Premiership Preview: Saturday, Sunday

Editor

On Saturday Leicester face Gloucester and Newcastle clash with Saracens while on Sunday Wasps host Harlequins in Round Three of the Premiership.

Leicester Tigers vs Gloucester

Mike Williams makes his first start of the season as Leicester Tigers prepare to face Gloucester in the Premiership at Welford Road this Saturday.

Used as a replacement in both previous fixtures, Williams joins Luke Hamilton and Sione Kalamafoni in the back row for the Round 3 clash this weekend.

Harry Wells and Joe Maksymiw come into the second row, with academy graduate Maksymiw making his Premiership debut after Graham Kitchener and Dom Barrow suffered knocks in the Round 2 defeat at Northampton Saints.

Tonga international Valentino Mapapalangi, who has started the first two games of the Premiership ‘A’ League season with the Tigers Development XV, is included in the matchday squad for the first time since his summer move to Welford Road.

Second row Ed Slater will start against his former club on Saturday as Gloucester make half a dozen changes to their starting line-up. After two replacement appearances, Slater will make his first Premiership start for the Cherry and Whites as Gloucester look to bounce back after defeat at Harlequins last weekend.

Slater's inclusion is one of six changes to the Gloucester starting line-up from the one named for the game at the Stoop.

Four of the changes are up front, where Motu Matu'u and John Afoa come into the front row, Slater partners Jeremy Thrush in the second row and Jacob Rowan is back at openside flanker.

In the backs, Billy Twelvetrees will also start against his former club as he returns to the Gloucester midfield, while Charlie Sharples makes his first start of the season in his usual right wing berth.

Head Coach Johan Ackermann told the media this week that the game against Quins had been a frustrating experience for everyone concerned but that Gloucester have prepared well for Leicester this weekend.

"We were all a bit frustrated by what happened last Saturday. In reality, we let ourselves down by making simple errors. You only get limited opportunities and I think we let that one slip," he said.

"We played a side that was desperate, had a slight lack of confidence after round one and we made it quite easy with the amount of errors we made as well as the penalties.

"But we looked at it on Monday and we've put it behind us. The good thing about rugby is that you get a chance to rectify it seven days later. It's obviously going to be a massive challenge again but the week has gone well.

"We had to look at why we didn't pitch up with the same intensity, energy and mindset. We've challenged the players on that while, on the field, we've had a good few days working on fixing the errors and, hopefully on Saturday, it'll be a much better performance."

Form: Leicester Tigers have slipped to defeats in the first two rounds of Premiership Rugby play and have never before lost their opening three games of a season in the tournament. Tigers lost 23-27 to Bath at Welford Road on the opening weekend and have not been defeated in back-to-back Premiership Rugby games at the 125 year old stadium since 2011. Gloucester Rugby’s only win in the last four rounds of Premiership Rugby was 28-21 at home to Exeter in round 1. Gloucester have won just one away game in the tournament since 16 September 2016: at Bristol in March. The Tigers have lost just one of their last nine fixtures against Gloucester: 16-33 at Kingsholm in October 2014, whilst Gloucester’s most recent victory at Welford Road was 30-17 in October 2007.

The teams:

Leicester: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Nick Malouf, 13 Matt Smith, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Luke Hamilton, 6 Mike Williams, 5 Joe Maksymiw, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Greg Bateman, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Valentino Mapapalangi, 20 Dominic Ryan, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mathew Tait

Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Billy Burns, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Jacob Rowan, 6 Lewis Ludlow, 5 Jeremy Thrush, 4 Ed Slater, 3 John Afoa, 2 Motu Matu'u, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Richard Hibbard, 17 Val Rapava Ruskin, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Henry Trinder, 23 Henry Purdy

Date: Saturday, September 16
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, John Meredith
TMO: Sean Davey

Newcastle Falcons vs Saracens

Newcastle Falcons welcome back last season’s top try-scorer Vereniki Goneva for the clash in Philadelphia.

The Fijian try machine comes into the team in one of three changes from the side which defeated Sale Sharks last weekend, Newcastle having won both of their opening Premiership games ahead of their encounter at Talen Energy Stadium, home of Major League Soccer side Philadelphia Union.

The only other two changes from last weekend see Sean Robinson replace Will Witty and Nili Latu come in for Callum Chick, head coach Dave Walder confident his side can rise to the challenge after moving the fixture across the Atlantic.

“We were already a close squad but living in each other’s pockets for the full week does get you closer, and we’ve been looked after brilliantly,” said the former England fly-half.

“The game on Saturday is obviously the big focus but it has been an old-fashioned tour in the sense that the guys have enjoyed themselves, taken in some new experiences and just enjoyed being out here.

“We’ve been training at the University of Pennsylvania and the facilities have been great, so there can certainly be no excuses from that point of view. We’re here to win a big Premiership game and we believe we can achieve that.”

Falcons players have enjoyed a full week training in Philadelphia, Walder stating: “Everyone has been very open-minded about it in terms of the local population, and when we’ve been walking around in our Falcons kit they’re keen to know more about the game and what we’re doing over here.

“They’ve been very respectful towards us, the atmosphere has been great and people have been asking us lots of questions. In my personal opinion we’d have been foolish to turn down this invitation, and seeing the enjoyment the guys are getting out of the experience is fantastic. Obviously the game is the main thing, and I’m confident we’re in a good place to put in a big performance.

“This is the first time in a while we’ve played Saracens towards the start of the season, and we hope all their big internationals play. It’ll be good to test ourselves against them and see where we’re at.”

Meanwhile, Billy Vunipola will make his first appearance of the season, with the England number eight amed to start in a Saracens side that also includes first starts of the season for British & Irish Lions Mako Vunipola, Jamie George, Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Liam Williams.

