Sale Sharks vs Bristol Bears

Kickoff: 3:15pm, Saturday 6th June

Venue: CorpAcq Stadium

Watch on: HBO MAX

Key to the game: Can Sale find some confidence against a depleted Bears squad? Sale now have a large chunk of their stars available after they missed the important games earlier in the season. Bristol, on the other hand, are dealing with multiple injuries and have had to select this team in a way to meet EQP thresholds from the RFU and Prem Rugby. That's why players are playing out of position and youngsters are in the pack. Sale surely have to win this one to avoid a complete loss of faith going into the summer break. There's some excitement surrounding the women's team, at least.

Team news

Sale Sharks

Starting XV
1.Asher Opoku-Fordjour 2.Nathan Jibulu 3.James Harper 4.Ernst van Rhyn(C) 5.Ben Bamber

6.Sam Dugdale 7.Seb Kelly 8.Tom Curry 9.Raffi Quirke 10.George Ford

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

Bench

16.Alfie Longstaff 17.Ralph McEachran 18.Patreece Bell 19.Hyron Andrews

20.Reuben Logan 21.Gus Warr 22.Luke James 23.Alex Wills

Bristol Bears

Starting XV

1.Jake Woolmore 2.Tomas Gwilliam 3.Max Lahiff 4.James Dun 5.George Taylor

6.Joe Owen 7.Harry Thacker 8.Joe Batley 9.Harry Randall 10.Sam Worsley

11.Aidan Boshoff 12.Joe Jenkins 13.Jack Bates 14.Noah Heward 15.Rich Lane

Bench

16.Kieran Hall 17.Sam Grahamslaw 18.Lovejoy Chawatama 19.Jimmy Halliwell

20.Kenzie Jenkins 21.Sam Wolstenhome 22.Max Pepper 23.Ollie Harris

Bath vs Leicester Tigers

Kickoff: 3:15pm, Saturday 6th June

Venue: The Recreation Ground

Watch on: TNT Sports / HBO MAX

Key to the game: Can Bath wrestle back some momentum without Finn Russell? Bath have found wins hard to come by recently, with their last win coming against Newcastle. Last week saw them lose away to Bristol without Finn Russell and they'll be without him this weekend as well. The winner of this game will host the loser of this game in next week's 2nd vs 3rd playoff semi-final so perhaps Russell is being held back for that one. Whatever the case may be, Santi Carreras is an excellent replacement and would also start for Leicester. The Tigers are still missing Billy Searle so James O'Connor comes in to start. Leicester's pack has been ferocious in the second half of the season and should be a big advantage in this one. I think the Tigers will have too much for the hosts this time.

Team news

Bath

Starting XV

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

6.Josh Bayliss 7.Sam Underhill 8.Alfie Barbeary 9.Ben Spencer(C) 10.Santi Carreras

11.Henry Arundell 12.Max Ojomoh 13.Ollie Lawrence 14.Joe Cokanasiga 15.Tom de Glanville

Bench

16.Dan Frost 17.Francois van Wyk 18.Vilikesa Sela 19.Ross Molony

20.Ewan Richards 21.Tom Carr-Smith 22.Cameron Redpath 23.Miles Reid

Leicester Tigers

Starting XV

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

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

11.Gabriel Hamer-Webb 12.Orlando Bailey 13.Will Wand 14.Adam Radwan 15.George Pearson

Bench

16.Charlie Clare 17.Archie van der Flier 18.Will Hurd 19.George Martin

20.Hamish Watson 21.Charlie Bemand 22.Solomone Kata 23.Izaia Perese

Harlequins vs Northampton Saints

Kickoff:3:15pm, Saturday 6th June

Venue: The Twickenham Stoop

Watch on: HBO MAX

Key to the game: Can Harlequins cope with the Saints pack? As has been the case for most of the season, Harlequins are without their key starters up front and look set to be out-matched by their opposition. Northampton have rotated heavily, after securing a home semi-final last weekend, but the front row is still strong with Langdon back alongside Kundiona and Fischetti. Harlequins will also struggle to match the size and power of JJ van der Mescht and Tom Lockett in the second row. Even a rotated Saints team is too good for this version of Harlequins.

