Northampton Saints vs Leicester Tigers
Kickoff: 7:45pm Friday TNT Sports
Team news
Northampton Saints
1.Iyogun 2.C.Langdon 3.Davison 4.Mayanavanu 5.Lockett
6.Kemeny 7.Pearson 8.Augustus 9.James 10.F.Smith
11.Seabrook 12.Hutchinson 13.Dingwall(C) 14.Ramm 15.Hendy
16.Walker 17.Haffar 18.Green 19.Coles
20.Munga 21.Pollock 22.Weimann 23.Odendaal
Leicester Tigers
1.Smith 2.Montoya(C) 3.Heyes 4.Henderson 5.Wells
6.Liebenberg 7.Reffell 8.Cracknell 9.Van Poortvliet 10.Pollard
11.Hassell-Collins 12.Woodward 13.Kata 14.Radwan 15.Steward
16.Clare 17.Whitcombe 18.Cole 19.Joussain
20.Ilione 21.Youngs 22.Volavola 23.Perese
Northampton have managed to select a strong contingent of England players despite the Six Nations only finishing six days before this game kicks off. FIn Smith returns to fly-half with Dingwall starting at 13 and Henry Pollock on the bench. Leicester have been less badly hit by international absences and are starting their first-choice front row. Chessum and Martin are both unavailable due to injuries so Henderson and Wells start in the second row. Hassell-Collins, Radwan and Steward make up a quality back three which will cause Northampton's rotated players in that area a whole host of issues.
This is a huge game in the context of the table for Northampton in particular but I think their struggles with the likes of Mitchell, Furbank and Sleightholme being unavailable I think they will just come up short against Leicester. I see this being a 32 - 24 win for Leicester.
Newcastle Falcons vs Sale Sharks
Kickoff: 7:45pm Friday TNT Sports/ Discovery+
Team news
Newcastle Falcons
1.Brocklebank 2.Blamire 3.McCallum 4.Van der Walt 5.McDonald
6.Lockwood 7.Neild 8.Chick 9.Stuart 10.Connon
11.Hearle 12.Clark 13.Arnold 14.Spencer 15.Obatoyinbo
16.Fletcher 17.Rewcastle 18.Palframan 19.de Chaves
20.Leatherbarrow 21.Davis 22.Wilkinson 23.Brown
Sale Sharks
1.Rodd 2.McElroy 3.Opoku-Fudjour 4.Bamber 5.Hill
6.Van Rhyn 7.B.Curry(C) 8.J-L.Du Preez 9.Warr 10.Ford
11.O'Flaherty 12.Ma'asi-White 13.R. Du Preez 14.Roebuck 15.Carpenter
16.Thompson 17.Mcintyre 18.John 19.Andrews
20.Dugdale 21.Thomas 22.Bedlow 23.Reed
Newcastle welcome another team to a Friday night in the North. This time it's for a "derby" with Sale Sharks who are the only other northern team in the Gallagher Premiership. They'll have to be at their best to get over the power of Sale who are actually built in a way that massively helps them in games like this. As I said, this Sale team is well-built for a physical, scrappy game in which the pack dictates. Warr and Ford make a half-back pairing which is designed to handle games in tricky conditions against crafty opponents.
The points I have just mentioned lead me to quite confidently predicting a Sale win by a score of 27-9.
