Premiership Preview: Saturday and Sunday
There are four games taking place in the Premiership on Saturday while Saracens host Wasps at a sold-out Allianz Park on Sunday.
Bath v Worcester
Freddie Burns will make his first start for Bath when they host Worcester on Saturday.
Burns – one of four changes to the starting line-up – forms the half-back combination with Chris Cook. Ben Tapuai comes in at inside centre after coming on as a replacement during the 9-25 victory over Wasps last weekend. The Australian will link-up with Jonathan Joseph, who continues in the number 13 jersey.
Semesa Rokoduguni, who notched his fifth try in as many games at the Ricoh Arena, starts on the right wing, with Aled Brew and Anthony Watson completing an explosive back three combination.
In the front row, Anthony Perenise starts at tighthead, scrumming down alongside Jack Walker and Beno Obano.
Elliott Stooke partners Charlie Ewels in the second row, whilst Zach Mercer remains at blindside flanker following his Man of the Match performance last Sunday. Sam Underhill and Taulupe Faletau complete the back row at openside flanker and number eight respectively.
Meanwhile, Dean Hammond and Sam Lewis are restored to the Warriors starting line-up. Hammond forms the back three with Josh Adams and Chris Pennell while Ben Te’o and Jackson Willison continue their midfield partnership.
Scrum-half Jonny Arr gets set for his 193rd appearance for the club alongside 20-year-old stand-off Jamie Shillcock.
Lewis returns to the back row to line up next to GJ van Velze and David Denton – the latter who will face up against his former club.
Donncha O’Callaghan skippers Warriors from the second row next to Will Spencer, another ex-Bath man, who scored against his former employers the last time the sides met as Warriors secured a 25-19 win back in April.
New signing Jono Lance could make his debut from the bench while former Bath players Peter Stringer and Alafoti Faosiliva are among the replacements.
Wynand Olivier is also back in the Worcester 23 after returning from a hamstring injury.
Form: Bath Rugby return to the Recreation Ground, but two of their three victories in Premiership Rugby this season have been on the road. Bath tripped up to Newcastle in their most recent home game but have not lost successive Premiership Rugby encounters at the Recreation Ground since February 2016. Worcester Warriors have slipped to seven straight Premiership Rugby defeats, although they have at least gained three losing bonus points in that sequence. The Warriors have lost their last fifteen away games in the competition since beating Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop in March 2016. Worcester beat Bath 25-19 at Sixways in April to end an eight game losing streak in this fixture. Worcester have never won in twelve previous visits to the Recreation Ground in all competitions.
The teams:
Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ben Tapuai, 11 Aled Brew, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Zach Mercer, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Charlie Ewels (c), 3 Anthony Perenise, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 James Phillips, 20 Levi Douglas, 21 Kahn Fotuali’i, 22 Josh Lewis, 23 Max Clark
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Josh Adams, 13 Jackson Willison, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Dean Hammond, 10 Jamie Shillcock, 9 Jonny Arr, 8 GJ van Velze, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 David Denton, 5 Will Spencer, 4 Donncha O’Callaghan (c) 3 Biyi Alo, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Ryan Bower
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Christian Scotland-Williamson, 20 Alafoti Faosiliva, 21 Peter Stringer, 22 Jono Lance, 23 Wynand Olivier
Date: Saturday, October 6
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Christophe Ridley, Simon McConnell
TMO: Graham Hughes
Exeter v Newcastle
Exeter forwards coach Rob Hunter says the Chiefs are fully prepared for the threat posed by Newcastle Falcons.
Five weeks into the new season and the North East outfit have been the talk of the town, after a stunning start which has seen them net four victories from five starts to date.
Second in the table, level on points with leaders Northampton Saints, the Falcons fly South this weekend looking to add the scalp of the reigning champions, who themselves are looking for an instant pick-me-up following last weekend’s 20-13 defeat at Leicester Tigers.
Hunter and the Exeter coaching team have watched with interest the great strides made by Dean Richards’ side this season and have spent this past week instilling into their players the importance of producing a performance packed full of effort and intensity.
Duly warned, the Chiefs themselves will take to the field primed and ready for tomorrow’s test, which provides the last competitive fixture of this opening Premiership block.
Ahead of kick-off, Director of Rugby Rob Baxter has made a number of changes to his squad. In the pack, Carl Rimmer and Harry Williams return in the front-row alongside skipper Jack Yeandle, who is set to make his 100th Premiership appearance for the club. Behind, Sam Skinner and Sam Simmonds come into the back-row at the expense of Dave Dennis (rested) and Julian Salvi, who drops to the bench.
