Premiership Preview: Saturday and Sunday
There are three fixtures scheduled over Saturday and Sunday with Leicester Tigers' clash with champions Exeter Chiefs at Welford Road the pick of the matches.
Leicester Tigers v Exeter Chiefs
Forward duo George McGuigan and Brendon O’Connor return to the Leicester Tigers squad for Saturday’s home game against Exeter Chiefs.
Hooker McGuigan is in line for his first appearance of the season after suffering a hand injury in the August fixture against Treviso. He is named among the replacements after Harry Thacker was withdrawn during the second half of last week’s win at Harlequins.
Back-rower O’Connor has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury but is fit to return this week.
Luke Hamilton returns to the starting line-up in place of Dominic Ryan who took a knock in the match at The Stoop last weekend.
As Tigers welcome the defending league champions to Welford Road, head coach Matt O’Connor said: “We’ve had two good results against Gloucester and Harlequins, we’ve taken a lot of positives from those games, but we all know we have to keep taking steps forward.
“Exeter are a very efficient team, they like to build pressure on you and they make very few mistakes. We will have to be better again this week.”
Ahead of the trip to Welford Road, Dave Ewers, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Michele Campagnaro, Sam Hill and Ollie Devoto remain sidelined, but the sight of Alec Hepburn returning to an Exeter matchday squad for the first time in almost a year is certainly a welcome sight.
The talented prop is named on the bench in one of a number of changes the Chiefs have made to last week’s winning formula. In the back division, the sole change sees Stuart Townsend – who made his first-ever Premiership start at the Tigers last season – gets the number nine jersey with Nic White rested for the weekend.
Up front, Ben Moon, skipper Jack Yeandle and Tomas Francis form a new-look front-row; Jonny Hill returns to partner Mitch Lees at lock; while a re-jig of the back-row sees former Tigers star Julian Salvi come in from the outset as Sam Simmonds has not quite recovered from his bang to the head he took last Sunday.
Joining Hepburn on the bench are summer signing Matt Kvesic and the returning Will Chudley and Phil Dollman, all of whom missed out a week ago against Wasps.
Form: Leicester Tigers have won their last two Premiership Rugby fixtures, at home to Gloucester and away at Harlequins. Tigers have won three of their last four games at Welford Road since Exeter beat them there in early March. Champions Exeter Chiefs top the table after three successive victories over London Irish, Worcester and Wasps. The Chiefs only defeat in their last ten away games in Premriship Rugby was 21-28 at Gloucester on the opening evening of the new season. Leicester have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby encounters with the Chiefs: 31-27 at Welford Road in March 2016, they did however beat the Devonians 16-12 in the final of the Anglo Welsh Cup at Twickenham Stoop in March.
The teams:
Leicester Tigers: 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 Dom Barrow, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Tom Youngs (c), 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Greg Bateman, 18 Logovi’i Mulipola, 19 Valentino Mapapalangi, 20 Brendon O’Connor, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mathew Tait
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Lachie Turner, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Stuart Townsend, 8 Don Armand, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Dave Dennis, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 MItch Lees, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Ben Moon
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Max Bodilly, 23 Phil Dollman
Date: Saturday, 30 September
Venue: Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Thomas Foley
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Paul Dix
TMO: David Sainsbury
Northampton Saints v Harlequins
Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder has named a strong starting line-up for this crucial fixture.
The Saints return home to take on the Londoners looking to build on three successive Premiership wins and have made a number of changes to the matchday 23 from that which beat London Irish last Sunday.
Teimana Harrison and Kieran Brookes come into the starting line-up, while Stephen Myler is named among the replacements after proving his fitness in the Premiership Rugby ‘A’ League win at Worcester on Monday night.
Also on the bench are prop pair Francois van Wyk and Jamal Ford-Robinson, who could make their first team debuts if they see action at any point on Saturday.
Meanwhile, there are six changes to the Harlequins starting team that played last week against Leicester Tigers.
Aaron Morris and Tim Visser make their first appearances of the season, replacing Mike Brown and Charlie Walker, who miss out through an ankle injury and concussion respectively.
Rob Buchanan, James Horwill and Chris Robshaw also miss out due to concussion. As a result, Dave Ward captains the side at hooker, while Kyle Sinckler, Charlie Matthews and Ben Glynn come in to the pack.
Among the replacements, Dino Lamb and Dave Lewis will look to make their senior debuts for the club.
Commenting ahead of the fixture, Harlequins Director of Rugby John Kingston said: “The trip to Franklin’s Gardens is always a challenging one and obviously our squad is stretched at the moment.
“That said, we put in an outstanding display against Wasps two weeks ago and we will be looking to replicate that on Saturday.”
