Premiership: George Ford leads Leicester Tigers against Saracens as internationals return for Round 19

Adam Kyriacou

Round 19 of the Premiership is a main focus this weekend with several matches catching the eye, including the Saracens v Leicester Tigers showdown.

Check on the team news and our predictions for the upcoming action.

Friday

Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons

Form: Harlequins have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches, at home to Wasps and away at Worcester. The Londoners have been defeated just once at Twickenham Stoop in any tournament since November: 14-36 to Sale in Round 15 of Premiership Rugby. Newcastle Falcons‘ most recent “victory” in Premiership Rugby was when they were declared winners at home to Sale on Boxing Day, their last “genuine” win was 15-14 at Exeter on 6 November. Since then, the Tynesiders have won just once away from home in any competition: 17-13 at Biarritz in the European Challenge Cup on 14 January. Harlequins’ only defeat in their last five fixtures against Newcastle was 22-25 at Kingston Park in February 2021. The Falcons have won only once at the Stoop in Premiership Rugby since September 2000: 28-10 in February 2018.

Prediction: Harlequins by 20

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Archie White, 7 Tom Lawday, 6 Stephan Lewies (c), 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Sam Riley, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Jack Walker, 17 Simon Kerrod, 18 Will Collier, 19 George Hammond, 20 Matas Jurevicius, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22. Will Edwards, 23 Luke Northmore

Newcastle: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Tom Penny (c), 13 George Wacokecoke, 12 Pete Lucock, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Will Haydon-Wood, 9 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 8 Tom Marshall, 7 Josh Basham, 6 Sean Robinson, 5 Rob Farrar, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Mark Tampin, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Trevor Davison
Replacements: 16 Charlie Maddison, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Max Wright

Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Alex Thomas
TMO: Dean Richards

Saturday

Bath v Bristol Bears

Form: Bath Rugby beat Newcastle at Kingston Park on Saturday, their first away win in the competition in almost twelve months. Bath have won two of their last three home games at the Recreation Ground in Premiership Rugby, only slipping up to table-topping Leicester in Round 17. Bristol Bears ended a two-game losing streak with their 31-19 home win over Wasps on Friday. The Bears have won just once away from home in Gallagher Premiership Rugby this season: 45-33 at London Irish on 30 October. Bristol have won their last five fixtures against Bath since Bath’s 26-19 win at Twickenham in ‘The Clash’ in April 2019. The Bears have won on their last two visits to the Rec, their best sequence there in competition rugby.

Prediction: Bristol by 4

The teams:

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Will Butt, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Josh Bayliss, 5 Ewan Richards, 4 Mike Williams, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Tom Doughty, 1 Valeriy Morozov
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Ma’afu Fia, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Jaco Coetzee, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Joe Cokanasiga

Bristol Bears: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 Antoine Frisch, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Oscar Lennon, 8 Sam Jeffries, 7 Jake Heenan, 6 Chris Vui, 5 Joe Joyce (c), 4 Dave Attwood, 3 Jake Armstrong, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 Ashley Challenger, 19 Steven Luatua, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Theo Strang, 22 Tiff Eden, 23 Piers O’Conor

Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox, Rob Warburton
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Gloucester v Northampton Saints

Form: Gloucester Rugby have slipped to successive defeats on the road at Exeter and Leicester and have not lost three in succession in the competition for twelve months. The Cherry and Whites have been defeated just once at Kingsholm in any competition since October: 17-20 in Round 12 of Premiership Rugby. Northampton Saints have lost their last three Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches since beating Worcester at Sixways at the end of January and have not lost four in succession in the competition since December 2020. The Saints have won three of their last five away games in Premiership Rugby. Northampton beat Gloucester 34-20 at cinch Stadium in Round One and have not achieved a Premiership season’s double over the West Country men since 2016/17. Northampton won 31-26 on their most recent visit to Kingsholm in January 2021.