Saracens vs Harlequins
Kickoff: 3:05pm TNT Sports
Team news
Saracens
1.Mawi 2.George 3.Riccioni 4.Itoje(C) 5.TIzard
6.McFarland 7.Gonzalez 8.WIllis 9.Van Zyl 10.Burke
11.Segun 12.Tompkins 13.Lozowski 14.Elliot 15.Daly
16.Dan 17.Brantingham 18.Clarey 19.Isiekwe
20.Onyeama-Christie 21.Michelow 22.Simpson 23.Goode
Harlequins
1.Jones 2.Walker 3.Lamositelee 4.Launchbury 5.Lewes
6.Kenningham 7.W.Evans 8.Dombrandt 9.Porter 10.J.Evans
11.David 12.Waghorn 13.Beard 14.Isgro 15.Halfpenny
16.Riley 17.Els 18.Hobson 19.Herbst
20.Hammond 21.Murray 22.Benson 23.T.Green
This game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is a huge one between Saracens and Harlequins. After Harlequins won their earlier encounter this season, Saracens will be looking for revenge in this big game. Itoje, Daly, Willis and George all return in time to take on their London rivals. Harlequins are without their star man Marcus Smith for this fixture so Saracens seem to be at an advantage on Saturday. Young Ben Waghorn has stood out in recent months for Harlequins and, with Oscar Beard, will take on internationals Tompkins and Lozowski in a match-up that could determine the result of this match. Without Smith, Harlequins are the underdogs so I have Saracens winning 26 - 23.
Bristol Bears vs Exeter Chiefs
Kickoff: 5:30pm Saturday TNT Sports
Team news
Bristol Bears
1.Woolmore 2.Oghre 3.Kloska 4.Dun 5.Owen
6.Grondona 7.Harding(C) 8.Mata 9.Randall 10.Byrne
11.Ravouvou 12.Williams 13.Van Rensburg 14.Bates 15.Lane
16.Thacker 17.Genge 18.Lahiff 19.Caulfield
20.Luatua 21.Marmion 22.Elizalde 23.Naulago
Exeter Chiefs
1.Goodrick-Clarke 2.Norey 3.J.Roots 4.Jenkins(C) 5.Tshuinza
6.Moloney 7.Capstick 8.Fisilau 9.Cairns 10.Coen
11.Hodge 12.Rigg 13.Slade 14.Brown-Bampoe 15.John
16.Yeandle 17.Sio 18.Iosefa-Scott 19.Pearson
20.James 21.Armstrong 22.Skinner 23.Hammersley
Exeter will be looking to put their comprehensive Premiership Cup FInal defeat behind them when they travel to Bristol. One player who seems to have benefited from the cup rung is Coen, a fly-half who has been in the England youth system for a while now. Exeter have had a real issue at half-back which is why, before the Six Nations, Slade was moved there to provide more stability. It is also interesting that, despite all the noise around Exeter making big signings with a particular focus on scrum-halves, there has been hardly any reporting about a move to sign a fly-half. That seems to be a vote of confidence in the youngster who has bright future ahead of him.
Bristol are the favourites for this game and will benefit from Byrne now being properly settled into the Bristol team alongside Randall. Exeter are dangerous but I expect Bristol to continue their form from before the Six Nations leading to a 27 - 19 win.
Bath vs Gloucester
Kickoff: 3pm Sunday TNT Sports
Team news
Bath
1.Obano 2.Dun 3.Du Toit 4.Roux 5.Ewels
6.Bayliss 7.Pepper 8.Barbeary 9.Spencer(C) 10.Rusell
11.Muir 12.Redpath 13.Ojomoh 14.McConnochie 15.De Glanville
16.Annett 17.Van Wyck 18.Stuart 19.Hill
20.Underhill 21.Schreuder 22.Butt 23.Coetzee
Gloucester
1.Knight 2.Blake 3.Fasogbon 4.Clarke 5.Thomas
6.Clement 7.Ludlow(C) 8.Ackermann 9.Williams 10.Carreras
11.Llewellyn 12.Atkinson 13.Harris 14.Wade 15.Barton
16.Singleton 17.Rapava-Ruskin 18.Gotovtsev 19.Jordan
20.Taylor 21.Englefield 22.Atkinson 23.Hathaway
This, along with Northampton vs Leicester, is the best derby in the league. Bath and Gloucester are bitter rivals who are both having much better seasons than they did last time out - but at very different levels. Both teams are basically at full strength so this game will be a cracker. Gloucester will be looking to rectify their disastrous second half performance from this game earlier in the season that saw them go from leading to suffering an embarrassing defeat. I expect Bath to still come out on top with a 34 - 30 win.
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