Gloucester vs Sale Sharks

Kickoff: 7:45pm, Friday 8th May

Venue: Kingsholm

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

Friday night will see two teams outside of the playoff race do battle in the West Country. Neither side can impact the top end of the table but both still have ambitions of qualifying for the Champions Cup. Sale sit in 7th with 21 points whilst Gloucester are in 8th on 21 point with a 5-point lead over 9th-place Harlequins. Both of these teams had big wins in round 15 of the Prem so this game is a good test of exactly where they are at this point in the season.

George Skivington has made just 2 changes to his team that overcame playoff-chasing Exeter at Sandy Park 2 weeks ago. At hooker, Seb Blake returns with Innard dropping to the bench. At openside flanker, Ludlow is replaced by Venter. This Gloucester team is now building for next season and is starting to produce a core of players around which this team can build. Charlie Atkinson is continuing to impress at fly-half with Atkinson and Llewllyn now both healthy and making a strong centre partnership.

Alex Sanderson is still dealing with multiple injuries to his front row and has been forced to select an inexperienced trio as a result. At just 21-years-old, England's Asher Opoku-Fordjour is the elder statesman in the starting unit but the rest of the pack looks stronger. For the first time in a while, Sanderson has been able to select a strong team with only a few others missing. The team is still without anyone by the name of Curry or du Preez, but the first-choice back 3 and half-back duo are both available so there is enough to give confidence to this team.

This should be tight but Gloucester have been in good form and are in better health. This, alongside home advantage, should be enough to earn them a big win over the Sharks.

Team news

Gloucester

Starting XV
1.Val Rapava Ruskin 2.Seb Blake 3.Afo Fasogbon 4.Arthur Clark 5.Matias Alemanno

6.Freddie Thomas 7.James Venter 8.Will Trenholm 9.Tomos Williams(C) 10.Charlie Atkinson

11.Ben Loader 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Max Llewellyn 14.Will Joseph 15.George Barton

Bench

16.Jack Innard 17.Dian Bleuller 18.Ciaran Knight 19.Danny Eite

20.Deian Gwynne 21.Jack Clement 22.Caolan Englefield 23.Josiah Edwards-Giraud

Sale Sharks

Starting XV

1.Ralph McEachran 2.Alfie Longstaff 3.Asher Opoku-Fordjour 4.Hyron Andrews 5.Ben Bamber

6.Ernst van Rhyn(C) 7.Jacques Vermeulen 8.Sam Dugdale 9.Gus Warr 10.George Ford 

11.Tom O'Flaherty 12.Rekeiti Ma'asi-White 13.Marius Louw 14.Tom Roebuck 15.Joe Carpenter

Bench

16.Wills Austin 17.Tumy Onasanya 18.James Harper 19.Tristan Woodman

20.Seb Kelly 21.Dom Hanson 22.Luke James 23.Arron Reed

Leicester Tigers vs Northampton Saints

Kickoff: 3:05pm, Saturday 9th May

Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road

Watch on: TNT Sports

The East Midlands derby will take place on Saturday afternoon with both teams firmly in the playoff hunt. Leicester suffered a damaging defeat to Saracens in the previous round which kept Saracens in the race and left the Tigers vulnerable in their 3rd spot. The gap to 5th now sits at just 4 points. The Saints narrowly beat a rotated Bath side in that round and now have a 10-point lead over 3rd-place Leicester. A win for Northampton would all-but guarantee a home semi-final in June.

For the first time in a long time, George Martin and Ollie Chessum start together in the second row to give their side a huge boost for this crucial derby. Nicky Smith and Joe Heyes join them in the pack to give the Tigers a star-powered scrum. The bad news for the Tigers is the absence of Billy Searle at fly-half but his replacement, James O'Connor, is a big-game player so this occasion suits him perfectly. His spell in England hasn't quite lived up to the hype so he'll want to leave a mark before his rumoured return to Australia. 

Phil Dowson has selected a weighty, abrasive pack to take on the Tigers. JJ van der Mescht and Tom Lockett make a huge lock duo whilst Kemeny and Chick fit that mould in the back row. Behind them, England's half-back pairing, Mitchell and Smith, will have some serious weapons at their disposal. Freeman, Furbank and Hendy are all fit with Dingwall and Hutchinson in midfield. The match-up between Radwan, Steward and Hassell-Collins and Freeman, Furbank and Hendy is going to be special. Pay particular attention to the fullback battle between Furbank and Steward; that could have big ramifications for the England team in the summer.