Prediction: Gloucester by 7

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Kyle Moyle, 14 Santiago Carreras, 13 Tom Seabrook, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Ruan Ackermann (c), 7 Jack Clement, 6 Jordy Reid, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Harry Elrington
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Val Rapava-Ruskin, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Alex Craig, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 George Barton, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit

Northampton Saints: 15 Rory Hutchinson, 14 Courtnall Skosan, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall (c), 11 Tom Collins, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Alex Coles, 5 Api Ratuniyarawa, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Ehren Painter, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun
Replacements: 16 Mike Haywood, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Brandon Nansen, 20 Karl Wilkins, 21 Tom James, 22 James Grayson, 23 Piers Francis

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant Referees: Michael Hudon, Paul Dix
TMO: Claire Hodnett

London Irish v Worcester Warriors

Form: London Irish have lost just once in Gallagher Premiership Rugby since Boxing Day: 7-24 at Gloucester in Round 15. The Exiles have not been defeated at Brentford Community Stadium in any competition since Bristol were the visitors in Premiership Rugby at the end of October. Worcester Warriors’ only victory in their last seven Gallagher Premiership Rugby fixtures was 19-14 at home to Bristol on 19 February. The Warriors are without a win in their last twenty away games in Premiership Rugby since September 2020, although they did draw 24-all at Newcastle in November. Worcester have lost just two of their last eight Premiership Rugby fixtures against London Irish, however, their only victory on London Irish soil since 2005 was 40-25 at the Twickenham Stoop (briefly their home ground at that time) in September 2020.

Prediction: London Irish by 10

The teams:

London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Kyle Rowe, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Benhard van Rensburg, 11 Lucio Cinti, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps (c), 8 Sean O’Brien, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Olly Cracknell, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Chunya Munga, 3 Ollie Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Allan Dell, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 George Nott, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Ben White, 22 Phil Cokanasiga, 23 Henry Arundell

Worcester Warriors: 15 Noah Heward, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Seb Atkinson, 12 Ashley Beck, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Willi Heinz, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Ted Hill (c), 6 Joe Batley, 5 Andrew Kitchener, 4 Justin Clegg, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Isaac Miller, 1 Ethan Waller
Replacements: 16 Beck Cutting, 17 Murray McCallum, 18 Jack Owlett, 19 Jack Forsythe, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Alex Hearle

Venue: Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant Referees: Hamish Smales, Greg McDonald
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Saracens v Leicester Tigers

Form: Saracens have lost three of their last five Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches although two of those defeats were away from home. Saracens’ only defeat at StoneX Stadium in Premiership Rugby since September 2020 was 24-25 to Gloucester on 8 January, although there have also been two drawn matches there, 17-all against Bath in October 2020 and 34-all against London Irish in November 2021. Leicester Tigers have won their last four Gallagher Premiership Rugby fixtures since their 26-25 loss at Sale in Round 14. The Tigers have lost two of their last three away games in Premiership Rugby. Leicester beat Saracens 13-12 at Mattioli Woods Welford Road Stadium in Round Three and have not achieved a regular season Premiership Rugby double over the Londoners since 2008/09. Tigers have visited StoneX Stadium on eight previous occasions in Premiership Rugby with their only victory being 28-20 in February 2018.

Prediction: Leicester by 3

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Callum Hunter-Hill, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Tom Woolstencroft, 1 Mako Vunipola (c)
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Theo McFarland, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Rotimi Segun

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Burns, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Kini Murimurivalu, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 George Martin, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Ollie Chessum, 5 Calum Green, 4 Eli Snyman 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Nic Dolly, 1 James Whitcombe
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Nephi Leatigaga, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Guy Porter, 23 Nemani Nadolo

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Phil Watters
TMO: David Rose

Sunday

Exeter Chiefs v Sale Sharks

Form: Exeter Chiefs have won their last three Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches since their loss by a single point to Wasps at Sandy Park on 5 February. That defeat is the Chiefs only loss at home in any tournament since November. Sale Sharks are unbeaten in their last five Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches since their 15-32 reversal at Bristol on 7 January. The Sharks have won their last two away games in the tournament, at Harlequins and at Northampton, and have not won three in succession on their travels since May. Exeter have won ten of their last twelve encounters with Sale in Premiership Rugby whilst the Sharks’ only two victories at Sandy Park came in April 2014 and January 2020.

Prediction: Exeter by 2

The teams:

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Olly Woodburn, 13 Ian Whitten, 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Richard Capstick, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Sam Skinner, 4 Jannes Kirsten, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Jack Innard, 17 James Kenny, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Will Witty, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Jack Maunder, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Facundo Cordero

Sale Sharks: 15 Sam James, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Robert du Preez, 12 Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11 Arron Reed, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Jono Ross (c), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Coenie Oosthuizen, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Joe Jones, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Ben Curry, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Luke James, 23 Byron McGuigan

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Matthew Carley, Christophe Ridley
TMO: Tom Foley

READ MORE: Sale and England to discuss management of Manu Tuilagi after the Six Nations