Bristol Bears vs Bath

Kickoff: 7:45pm, Friday 29th May

Venue: Ashton Gate

Watch on: TNT Sports 2

This is the last chance saloon for the Bristol Bears in their playoff hunt. They're unlikely to make the top 5 but all hope will be extinguished if they lose to their West Country rivals, Bath on Friday night. They currently sit 6th in the league, 5 points behind Exeter in 4th, and have a vastly inferior points difference. The visitors are guaranteed to make the playoffs but their grip on a home semi-final has slipped recently. Leicester are hot on their heels so Bath know they need to win this game at Ashton Gate. They won the reverse fixture in February and are favourites once again in this one.

This Bears starting team is as strong as it's been all season with MacGinty and Rees-Zammit back in the team. This gives Bristol a full array of attacking options including soon-to-be England rugby star Bernhard Janse van Rensburg. This is going to be a huge game for Ellis Genge, and potentially a preview of the first Nations Championship game in July, when he faces off against Thomas du Toit at the scrum. If Genge doesn't have a good day, his team stand no chance.

Bath have a very strong team with one notable absentee. Finn Russell is not in the squad and has been replaced by Ciaran Donoghue. The young playmaker is eligible to represent England and Ireland and broke out brilliantly last season before suffering a serious injury. He has been gradually re-introduced to the Bath first team and now gets a big opportunity to start at fly-half with Carreras at fullback. It will truly be a battle of youth vs experience when he takes on AJ MacGinty. Bath's pack and depth should be enough to power past a very motivated Bears team.

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.Harry Randall 10.AJ MacGinty

11.Kalaveti Ravouvou 12.Bernhard Janse van Rensburg 13.Matias Moroni 14.Louis Rees-Zammit 15.Noah Heward

Bench

16.Tomas Gwilliam 17.Jake Woolmore 18.Max Lahiff 19.Jimmy Halliwell

20.George Taylor 21.Kieran Marmion 22.Tom Jordan 23.Jack Bates

Bath

Starting XV

1.Beno Obano 2.Kepueli Tuipulotu 3.Thomas du Toit 4.Ted Hill 5.Charlie Ewels

6.Ethan Staddon 7.Guy Pepper 8.Sam Underhill 9.Ben Spencer(C) 10.Ciaran Donoghue

11.Henry Arundell 12.Max Ojomoh 13.Ollie Lawrence 14.Joe Cokanasiga 15.Santi Carreras

Bench

16.Dan Frost 17.Francois van Wyk 18.Vilikesa Sela 19.Ewan Richards

20.Josh Bayliss 21.Tom Carr-Smith 22.Cameron Redpath 23.Alfie Barbeary

Saracens vs Harlequins

Kickoff: 1pm, Saturday 30th May

Venue: StoneX Stadium

Watch on: TNT Sports 2

This looks likely to be Mark McCall's final home game at the helm in North London and it will be against Saracens' London rivals, Harlequins. Saracens have been in great form recently and their playoff destiny is now in their own hands. If they win their final two games against Harlequins and Exeter, Saracens will make the top four. Harlequins, meanwhile, have got a Champions Cup spot to play for but will most likely be motivated by the opportunity to end Saracens' fairytale story. If Saracens lose to Harlequins, and Exeter beat Leicester, Saracens will be out of the running without having the opportunity to play what would effectively be a quarter-final at Sandy Park.

The strengths of this Saracens team are obvious; they have a strong pack and some excellent athletes out wide. Between those strengths, Saracens now have a physical midfield and an excellent second playmaker, Max Malins, who compliments Fergus Burke perfectly. This is a must-win game for Saracens and it's one they should win.

The team hoping to spoil the party will have to do so whilst still missing more than a dozen first-team players. The tight five is largely bereft of experience and whilst the backs are also missing their big stars. Numbers 6 to 10 look very strong but, unfortunately for Harlequins, you need a lot more than that to beat this Saracens team. This game will be a no-pressure opportunity for some young players to earn game-time for next season.

Team news

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.Tobias Elliot 12.Ollie 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.Jack Bracken

Harlequins

Starting XV
1.Will Hobson 2.Sam Riley 3.Pedro Delgado 4.Zach Carr 5.Elliot Williams

6.Chandler Cunningham-South 7.Jack Kenningham 8.Alex Dombrandt(C) 9.Will Porter 10.Marcus Smith

11.Cadan Murley 12.Bryn Bradley 13.Sen Kerr 14.Cameron Anderson 15.Jamie Benson

Bench

16.Jack Musk 17.Boris Wenger 18.Ollie Streeter 19.Jonny Green 

20.Seb Driscoll 21.Will Evans 22.Stu Townsend 23.Cassius Cleaves

Northampton Saints vs Gloucester

Kickoff: 3pm, Saturday 30th May

Venue: Cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens

Watch on: TNT Sports 2

Northampton can secure a home semi-final with a win on Saturday afternoon. Gloucester could only get a bit closer to securing a Champions Cup spot and I'm not sure how much more they'd prefer that to a spot in the Challenge Cup which they would have a much better chance of winning. The last time these teams met they produced one of the maddest games in recent memory in which each side decided to play 40 minutes of epic rugby and 40 minutes of abysmal rugby. Northampton won that won but will be hoping for a more straight forward victory this weekend.