Team news

Harlequins

Starting XV

1.Will Hobson 2.Sam Riley 3.Ollie Streeter 4.Jonny Green 5.Stephan Lewies 

6.Jack Kenningham 7.Will Evans 8.Alex Dombrandt(C) 9.Will Porter 10.Marcus Smith

11.Cassius Cleaves 12.Bryn Bradley 13.Cadan Murley 14.Cameron Anderson 15.Jamie Benson

Bench

16.Jimmy Staples 17.Boris Wenger 18.Pedro Delgado 19.Kieran Treadwell

20.Guido Petti 21.Tom Lawday 22.Stu Townsend 23.Josh Bellamy

Northampton Saints

Starting XV

1.Danilo Fischetti 2.Curtis Langdon 3.Cleopas Kundiona 4.Tom Lockett 5.JJ van der Mescht

6.Josh Kemeny 7.Tom Pearson 8.Sam Graham 9.Jonny Weimann 10.Anthony Belleau 

11.James Ramm 12.Fraser Dingwall(C) 13.Tom Litchfield 14.James Martin 15.James Pater

Bench

16.Craig Wright 17.Tom West 18.Sonny Tonga'uiha 19.Chunya Munga

20.Callum Chick 21.Tom James 22.Toby Thame 23.George Hendy

Exeter Chiefs vs Saracens

Kickoff: 3:15pm, Saturday 6th June

Venue: Sandy Park

Watch on: TNT Sports

Key to the game: Can Saracens roll back the years? This could be the last game for Mark McCall as director of rugby at Saracens. He has overseen a dynasty at this club and will be hoping that his team has a few more big games left to play. Saracens have big-game experience in Maro Itoje, Jamie George and Owen Farrell whilst Exeter are still relying on some younger players to step up. Exeter are arguably more talented, but do they have the power? I just can't look past Saracens in this game.

Team news

Exeter Chiefs

Starting XV

1.Scott Sio 2.Max Norey 3.Josh Iosefa-Scott 4.Dafydd Jenkins 5.Andrea Zambonin 

6.Tom Hooper 7.Christ Tshiunza 8.Ethan Roots 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.Kane James 21.Tom Cairns 22.Zack Wimbush 23.Ben Hammersley

Saracens

Starting XV

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

6.Theo McFarland 7.Ben Earl 8.Tom Willis 9.Charlie Bracken 10.Fergus Burke

11.Rotimi Segun 12.Olly Hartley 13.Nick Tompkins 14.Tobias Elliot 15.Max Malins

Bench

16.Theo Dan 17.Rhys Carre 18.Marco Riccioni 19.Nick Isiekwe

20.Nathan Michelow 21.Ivan van Zyl 22.Owen Farrell 23.Noah Caluori

Gloucester vs Newcastle Red Bulls

Kickoff: 3:15pm, Saturday 6th June

Venue: Kingsholm

Watch on: HBO MAX

Key to the game: Can Gloucester finish on a high? Gloucester have built some momentum towards the end of the season and will be looking for a strong finish against bottom-of-the-table Newcastle. The Red Bulls pulled off a dramatic win at home against Sale last weekend but tend to travel badly so this should really be a comfortable win for George Skivington's men.

Team news

Gloucester

Starting XV

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

6.Freddie Thomas 7.James Venter 8.Will Trenholm 9.Caolan Englefield 10.Charlie Atkinson

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

Bench

16.Jack Innard 17.Dian Bleuler 18.Ciaran Knight 19.Deian Gwynne

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

Newcastle Red Bulls

Starting XV
1.Connor Hancock 2.George McGuigan 3.Murray McCallum 4.Jamie Hodgson 5.Adam Scott

6.Ollie Leatherbarrow 7.Tom Christie 8.Freddie Lockwood 9.Simon Benitez Cruz 10.Brett Connon

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

Bench

16.Ollie Fletcher 17.Jamie Clark 18.Richard Palframan 19.Tim Cardall

20.Reuben Parsons 21.James Elliot 22.Ben Healy 23.Christian Wade