In the back division, Aussie international Nic White is recalled at scrum-half, while the return of Jack Nowell on the right wing means Lachie Turner shunts back to full-back with Phil Dollman dropping to the bench, where he will be joined by Ben Moon who, if he appears at any stage tomorrow, will make his 150th league appearance.
Meanwhile, Trevor Davison makes his first Premiership start for Newcastle Falcons on Saturday.
The 25-year-old prop was a summer signing from local club Blaydon who has featured from the bench in all five games this season, the former England Counties international coming in as the only change to the side which defeated London Irish 29-17 last Friday.
Fly-half Toby Flood could be set to make the first competitive appearance of his second spell at the club after re-joining the Falcons from Toulouse, the 60-times-capped England international having missed the opening chunk of the campaign with a hamstring injury.
Canada prop Jake Ilnicki is also poised to make his Newcastle debut, the former Northampton Saint named among the replacements for a Falcons side who go into round six placed second in the Premiership table.
Forwards coach Micky Ward said: “It’ll definitely be a physical challenge down there. We’ve already had a few of those this season but this is the one I’ve always been most excited for, and our pack has gone well so far. They’ve got the bit between their teeth and they’ve really been testing teams, but what better place to do it than away at the champions?
“Exeter have got some big lumps in their pack and everyone knows what they’re about, so we’ll have to be right on it. They love to drive line-outs, they love to scrummage and that’s the stuff we want to do as well. Our line-out and maul defence is something we really pride ourselves on, we’ve gone well there this season and I’m backing us to come through a big challenge there at the weekend.
“It’s the same in the scrum – Exeter like to keep the ball in rather than moving it quickly, and that’s a challenge we have to rise to. Those are the kinds of things that get Exeter into a game, their scrum, maul and line-out, and when you think back to their semi-final win over Saracens last season it was a scrum penalty, a line-out and a maul which did it for them. We’ve got to be the aggressors and the dominant force, and we’ve got to punch harder than them in terms of the impact we make in those areas.”
The Chiefs come into the game on the back of a defeat at Leicester Tigers, Ward saying: “They’ll be licking their wounds after last weekend, make no mistake. Their performance at Leicester wasn’t up to the really high standards they’ve set previously and we’re expecting the backlash. They won’t be a happy bunch and they’ll be wanting to make a statement, but we want to do likewise.
“We’ve been down there many times and not done what we wanted to do, and our statement would be to finish this block of six Premiership games on a high. To do that we need to go above them from a forwards physicality standpoint, and if we want to keep our run going that’s the mentality we need to have.
“Exeter like to challenge you not just from a physical contact point of view, but also from a running point of view. They keep the ball in play, they don’t give you a lot of line-outs and they just try and run you ragged. We’ve got to be able to get up off the ground or from a set-piece and get into our attacking shape time after time, and we need to challenge them with our attack. We can’t just shut up shop against a team like them, and during the times when Exeter have the ball we need to be fit enough to get into the defensive line and dominate those contacts.
“I’m confident in our game plan and the quality of work we’re doing in training, so the thing for us is translating it into the match scenario against one of the best teams around. It’s not a small thing we’re asking the lads to do, but I believe we can do it.”
Going into the game on the back of their best start to a Premiership season since 1997-8, the forwards coach said: “It’s good to see us doing what I’d hoped for a number of years we’d be doing. It has been building for a while now, we’ve been a little bit better each season and it’s pleasing to see things we’ve been doing in training working on the field at the moment.
“The lads who were already here are maturing as a group but the key for me is that the squad as a whole is stronger. We have depth in every position, and the team that we ran against our first team in training on Thursday would be easily capable of playing an Aviva Premiership game. We have internationals, experienced Premiership players and some great young talents who aren’t currently in the starting side, but what they’re doing every day in training is driving up the standards across the board because the lads currently holding the shirts know they have to be bang on the money to keep their place.
“As much as it’s not a massively changed team from last season guys know their place is genuinely up for grabs, and that’s probably not something we’ve been able to say for a while. The lads who are waiting in the wings are of similar quality, and that’s the thing we’ve been building. The players have always been trying but it’s a case of how much they are now being challenged every single day in training.”