Form: Northampton Saints' only defeat in their last five Premiership Rugby matches was 24-55 to Saracens at Twickenham Stadium in the London double header. Saints only defeat at Franklin’s Gardens in any tournament since early December was 31-36 to Leicester in Premiership Rugby on 25 March. Harlequins have a won two, lost two record so far this season in Premiership Rugby with their away victory at Wasps two weeks ago ending a run of four successive away defats in all tournaments. The Saints have lost just one their last nine encounters with Harlequins in all competitions: 9-20 at Twickenham Stoop in October 2016. The Londoners have not been victorious at Franklin’s Gardens since a visit in Premiership Rugby in December 2012.
The teams:
Northampton Saints: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Rob Horne, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Tom Collins 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Nic Groom, 8 Teimana Harrison, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Courtney Lawes (c), 5 David Ribbans, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Sam Dickinson, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ben Foden
Harlequins: 15 Aaron Morris, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Mat Luamanu, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Ben Glynn, 5 Charlie Matthews, 4 George Merrick, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward (c), 1 Mark Lambert
Replacements: 16 Elia Elia, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 Will Collier, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Archie White, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Tim Swiel, 23 Alofa Alofa
Date: Saturday, 30 September
Venue: Franklin's Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Philip Watters, Simon McConnell
TMO: Graham Hughes
Wasps v Bath
Wasps Director of Rugby Dai Young has named his squad for Sunday's encounter, as the club celebrates its 150th anniversary game.
Thomas Young makes his first start of the season and 50th Premiership appearance, at openside, having impressed as a replacement last weekend on his return from a calf injury. James Haskell moves to the blindside flank, with Nathan Hughes again packing down at number eight.
Elsewhere in the pack, Will Rowlands lines up alongside Joe Launchbury in the second row. Up front, Simon McIntyre starts at loosehead, with Ben Harris ready to make his first appearance of the season from the bench. Matt Symons and Matt Mullan are ruled out following knocks picked up against Exeter Chiefs last week.
The only change in the back-line sees Brendan Macken starting alongside Elliot Daly in the centre, having impressed from the bench last week.
Ahead of the clash, with Wasps and Bath level on match points on the Premiership table, Young said: “This is a big game for both teams. Both sides have had a bit of a stuttering start to the season, with a couple of wins and a couple of losses and we’re in a similar place coming into this game.
“We need to show more composure than we have done in recent weeks, make smart decisions and respect the ball, so we don’t give a side with as many attacking threats as Bath needless opportunities. I’m expecting a really fired up Wasps’ team, with a big focus on individual skills, on ball retention and on getting at least parity of possession and territory. If we can achieve that, then there is no reason why we can’t get back to winning ways at home.
“As you would imagine, the players’ and coaches’ entire focus this week is on getting the performance right to come away with the result we want, but we also appreciate how big a year it is for the club, and in particular Sunday’s game being dedicated to celebrating Wasps’ 150th anniversary.
“It will be great to see so many players who have represented Wasps so well over a variety of decades at the Ricoh Arena on Sunday, supporting the existing squad. There’s a long season ahead and we want to put in performances on the field to do them, the club and our fans proud.”
Bath tighthead prop Henry Thomas, meanwhile, will make his return from injury in this match.
Thomas will take his place in the front row alongside Jack Walker and Beno Obano, who comes in for Nick Auterac at loosehead prop.
Charlie Ewels captains the side and will revert back to the second row after wearing the number six shirt last weekend against Newcastle Falcons.
Ewels will feature alongside Luke Charteris, whilst Zach Mercer makes his first Premiership start of the season at blindside flanker. Sam Underhill and Taulupe Faletau, who missed the game against the Falcons, both return to the back row.
Anthony Watson is the only change in the back-line at full-back, with Aled Brew and Semesa Rokoduguni completing the back three. Jonathan Joseph and Max Clark will provide the midfield options, whilst Rhys Priestland and Chris Cook form the half-back pairing for the trip to Coventry.
Form: Wasps have slipped to successive defeats, against Harlequins and Exeter Chiefs, but have not lost three in a row in Premiership Rugby since January 2016. This was last the occasion when they last lost successive matches at the Ricoh Arena – against Exeter and Saracens. Bath have lost their last two Premiership Rugby fixtures, at Northampton and at home to Newcastle, whilst their solitary away win in the tournament since last October came at Leicester in Round 1. Wasps have won their last four encounters with Bath in all tournaments whilst Bath’s only win in three visits to the Ricoh Arena was 25-23 in the European Champions Cup in December 2015.
The teams:
Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 Thomas Young, 6 James Haskell, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Joe Launchbury (c), 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Ashley Johnson, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Paul Doran Jones, 19 Marcus Garratt, 20 Jack Willis, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Juan De Jongh, 23 Marcus Watson
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Zach Mercer, 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Charlie Ewels (c), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Anthony Perenise, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 James Phillips, 21 Darren Allinson, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Ben Tapuai
Date: Sunday, 1 October
Venue: Ricoh Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Adam Leal
TMO: David Rose