England lock forward Nick Isiekwe is rewarded for a strong start to the season with a starting jersey with George Kruis still sidelined with an ankle injury.

In the back-three, Wales international Williams makes his first start for Saracens on the right wing, with Chris Wyles returning to his home state of Pennsylvania to start on the left wing. Alex Goode continues at full-back with Brad Barritt skippering the side from inside centre alongside the returning Marcelo Bosch in midfield. At half-back, Ben Spencer will be hoping to keep up his 100% try scoring record this season with a start at scrum-half alongside Farrell who will be starting his first game of the season.

Up front, Vunipola and George start in the Saracens front-row alongside tighthead prop Juan Figallo. At lock, Maro Itoje lines up alongside Isiekwe in a youthful and exciting second-row pairing with Mike Rhodes (blindside flanker) and Schalk Burger (openside flanker) joining Vunipola in the back-row.

Form: The Talen Energy Stadium in Philadelphia becomes the 36th different venue, and just the second in the USA, to host an Premiership Rugby encounter, Newcastle Falcons have won their last four Premiership Rugby matches and have not won five in succession in the competition since 2009. The last time the Falcons won the opening three rounds of a Premiership Rugby campaign was in 2004/05 – also, the last time they were as high as second in the league going into round 3. Saracens make their second trip to the USA having beaten London Irish in Harrison, New Jersey, in March 2016. Saracens have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby fixtures overcoming Northampton at Twickenham in the London double-header. Saracens have won their last seventeen matches against Newcastle in all competitions since the Falcons 13-9 victory at Kingston Park in Premiership Rugby in February 2009.

The teams:

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Alex Tait, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Joel Hodgson, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Sean Robinson, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Scott Lawson, 1 Rob Vickers
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Sami Mavinga, 18 Trevor Davison, 19 Will Witty, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Juan Pablo Socino, 23 Sinoti Sinoti

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 Maro Itoje, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Kieran Longbottom, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Nick Tompkins, 23 Sean Maitland

Date: Saturday, September 16
Venue: Talen Energy Stadium, Philadelphia
Kick-off: 17:00 local (21:00 GMT)
Referee: John-Paul Doyle
Assistant referees: Dean Richards, Paul Burton
TMO: David Sainsbury

Wasps vs Harlequins

England number eight Nathan Hughes is primed to make his 100th appearance for Wasps, while fellow internationals Elliot Daly and James Haskell also return to the squad. Daly starts in the centre, following an extended rest period after the Lions tour, while Haskell takes a place on the bench after successful surgery on a finger injury.

Matt Symons forms the second row partnership with skipper Joe Launchbury. Kearnan Myall and James Gaskell are sidelined by injury.

In the backline, Joe Simpson starts alongside Danny Cipriani at half back. Dan Robson (knee) and Jimmy Gopperth (foot) are ruled out of the game, but there are welcome returns to fitness for Christian Wade on the wing and Juan de Jongh who joins the replacements.

Ahead of Wasps’ return to the Ricoh Arena to take on Quins, Dai Young said: “We know our accuracy and intensity will need to be much better this weekend than it was last if we’re to get the result we want. If Harlequins hit their straps, they’re going to be a formidable team this season. They’re packed with England internationals and have quality throughout. We saw how dangerous they can be during their win over Gloucester last weekend, who had beaten Exeter Chiefs in the opening round of the competition. It just goes to show again that any team can beat any other in this league.

“The two clubs have had some great tussles over the years, with a number of close encounters. They’re normally high tempo, high scoring, exciting games to watch, with both teams keen to play attacking rugby, but both sides will also want to bring intensity in defence so it should be a really tough contest.”

Following Round Two's 28-17 victory over Gloucester, Harlequins have made two positional and two personnel changes to the starting 15 ahead of Sunday's match away to Wasps.

Dave Ward moves to hooker – as Joe Gray recovers from a fractured thumb – while Jack Clifford dons the number seven shirt.

Mat Luamanu starts at number eight with Marcus Smith coming in for Demetri Catrakilis who continues his recovery from a small fracture to a bone in his throat sustained last week against Gloucester.

After impressing in A League action on Monday night Stan South, Tim Swiel and Harry Sloan are named among the replacements.

Speaking ahead of the match, Director of Rugby, John Kingston said: “We were pleased with the victory last week at home. However, Wasps will present a formidable challenge, particularly at the Ricoh Arena, a place where they are unbeaten for almost two years.

"That said we are well aware of their strengths and we are determined to back up the performance against Gloucester.”

Form: Wasps only defeat in their last five games of Premiership Rugby was in last season’s final to Exeter Chefs at Twickenham Stadium. Wasps have won their last twenty Premiership Rugby matches at the Ricoh Arena, already comfortably their best home winning sequence ever in the competition. Harlequins have won just two of their last six Premiership Rugby matches, both at home, to Wasps in April and to Gloucester last Saturday. ‘Quins most recent away win in the tournament came on a visit to Gloucester on 4 March. The last seven matches between the two clubs in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day. Harlequins have lost on all of their three previous visits to Ricoh Arena and have not beaten Wasps on their own soil since a clash in the European Champions Cup at Adams Park in 2014.

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Gaby Lovobalavu, 11 Marcus Watson, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Guy Thompson, 6 Alex Rieder, 5 Matt Symons, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Matt Mullan
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Marty Moore, 19 Will Rowlands, 20 James Haskell, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Rob Miller, 23 Juan De Jongh

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Charlie Walker, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 George Merrick, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Will Collier, 19 Ben Glynn, 20 Stan South, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Harry Sloan

Date: Sunday, September 17
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Paul Dix
TMO: David Rose