Form: Both of Exeter Chiefs defeats in Premiership Rugby this season have been away from home, at Gloucester in round 1 and at Leicester last weekend. At Sandy Park the Chiefs are unbeaten in their last ten fixtures in the tournament since Bath won there 13-10 on 30 October. Newcastle Falcons have lost just one of their last seven Premiership Rugby matches: 7-29 against Saracens (in a ‘home’ game) in Philadelphia on 16 September. Falcons have won their last three away games in Premiership Rugby, but have not won four in a row on the road in the tournament since they took the title in 1997/98. Exeter have lost just once to the Falcons in Premiership Rugby: 24-29 at Kingston Park in October 2014 whilst Newcastle have never won at Exeter in any competition.
The teams:
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Lachie Turner, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Nic White, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Don Armand, 6 Sam Skinner, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Mitch Lees, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Carl Rimmer
Replacements: 16 Elvis Taione, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Tomas Francis, 19 Ollie Atkins, 20 Julian Salvi, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Tom Hendrickson, 23 Phil Dollman
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 DTH van der Merwe, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Juan Pablo Socino, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Craig Willis, 9 Sonatane Takulua, 8 Nili Latu, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Mark Wilson, 5 Will Witty, 4 Calum Green, 3 Jon Welsh, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Trevor Davison
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Rob Vickers, 18 Jake Ilnicki, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Ally Hogg, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Toby Flood, 23 Josh Matavesi
Date: Saturday, October 6
Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Andrew Jackson
Assistant referees: Jack Makepeace, Philip Watters
TMO: Keith Lewis
Gloucester v Northampton
Fly-half Owen Williams will make his first competitive start for Gloucester. Williams made his first appearance for the Cherry and Whites as a replacement in the defeat at Sale last Friday, and will wear the number ten shirt in the only change in the backs.
The other three changes are up front where John Afoa, Tom Savage and Jacob Rowan return to the starting line-up in place of Gareth Denman, Jeremy Thrush and Freddie Clarke respectively.
After a rough start to the season with an opening day defeat against Saracens, the Saints have hit their straps in recent weeks and roared to the top of the Premiership table, a fact not lost upon Backs Coach Tim Taylor.
"Saints have been excellent over the past few weeks. They started with a bit of a drubbing in their first game but they've bounced back very well. You look at the way they play, they're quite accurate in everything they do, good set-piece and good defence.
"They've also got a good back line so we've had a big focus on defence this week. It's going to be a very tough match but the boys have a good mindset and we're looking forward to putting our game plan into action."
And Taylor insists that the Cherry and Whites have worked hard in training this week to right the wrongs of last Friday.
"We were obviously all very disappointed with the outcome and with the way we played. We've had a good week. We've looked at ourselves hard and know where we want to improve and how to get better. We're looking forward to getting back out there on Saturday and putting in a performance.
"What Sale did was execute their turnover attack really well and take their chances. They took their opportunities when they had them and we didn't. We kept the ball well for stages but, when we got into the final third, we didn't hold on to it at crucial times. That's where we need to get better."
Meanwhile, there are several changes to the Northampton team which started last weekend’s bonus point win over Harlequins. Dylan Hartley returns to captain the team from hooker, with Sam Dickinson coming in at number eight. There is a first start for scrum-half Cobus Reinach, while Piers Francis makes his competitive debut in the back line.
Rob Horne (shoulder) and Nic Groom (ankle) will not be making the trip to Kingsholm.
Form: Gloucester tripped up 10-57 at Sale on Friday and have only once before conceded more points in a Premiership Rugby match in going down 21-58 at Northampton in 2002. All five of Gloucester’s matches this season have gone with home field advantage, the Cherry & Whites beating Exeter and Worcester so far at Kingsholm. Northampton Saints were bottom of the table after one round but are now top after five – the quickest turnaround in fortunes in Premiership Rugby history. The Saints only defeat in their last six Premiership Rugby matches was to Saracens at Twickenham Stadium in round 1. Northampton are unbeaten in their last nine encounters with Gloucester in all competitions since Gloucester’s 26-24 victory at Kingsholm in Premiership Rugby in September 2013.
