Harlequins vs Northampton
Kickoff: 7:45pm Friday TNT Sports
Team news:
Harlequins:
1.Jones 2.Walker 3.Kerrod 4.Launchbury 5.SLewies(C) 6.Kenningham 7.W.Evans 8.Chisholm
9.Care 10.J.Evans 11.Cleaves 12.Waghorn 13.Joseph 14.David 15.Green
16.Riley 17.Els 18.Lewis 19.Herbst 20.Lawday 21.Porter 22.Benson 23.Halfpenny
Northampton:
1.Haffar 2.Walker 3.Davison 4.Mayanavanu 5.Lockett 6.Kemeny(C) 7.Pearson 8.Augustus
9.McParland 10.Makepeace-Cubitt 11.Seabrook 12.Hutchinson 13.Savala 14.Litchfield 15.Ramm
16.Wright 17.West 18.Green 19.Prowse 20.Hunter-Hill 21.Scott-Young 22.James 23.Glister
Both teams are without their England players for this game. This means that instead of Smith vs Smith we get Evans versus Makepeace-Cubitt which highlights an issue with the way fixtures are sorted in English and European rugby as a whole. The Northampton back line has been badly hit but international absences with Mitchell, Smith, Freeman, Sleightholme and Dingwall all unavailable as well as the injured Furbank who would be with England as well. Quins have been less affected with Smith, Murley and Cunningham-South missing. The home team still have a strong back row and Evans is a good replacement at fly-half. Waghorn at inside centre is an exciting player to watch having been a key player for England's U20 team.
Prediction: Harlequins 27 vs 18 Northampton
Gloucester vs Leicester
Kickoff: 3:05pm Satursay TNT Sports
Team news:
Gloucester:
1.Vivas 2.Blake 3.Gotovtsev 4.Thomas 5.Jordan 6.Clement 7.Ludlow(C) 8.Ackermann
9.Williams 10.Anscombe 11.Llewellyn 12.S.Atkinson 13.Harris 14.Wade 15.Carreras
16.Singleton 17.Rapava-Ruskin 18.Knight 19.Clarke 20.Tuisue 21.Englefield 22.C.Atkinson 23.Hathaway
Leicester:
1.Smith 2.Montoya(C) 3.Cole 4.Henderson 5.Wells 6.Liebenberg 7.Reffell 8.Cracknell
9.Youngs 10.Pollard 11.Hassell-Collins 12.Kata 13.Perese 14.Radwan 15.Brown
16.Clare 17.Cronin 18.Hurd 19.Joussain 20.Ilione 21.Whiteley 22.Woodward 23.Volavola
Adam Radwan recently joined Leicester as a replacement for the recently retired Anthony Watson. Radwan starts despite only joining this week in a back three with the experienced Mike Brown and Ollie Hassell-Collins who is surely getting close to another England cap. Chris Harris makes his 100th appearance for Gloucester starting alongside Seb Atkinson in midfield. This means that Llewellyn moves to the wing after being snubbed by Warren Gatland. Gloucester are mostly unafected by players beogn away for England duty due to having a large Welsh contingent.
Prediction: Gloucester 34 vs 25 Leicester
Exeter vs Saracens
Kickoff: 5:30pm Saturday TNT Sports
Team news:
Exeter:
1.Sio 2.Innard 3.Iosefa-Scott 4.Jenkins(C) 5.Capstick 6.Roots 7.Vermeulen 8.Fisilau
9.Townsend 10.Haydon-Wood 11.Brown-Bampoe 12.Rigg 13.Hawkins 14.Hammersley 15.Wyatt
16.Frost 17.Blose 18.Street 19.Tuima 20.Molina 21.Cairns 22.Skinner 23.Wimbush
Saracens:
1.Brantingham 2.Pifeleti 3.Balmain 4.Wilson 5.Tizard 6.Eke 7.Michelow 8.Gonzalez
9.Van Zyl(C) 10.Johnson 11.Jackson 12.Hartley 13.Lozowski 14.Elliot 15.Williams
16.Hadfield 17.Mawi 18.Clarey 19.Sodeke 20.Tompkins 21.Simpson 22.Burke 23.Spink
If Exeter are going to register another home win, this seems like an excellent opportunity. Saracens are missing a lot of players for this game. Louie Johnson is an inexperienced fly-half and the likes of Earl, Itoje and George are all missing for the visitors. The Cheifs are only without Henry Slade due to that reason so Haydon-Wood returns to his more natural fly-half position.
Prediction: Exeter 24 vs 17 Saracens
Bristol vs Newcastle
Kickoff: 3pm Sunday TNT Sports
Team news:
Bristol:
1.Y.Thomas 2.Oghre 3.Lahiff 4.Dun 5.Owen 6.S.Grondona 7.Harding(C) 8.Mata
9.Marmion 10.Byrne 11.Ravouvou 12.Van Rensburg 13.Jenkins 14.Heward 15.Lane
16.Capon 17.Woolmore 18.Kloska 19.Luatua 20.Heenan 21.Wolstenholme 22.Elizalde 23.Bailey
Newcastle:
1.Brocklebank 2.Blamire 3.McCallum 4.De Chaves 5.Mcdonald 6.Van der Walt 7.Lockwood 8.Chick(C)
9.Stuart 10.Connon 11.Stevenson 12.Clark 13.Hearle 14.Pepper 15.Obatoyinbo
16.Fletcher 17.Rewcastle 18.De Bruin 19.Hawkins 20.Leathbarrow 21.Davis 22.Wilkinson 23.Spencer
Bristol are missing Genge and Randall for this game whilst Newcastle are unaffected. Harry Byrne starts at fly-half having stabilsed the position for the Bears in place of the injured MacGinty. Ravouvou moves to the wing due to injuries and a lack of depth in the Bears back thee. Newcastle have put obatoyinbo back at fullback for this game with Stevenson and Pepper in the back three. Pepper is out of position, he usually plays scrum-half, due to the sudden departure of Adam Radwan to Leicester. These games are normally big opportunities for Newcastle but their away form has been terrible and Bristol have been lucky with absences this week.
Prediction: Bristol 45 vs 12 Newcastle
Sale vs Bath
Kickoff: 3pm Sunday TNT Sports
Team news:
Sale:
1.Mcintyre 2.Caine 3.John 4.Van Rhyn 5.Andrews 6.JL du Preez 7.Dugdale 8.D.Du Preez
9.Warr 10.R.Du Preez 11.Reed 12.Ma'asi White 13.Addison 14.O'Flaherty 15.Carpenter
16.McElroy 17.Onasanya 18.Raymont 19.Hill 20.Bamber 21.Thomas 22.Wills 23.Bedlow
Bath:
1.Obano 2.Annett 3.Du Toit 4.Roux 5.Ewels(C) 6.Bayliss 7.Reid 8.Barbeary
9.Schreuder 10.Russell 11.McConnochie 12.Butt 13.Ojomoh 14.Cokanasiga 15.De Glanville
16.Tuipulotu 17.Van Wyk 18.Sela 19.Molony 20.Richards 21.Carr-Smith 22.Bailey 23.Coetzee
This would have been an incredible prospect had all players been available but it's an intriguing match-up nevertheless. Beno Obano starts at loosehead having missed out on a spot in the England camp which he was unlucky to not get. Fin Russell starts at fly-half which gives Bath major advantage given that he is playing Du Preez and not George Ford. Both teams are strong despite absences but Sale are under a lot of pressure at this stage and home wins will be integral to the playoff push. Bath's pack dominance will probably give them the edge given that Sale are without the Curry brothers and both starting props.
Prediction: Sale 23 vs 25 Bath
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