Premiership Preview: Saturday, Sunday
There’s three games scheduled on Saturday and two on Sunday in the Premiership this week, including Harlequins v Wasps at Twickenham.
Gloucester vs Sale
Gloucester have made five changes to their starting line-up for Saturday’s visit of Sale Sharks to Kingsholm.
The Cherry and Whites will be looking to build upon last Sunday’s 20-17 victory on the road at Newcastle last Sunday, and keep their push for a top four Premiership finish alive.
Changes to the backline see Tom Hudson move from inside centre to full-back. Billy Twelvetrees switches from outside to inside centre with Henry Trinder coming in to wear the number 13 shirt.
Meanwhile, Matt Banahan takes over from Ollie Thorley on the left wing and, finally, Willi Heinz is back at scrum-half to skipper the side.
Up front, Fraser Balmain returns at tighthead prop and Jaco Kriel at openside flanker to complete the changes.
Steve Diamond makes no changes to his Sale side that beat Bristol at the AJ Bell in Round 10 and is looking for a similar result.
“We had a good win against Bristol at home last week and we are looking to keep the momentum going,” he said.
“We didn’t sustain any injuries in the last round so the team remains the same.
“It will be a tough ask to get the win at a sold out Kingsholm however I am confident we will be highly competitive and make it a difficult day for a star studded Gloucester team.”
Form: Gloucester Rugby have lost just once in the last five rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby: 6-23 away to table topping Exeter on 24 November. Gloucester’s only home defeat in Premiership Rugby this season was to Harlequins in round 5. Sale Sharks have lost only once in the last five rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby: 25-31 at Saracens on 17 November. The Sharks have picked up just four league points on their travels in Premiership Rugby this season – only Bristol have fared worse on the road. The Sharks most recent away win in the tournament came at Northampton in March. Gloucester’s only loss in their last six fixtures with Sale was 10-57 at Salford in September 2017 whilst the Sharks have not won at Kingsholm since September 2013.
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Tom Hudson, 14 Charlie Sharples, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Billy Twelvetrees, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Willi Heinz (c), 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Jaco Kriel, 6 Lewis Ludlow, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Ed Slater, 3 Fraser Balmain, 2 Jaco Visagie, 1 Josh Hohneck
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Paddy McAllister, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Tom Savage, 20 Gareth Evans, 21 Freddie Clarke, 22 Callum Braley, 23 Henry Purdy
Sale: 15 Chris Ashton, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 James O’Connor, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 James Phillips, 4 Josh Beaumont, 3 WillGriff John, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Ross Harrison
Replacements: 16 Curtis Langdon, 17 Tom Bristow, 18 Joe Jones, 19 Bryn Evans, 20 Josh Strauss, 21 Will Cliff, 22 Luke James, 23 Ben Curry
Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, Jonathan Healy
Television match official: Rowan Kitt
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Owen Farrell will captain Saracens in their final match of 2018 against Worcester Warriors.
The fly-half, who is England’s co-skipper, stands in for Brad Barritt who is missing due to a head knock picked up in last weekend’s defeat to Exeter Chiefs.
His absence sees Alex Lozowski start at inside centre with Nick Tompkins at 13, while Sean Maitland returns on the wing.
Will Skelton comes back into the second-row and Nick Isiekwe moves to blindside flanker.
The match comes too soon for Billy Vunipola. Liam Williams, Maro Itoje, Jackson Wray, Richard Wigglesworth and Mike Rhodes are all absent through injury.
Meanwhile, England centre Ben Te’o will make his first start of the season for Worcester Warriors.
Te’o will form a new centre pairing with Francois Venter as Ryan Mills suffered a wrist injury against Northampton Saints last week and he will miss his first Premiership match this season.
Injuries also force Warriors to make three more changes to their starting XV with Perry Humphreys, Gareth Milasinovich and Ted Hill replacing Josh Adams, Nick Schonert and Marco Mama.
Simon Kerrod, who last played in the Premiership as a replacement against Bristol Bears in October, and Matt Cox are named among the replacements.