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Jason Woodward, 14 Henry Purdy, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 David Halaifonua, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Willi Heinz (c), 8 Ruan Ackermann 7 Jacob Rowan, 6 Lewis Ludlow, 5 Ed Slater; 4 Tom Savage, 3 John Afoa; 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Motu Matu'u, 17 Josh Hohneck, 18 Gareth Denman, 19 Jeremy Thrush, 20 Freddie Clarke, 21 Ben Vellacott, 22 Billy Burns, 23 Tom Hudson
Northampton: 15 Ahsee Tuala, 14 George North, 13 Luther Burrell, 12 Piers Francis, 11 Tom Collins, 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Jamie Gibson, 5 David Ribbans, 4 Michael Paterson, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley (c), 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Api Ratuniyarawa, 20 Courtney Lawes, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 Ben Foden
Date: Saturday, October 6
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Jonathan Healy
TMO: Geoffrey Warren
London Irish v Leicester
Ben Meehan and Jake Schatz will make their full Premiership bows for London Irish on Saturday.
Former Queensland Red Meehan, 24, replaces Scott Steele at scrum-half, while fellow Aussie Schatz, 27, gets the nod at eight.
Greig Tonks makes his first start of the season at inside centre and Topsy Ojo makes his return to the wing, the club record try-scorer replacing Napolioni Nalaga who sustained a broken arm against Falcons last weekend.
Looking forward to the visit of a Tigers outfit that has recorded three successive victories, Exiles’ director of rugby Nick Kennedy said: “We’ve had more preparation time this week following the Newcastle trip and the guys are really looking forward to tomorrow’s game.
“Ben Meehan and Jake Schatz have worked hard in training and deserve their chance to show what they can do on the Aviva Premiership stage.
“Leicester are a quality side, who are on a good run of form, so we will need to be fully focused on the game right from the word go.
“They have threats across the park, but we are also equipped with quality players with international experience so it promises to be an entertaining spectacle at the Madejski Stadium.”
Meanwhile, Leicester Tigers will hand club debuts to Gareth Owen and Dan Tuohy in this fixture.
Former Scarlets centre Owen makes his Premiership bow after playing in three rounds of the Premiership ‘A’ League since his summer move to Tigers, while on-loan second-row Tuohy also comes into the starting line-up.
George McGuigan and Sam Harrison are given a first start of the season, with Will Evans joining Tonga international duo Sione Kalamafoni and Valentino Mapapalangi in the back row.
Fly-half George Ford captains Tigers for the first time, with club skipper Tom Youngs named among the replacements. Ellis Genge returns to the squad after his late withdrawal due to a back spasm last Saturday and is also among five senior internationals named on the bench.
Fellow prop Pat Cilliers returns to the squad after a groin injury. Tigers go to the Madejski Stadium on the back of three successive league victories and head coach Matt O’Connor said: “The win was important against Exeter last week but there is still scope for the performance to be better and it is important that we aim up again. “We’ve had some really entertaining but tough games at Irish and we have to back-up all the good things we did last Saturday.”
Form: London Irish have slipped to four straight defeats in Premiership Rugby and failed to garner any league points from the last three encounters. The Exiles have played one other game at Madejski Stadium this season, being defeated 25-40 by Northampton there in round 4. Leicester Tigers have won their last three Premiership Rugby matches, against Gloucester, Harlequins and Exeter, but have not won four in a row in the competition since March 2015. Leicester have lost just once to London Irish in their last fifteen meetings in all competitions: 19-22 at Welford Road in September 2014. The Tigers have won on their last seven visits to Madejski Stadium.
London Irish: 15 Tommy Bell, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Aseli Tikoirotuma, 12 Greig Tonks, 11 Topsy Ojo, 10 James Marshall, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Jake Schatz, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Josh McNally, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Franco van der Merwe, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 David Paice (c), 1 Ben Franks
Replacements: 16 Todd Gleave, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Teofilo Paulo, 20 Lasha Lomidze, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Tom Fowlie
Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Nick Malouf, 13 Gareth Owen, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Sam Harrison, 8 Valentino Mapapalangi, 7 Will Evans, 6 Sione Kalamafoni, 5 Dom Barrow, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Dan Cole, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Greg Bateman
Replacements: 16 Tom Youngs, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Patrick Cilliers, 19 Harry Wells, 20 Luke Hamilton, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Mathew Tait
Date: Saturday, October 6
Venue: Madejski Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: John-Paul Doyle
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Matthew O'Grady
TMO: David Rose
Sunday
Saracens v Wasps
Brad Barritt will make his 200th appearance for Saracens, becoming fourth current squad member at Saracens to pass the 200 milestone.
