XV for the first time in a while and partners Gus Warr in the halfbacks. Both Curry brothers start in a heavy duty pack in preparation for what will surely be a heavy weight bout up north.
Leicester
1.Smith 2.Clare 3.Heyes 4.Martin 5.Manz 6.Liebengberg 7.Reffell 8.Cracknell
9.Van Poortvliet 10.Pollard 11.Hassell-Collins 12.Kata 13.Perese 14.Watson 15.Steward
16.Vanes 17.Cronin 18.Cole 19.Holloway 20.Ilione 21.Youngs 22.Shillcock 23.Wand
There is no Montoya at hooker for the Tigers. Ollie Chessum is also missing so Manz starts at lock next to George Martin. Anthomy Watson starts on the wing in a back three alongside Hassell-Collins and Steward. This game will likely have a very interesting kicking battle between two sets of very physical back three players. The headline match-up has to be at fly-half; George Ford goes up against Handre Pollard.
My Prediction:
Sale 29 vs 27 Leicester
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