This game is on a knife-edge but I think Northampton's international quality across the back-line will make the difference. This has to be a big game for Fin Smith if that is to happen.

Team news

Leicester Tigers

Starting XV

1.Nicky Smith 2.Jamie Blamire 3.Joe Heyes 4.Ollie Chessum(C) 5.George Martin

6.Hanro Liebenberg 7.Tommy Reffell 8.Joaquin Moro 9.Jack van Poortvliet 10.James O'Connor

11.Ollie Hassell-Collins 12.Orlando Bailey 13.Will Wand 14.Adam Radwan 15.Freddie Steward

Bench

16.Charlie Clare 17.Archie van der Flier 18.Will Hurd 19.Cameron Henderson

20.Samuel Williams 21.Tom Whiteley 22.Solomone Kata 23.Izaia Perese

Northampton Saints

Starting XV

1.Emmanuel Iyogun 2.Robbie Smith 3.Luke Green 4.Tom Lockett 5.JJ van der Mescht

6.Josh Kemeny 7.Sam Graham 8.Callum Chick 9.Alex Mitchell 10.Fin Smith

11.George Hendy 12.Fraser Dingwall 13.Rory Hutchinson 14.Tommy Freeman 15.George Furbank(C)

Bench

16.Craig Wright 17.Tom West 18.Elliott Millar-Mills 19.Ed Prowse

20.Chunya Munga 21.Henry Pollock 22.Archie McParland 23.Tom Litchfield

Bristol Bears vs Saracens

Kickoff: 5:30pm, Saturday 9th May

Venue: Ashton Gate

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

This is perhaps the game with the most consequence attached to it in the Prem this weekend. With 4 games to go, Bristol sit in 5th, just a single point behind Exeter in 4th. Saracens are in a more tenuous position on just 42 points. This game, and every other game this season, is a must-win for Saracens if they are to make a late charge into the playoff spots.

Bristol won comfortably against Newcastle in the previous round but are still dealing with some injuries to key players. They will still be looking to keep Saracens at bay but it will be tough in these circumstances. One story-line to watch is the two New Zealand-born Scottish fly-halves taking each other on. Jordan has found some good form for the Bears in the absence of MacGinty and Worsley whilst Burke has taken back his spot in the Saracens team after a series of unconvincing performances from Owen Farrell. Watch out for Caluori and Ibitoye going up against each other on the wing.

Bristol are in decent form but Saracens had a big win over Leicester in their previous game and have the know-how in this part of the season. Mark McCall still has a chance of one last big run in charge of the club with which he has had so much success. If his team falls short on Saturday, it will effectively mark the end of his dynasty.

Team news

Bristol Bears

Starting XV

1.Ellis Genge 2.Harry Thacker 3.George Kloska 4.James Dun 5.Joe Batley

6.Joe Owen 7.Fitz Harding(C) 8.Santiago Grondona 9.Kieran Marmion 10.Tom Jordan

11.Gabriel Ibitoye 12.Bernhard Janse van Rensburg 13.Matias Moroni 14.Kalaveti Ravouvou 15.Noah Heward

Bench

16.Tomas Gwilliam 17.Jake Woolmore 18.Max Lahiff 19.George Taylor 

20.Kofi Cripps 21.Harry Randall 22.James Williams 23.Jack Bates

Saracens

Starting XV

1.Eroni Mawi 2.Jamie George 3.Marcus Street 4.Maro Itoje(C) 5.Hugh Tizard

6.Nick Isiekwe 7.Ben Earl 8.Tom Willis 9.Charlie Bracken 10.Fergus Burke

11.Rotimi Segun 12.Olly Hartley 13.Nick Tompkins 14.Noah Caluori 15.Max Malins

Bench

16.Theo Dan 17.Rhys Carre 18.Alec Clarey 19.Theo McFarland 

20.Nathan Michelow 21.Ivan van Zyl 22.Owen Farrell 23.Tobias Elliott

Newcastle Red Bulls vs Harlequins

Kickoff: 3pm, Sunday 10th May

Venue: Kingston Park

Watch on: TNT Sports / HBO

9th plays 10th at Kingston park on Sunday afternoon. The Red Bulls will be viewing this as a big opportunity for a home win whilst Harlequins will know that a loss to Newcastle would result in yet more anger from a very weary fanbase.