The big news for Northampton is that Alex Mitchell will miss the rest of the season after getting injured during an England camp earlier this week. Luckily for the Saints, Archie McParland has stepped up excellently this season to cover for Mitchell's previous absences.  The Saints are in good form but could do with a chance to rest their stars next weekend, so winning this game is actually quite important.

Gloucester have maintained their consistency in selection with the Atkinsons anchoring the team at 10 and 12. Ben Redshaw is back at fullback in place of George Barton whilst Thorley and Loader will provide some physicality on the wings. Arthur Clark and Freddie Thomas are a good, young lock duo and will face a strong test against Coles and Prowse. Gloucester will pose some problems for Northampton but the Saints should have too much for the visitors.

Team news

Northampton Saints

Starting XV

1.Emmanuel Iyogun 2.Robbie Smith 3.Luke Green 4.Alex Coles 5.Ed Prowse

6.Tom Pearson 7.Henry Pollock 8.Callum Chick 9.Archie McParland 10.Fin Smith               

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

Bench

16.Craig Wright 17.Danilo Fischetti 18.Elliot Millar Mills 19.Tom Lockett

20.Sam Graham 21.Jonny Weimann 22.Fraser Dingwall 23.James Ramm

Gloucester

Starting XV

1.Ciaran Knight 2.Seb Blake 3.Afo Fasogbon 4.Arthur Clark 5.Freddie Thomas

6.Deian Gwynne 7.James Venter 8.Will Trenholm 9.Caolan Englefield 10.Charlie Atkinson

11.Ben Loader 12.Seb Atkinson 13.Max Llewellyn 14.Ollie Thorley 15.Ben Redshaw

Bench

16.Jack Innard 17.Dian Bleuller 18.Nepo Laulala 19.Matias Alemanno

20.Jack Clement 21.Mikey Austin 22.Will Knight 23.Josiah Edwards-Giraud

Newcastle Red Bulls vs Sale Sharks

Kickoff: 7:45pm, Saturday 30th May

Venue: Kingston Park

Watch on: TNT Sports 2

Saturday evening will see two teams that can climb no higher up the table this season. Sale can't climb any higher than 7th whilst Newcastle will stay rooted to the bottom of the table. This is actually quite a big morale game for the Sharks who can't afford many more depressing moments this season. Newcastle will be viewing this as a big opportunity and will want to end this season of transition on a positive note at home.

Newcastle have recently announced their departure list and several players on it will want to finish strong in this game. Ethan Grayson is one of them and is a good option as a second playmaker. He should combine well with Brett Connon to give this team some more stability. Newcastle have a big back row of Leatherbarrow, Christie and Mafi will fancy their chances against Sale's inexperienced trio. Sale have a few more players back fit but are still missing enough stars to give me reason to back Newcastle to earn a home upset.

Team news

Newcastle Red Bulls

Starting XV
1.Connor Hancock 2.George McGuigan(C) 3.Richard Palframan 4.Jamie Hodgson 5.Adam Scott

6.Ollie Leatherbarrow 7.Tom Christie 8.Amanaki Mafi 9.Simon Benitez Cruz 10.Brett Connon 

11.Harrison Obatoyinbo 12.Sammy Arnold 13.Alex Hearle 14.Christian Wade 15.Ethan Grayson

Bench

16.Ollie Fletcher 17.Jamie Clark 18.Murray McCallum 19.Tim Cardall

20.Freddie Lockwood 21.James Elliott 22.Ben Healy 23.Cameron Hutchinson

Sale Sharks

Starting XV

1.Asher Opoku-Fordjour 2.Alfie Longstaff 3.James Harper 4.Ernst van Rhyn(C) 5.Ben Bamber

6.Sam Dugdale 7.Seb Kelly 8.Reuben Logan 9.Gus Warr 10.George Ford 

11.Arron Reed 12.Rekeiti-Ma'asi-White 13.Luke James 14.Tom Roebuck 15.Joe Carpenter

Bench

16.Wills Austin 17.Ralph MCeachran 18.Patreece Bell 19.Hyron Andrews

20.Tristan Woodman 21.Raffi Quirke 22.Ollie Davies 23.Tom O'Flaherty