Barritt will skipper the side from inside centre, alongside Marcelo Bosch who comes back into the side after missing Saracens win away to Worcester Warriors. Chris Wyles continues on the left-wing after his try-scoring brace at Sixways, with Liam Williams returning for Saracens on the right-wing in place of Sean Maitland who has been ruled out of action with a foot injury.
In the halves, Alex Lozowski continues at fly-half, with Richard Wigglesworth coming into the side at scrumhalf for Ben Spencer who takes his place on the replacements bench.
In the front row, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Juan Figallo start whilst elsewhere in the pack Nick Isiekwe and George Kruis start at lock. Maro Itoje continues at blindside flanker with Michael Rhodes and Schalk Burger ruled out with shoulder injuries, whilst Calum Clark continues at openside flanker – Jackson Wray is named at eight.
Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall: “The opening five rounds have proven how exciting this competition can be, with upsets across the league and some high-quality rugby on show. As a squad, we are looking forward to an exciting period of fixtures that we have over the next few weeks in both the Premiership and Europe. Last weekend we came away from Sixways with a good away win at Worcester Warriors and our focus this week has been preparing to face Wasps, a team who we have enjoyed some great battles with over the last few seasons. Wasps have quality throughout their squad, and as always, they will pose us a real challenge on Sunday.”
Meanwhile, Wasps’ Director of Rugby Dai Young has named the side to travel to Allianz Park on Sunday to face reigning European Champions Saracens.
Willie le Roux returns at full back, with Rob Miller moving to fly half in the absence of Jimmy Gopperth who picked up an injury against Bath last weekend.
Up front, it’s a re-shuffled pack. Ashley Johnson starts at hooker, Marty Moore at tighthead and Matt Mullan, who will also captain the side, at loosehead. With a five-day turn-around between Saracens and Ulster in the European Champions Cup at the Kingspan Stadium on Friday evening, Joe Launchbury is rested as a precaution following a knock picked up last weekend, having already played every game for Wasps this season.
Will Rowlands and Marcus Garratt form the second row pairing, with Garratt in line to make his Premiership debut. James Gaskell returns from injury to take a place on the bench, as does Dan Robson at scrum half.
James Haskell, Thomas Young and Jack Willis form Wasps back row. Nathan Hughes is recovering from the dead leg sustained against Bath. Willis, who was promoted from Wasps Senior Academy squad this season, is joined in the match day squad by his younger brother Tom, a current member of Wasps Senior Academy, who will provide back row cover on the bench.
Ahead of the trip to Allianz Park, Dai Young said: “All sides will go through periods where they’re missing a number of front line players and we’ve hit that period early on in the season, but it’s what building a quality squad is about.
“I have faith in every player in our squad that they will do a really good job for us every time they wear the Wasps’ shirt. It’s a good opportunity for some of our younger guys coming through to show what they can against one of the toughest opponents in Europe.
“We also have a couple of guys returning from injury which is great to see. We will give it everything we have against a quality Saracens side and look to put right the areas of our performance we haven’t been happy with over the past couple of weeks.”
Form: Saracens only defeat in Premiership Rugby this season was 21-31 at Bath in round 2. Saracens are unbeaten in their last seventeen home games in Premiership Rugby since Northampton beat them at Allianz Park in March 2015, their best ever home run. Wasps have slipped to three straight defeats in Premiership Rugby but have not lost four in a row in the tournament since March 2014. Away from home this season Wasps beat Worcester in round 2 and lost at Exeter in round 4. Both teams won their respective home game when they met in Premiership Rugby last season, reversing the trend of 2015/16. Wasps three most recent victories on Saracens soil came at Vicarage Road in 2008, Twickenham Stadium in 2011 and Allianz Park in February 2016.
The teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (c), 11 Chris Wyles, 10 Alex Lozowski, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Maro Itoje, 5 George Kruis, 4 Nick Isiekwe, 3 Juan Figallo, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Christopher Tolofua, 17 Hayden Thompson-Stringer, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Dominic Day, 20 Joel Conlon, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Owen Farrell, 23 Duncan Taylor
Wasps: 15 Willie Le Roux, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Brendan Macken, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Rob Miller, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Thomas Young, 7 Jack Willis, 6 James Haskell, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Marcus Garratt, 3 Marty Moore, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan (c)
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 19 James Gaskell, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Dan Robson, 22 Juan De Jongh, 23 Christian Wade
Date: Saturday, October 6
Venue: Madejski Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 local (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Nigel Carrick
TMO: Sean Davey