Newcastle are building the blocks of the team that will have an influx of talent in the summer. Adam Brocklebank and George McGuigan have been consistently solid in the front row whilst Reuben Parsons and Finn Baker have stood out as exciting young prospects whilst Josh Hodge's return has also been a big boost. Their is plenty more to come for Newcastle next season but there is enough in this team to cause Harlequins some serious issues.

Harlequins are still dealing with injuries across their team but do have a stronger back-line available this week. This is a must-win game if this team is to qualify for the Champions Cup but fans might be more interested in seeing how some youngsters get on. Lucas Friday has been the breakout player of the season for this team whilst Bryn Bradley has impressed at inside centre. Seb Driscoll and Sean Kerr are also exciting prospects in the match-day squad but they all need the senior players to step up if they are to do anything of note in this game. I think Newcastle will take this one.

Team news

Newcastle Red Bulls

Starting XV

1.Adam Brocklebank 2.George McGuigan(C) 3.Micky Rewcastle 4.Jamie Hodgson 5.Finn Baker

6.Tom Gordon 7.Tom Christie 8.Reuben Parsons 9.Simon Benitez Cruz 10.Brett Connon 

11.Elliott Obatoyinbo 12.Sammy Arnold 13.Alex Hearle 14.Christian Wade 15.Josh Hodge

Bench

16.Ollie Fletcher 17.Connor Hancock 18.Murray McCallum 19.Freddie Clarke

20.Amanaki Mafi 21.James Elliott 22.Ben Healy 23.Ethan Grayson

Harlequins

Starting XV

1.Will Hobson 2.Sam Riley 3.Pedro Delgado 4.Kieran Treadwell 5.Elliot Williams

6.Chandler Cunningham-South 7.Seb Driscoll 8.Alex Dombrandt(C) 9.Lucas Friday 10.Marcus Smith(C)

11.Cadan Murley 12.Bryn Bradley 13.Luke Northmore 14.Cameron Anderson 15.Jamie Benson

Bench

16.Jimmy Staples 17,Boris Wenger 18.Ollie Streeter 19.Jonny Green

20.Jack Kenningham 21.Will Evans 22.Will Porter 23.Sean Kerr

Exeter Chiefs vs Bath

Kickoff: 3:30pm, Sunday 10th May

Venue: Sandy Park

Watch on: TNT Sports 1

The final game of this round is a crucial one. Bath need a win to keep themselves securely in the top 2 for a home playoff after selecting a rotated team which lost to Northampton in the previous round. Exeter, meanwhile, need to recover from a surprising home defeat to Gloucester which has left them vulnerable in 4th.

Bath's bench should be the difference but I still expect this to be a closely fought match which remains in the balance for a long time. Exeter will be looking to gain an advantage up front with their lock duo and the strength of Tom Hooper whilst hoping that Ikitau and Slade find their form that has earned them so many caps for their countries. Henry Slade has recently expressed his frustration at not playing during the Six Nations so I'm sure he is looking forward to taking on Ollie Lawrence on Friday. There is also plenty of potential for some cracking tries with Brown-Bampoe and Arundell sharing a field.

Team news

Exeter Chiefs

Starting XV
1.Scott Sio 2.Max Norey 3.Josh Iosefa-Scott 4.Dafydd Jenkins(C) 5.Andrea Zambonin 

6.Tom Hooper 7.Christ Tshiunza 8.Ross Vintcent 9.Stephen Varney 10.Harvey Skinner

11.Campbell Ridl 12.Len Ikitau 13.Henry Slade 14.Paul Brown-Bampoe 15.Olly Woodburn

Bench

16.Joseph Dweba 17.Ethan Burger 18.Bachuki Tchumbadze 19.Rusi Tuima

20.Finn Worley-Brady 21.Tom Cairns 22.Will Haydon-Wood 23.Ben Hammersley

Bath

Starting XV

1.Francois van Wyk 2.Dan Frost 3.Archie Griffin 4.Quinn Roux 5.Ross Molony

6.Ted Hill 7.Sam Underhill 8.Alfie Barbeary 9.Ben Spencer(C) 10.Finn Russell

11.Henry Arundell 12.Will Butt 13.Ollie Lawrence 14.Joe Cokanasiga 15.Tom de Glanville

Bench

16.Kepu Tuipulotu 17.Beno Obano 18.Thomas du Toit 19.Charlie Ewels

20.Guy Pepper 21.Tom Carr-Smith 22.Santi Carreras 23.Cameron Redpath