Callum Sheedy starts for Bristol Bears at Worcester

Colin Newboult

The Premiership continues on Saturday and Sunday as four matches take place, including the big clash between play-off challengers Harlequins and Northampton Saints.

We bring you all of the team line-ups but, for Planet Rugby’s preview of this weekend’s Premiership action, check out ‘The short side’.

Saturday

Bath v Exeter Chiefs

Form: Bath Rugby have now won their last three Premiership Rugby matches, their best run in the competition since September. Since that run they have been defeated four times at the Recreation Ground in all competitions. Exeter Chiefs have lost their last two Premiership fixtures, at home to Northampton and away at Sale, although they obtained a losing bonus-point in each match. The Chiefs have won four of their last six away games in the league. Exeter’s only defeat in their last nine encounters with Bath in Premiership Rugby was 10-13 at the Rec in October 2019.

The teams:

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Ruaridh McConnochie, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Will Muir, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Zach Mercer, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Taulupe Faletau, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Josh McNally (c), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Tom Ellis, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Facundo Cordero, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds (c), 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jonny Gray, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Innard, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Sean Lonsdale, 20 Jannes Kirsten, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Tom Hendrickson

Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Greg Macdonald, Paul Dix
TMO: Geoff Warren

Wasps v Gloucester

Form: Wasps have won just once in the last five rounds of Premiership Rugby: 17-13 at Worcester on 14 February. Wasps have lost their last three matches at the Ricoh Arena and have not lost four in succession at home in the Premiership since they were at Adams Park in 2013. Gloucester Rugby’s eight-game losing run in the league ended with their 22-14 victory at home to Worcester on Saturday. Gloucester have won only once away from home in any competition since October 2019: 44-15 at Worcester in August 2020. Gloucester’s only defeat to Wasps in Premiership Rugby since December 2017 was 22-39 on their most recent victory to the Ricoh Arena in March 2020.

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Will Porter, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 James Gaskell, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Gabriel Oghre, 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Nicky Thomas, 19 Levi Douglas, 20 Sione Vailanu, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Matteo Minozzi

Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 George Barton, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Alex Seville
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 18 Jack Stanley, 19 Alex Craig, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Charlie Sharples

Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Dean Richards, Simon McConnell
TMO: Graham Hughes

Worcester Warriors v Bristol Bears

Form: Worcester Warriors’ only victory this season in Premiership Rugby (excluding declared wins) was in the opening round at home to London Irish. The Warriors have at least picked up three losing bonus-points in the last six rounds of the Premiership. Top of the table Bristol Bears have lost just once in the league since the opening weekend: 13-20 at home to Sale in Round 8. The Bears drew their most recent away game 34-all at London Irish and have not been defeated away from home in the Premiership since their visit to Wasps in November. Bristol have won their last three fixtures against Worcester since the Warriors’ 27-25 victory away at Ashton Gate in March 2019. Bristol won 36-13 on their most recent victory to Sixways and have never won successive fixtures at the venue.

The teams:

Worcester: 15 Nick David, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Oli Morris, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Perry Humphreys, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Ted Hill (c), 5 Justin Clegg, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Beck Cutting, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Isaac Miller, 17 Marc Thomas, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Joe Batley, 20 Cornell du Preez, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Ashley Beck

Bristol: 15 Henry Purdy, 14 Niyi Adeolokun, 13 Piers O’Conor, 12 Alapati Leiua, 11 Siva Naulago, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Andy Uren, 8 Steven Luatua (c), 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Will Capon, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 George Kloska, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 John Afoa, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Tom Kessell, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Toby Fricker

Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 17:15 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Michael Hudson, Gareth Holsgrove
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Sunday

Harlequins v Northampton Saints

Form: Harlequins four game-winning run in Premiership Rugby ended with their 22-25 reversal at Newcastle on Saturday. The Londoners are unbeaten in their last three matches at the Twickenham Stoop since losing there against Bristol on Boxing Day. Northampton Saints four game-winning run in the Premiership ended with their narrow defeat at home to Bath on Sunday. The Saints have won their last three away games in the league (excluding declared wins) and have not won four in succession on the road in the competition since 2014. Harlequins have won their last two matches against Northampton and have not achieved a Premiership season double over the East Midlanders since 2012/13. The Saints have won on four of their last six visits to the Stoop (one victory was against London Irish).

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Aaron Morris, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Tyrone Green, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Archie White, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Stephan Lewies (c), 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Joe Gray, 17 Jordan Els, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Glen Young, 20 Jack Kenningham, 21 Martin Landajo, 22 Brett Herron, 23 Luke Northmore

Northampton: 15 Tommy Freeman, 14 Matt Proctor, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 George Furbank, 9 Tom James, 8 Tom Wood, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 Alex Coles, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Nick Auterac
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Alex Waller, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Alex Moon, 20 JJ Tonks, 21 Henry Taylor, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Harry Mallinder

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Karl Dickson, Adam Leal
TMO: Wayne Barnes