Form: Saracens 22-game unbeaten run in all tournaments ended at Exeter on Saturday. Saracens last two defeats in Gallagher Premiership Rugby have both been at the hands of Exeter at Sandy Park. Saracens have won their last twelve home games since Leicester beat them at Allianz Park in Premiership Rugby in February. Worcester Warriors only victory in their last four matches was at home to Pau in the 4th round of the European Challenge Cup. The Warriors have won just twice on their travels in Gallagher Premiership Rugby in 2018, at Exeter in February and at Leicester in September. Saracens only defeat to Warriors in their last nine encounters in Premiership Rugby was 18-24 at Sixways in February 2017 whilst the only occasion that Worcester have ever been triumphant on Saracens soil was at Vicarage Road in November 2006.
The teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Nick Tompkins, 12 Alex Lozowski, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Calum Clark, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 George Kruis, 4 Will Skelton, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Dom Day, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Marcelo Bosch, 23 David Strettle
Worcester: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Perry Humphreys, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (c), 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Michael Fatialofa, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 Gareth Milasinovich, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Callum Black
Replacements: 16 Joe Taufete’e, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 Pierce Phillips, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Jonny Arr, 22 Ollie Lawrence, 23 Scott van Breda
Venue: Allianz Park
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Adam Leal, Robert Warburton
Television match official: David Grashoff
Harlequins vs Wasps
Danny Care and Marcus Smith will start as half-backs for Big Game 11 at Twickenham.
With over 79,000 tickets already sold for the showpiece event at the home of rugby, it is a welcome return for seasoned international Care, who has been rested for Quins’ past three matches.
There is one other change to the backline that started against Leicester last week with Francis Saili at inside centre. Mike Brown is at full-back and Nathan Earle and Cadan Murley are on the wings.
There is only one tweak in the forwards with Ben Glynn coming in at lock alongside former Wasp Matt Symons while James Chisholm becomes the sixth different captain to lead Harlequins out at Big Game after Will Skinner, Chris Robshaw, Nick Easter, Care and Dave Ward, who starts at hooker.
Thomas Young will become a Wasps centurion on Saturday as the Welsh flanker will make his 100th appearance in the Black and Gold, as part of a powerful back-row which includes Springbok Nizaam Carr and England international Brad Shields, who is set to captain the side for the first time.
Director of rugby Dai Young has handed Michele Campagnaro his first Wasps start at outside centre next to Michael Le Bourgeois, with Elliot Daly moving out to the wing alongside Willie le Roux and Josh Bassett in the back three. Ross Neal misses out with a hip knock.
Dan Robson gets his first start since picking up an injury against Gloucester in October and he will partner All Black Lima Sopoaga in the half-back pairing.
In the front-row Ashley Johnson is ruled out with an abdominal injury so Tom Cruse starts for his 49th Wasps appearance at hooker alongside props Ben Harris and Jake Cooper-Woolley.
Will Rowlands and Kearnan Myall continue in the second-row with Joe Launchbury missing out having sustained a neck knock in training this week. James Gaskell remains sidelined with a back/hamstring injury.
Form: This is Harlequins 11th ‘Big Game’ at Twickenham Stadium, with their only defeat in the last six being to Northampton in 2014. The Londoners only other defeat at HQ in that time was to London Irish in the ‘London Double Header’ in 2017. Quins last four matches in Gallagher Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day. Wasps only victory in their last twelve matches was at home to Bristol in round 8 of Gallagher Premiership Rugby. Wasps have not been victorious away from home since a single point victory at Newcastle at the end of September. The two clubs have met on five previous occasions at Twickenham Stadium with Wasps winning the first two in 2009, a draw in 2010 and Quins winning the last two in 2012 and 2013.
The teams:
Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Nathan Earle, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Francis Saili, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 James Chisholm (c), 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Alex Dombrandt, 5 Ben Glynn, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dave Ward, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Max Crumpton, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Will Collier, 19 George Merrick, 20 Renaldo Bothma, 21 Charlie Mulchrone, 22 James Lang, 23 Gabriel Ibitoye
Wasps: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Josh Bassett, 13 Michele Campagnaro, 12 Michael Le Bourgeois, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Nizaam Carr, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 Kearnan Myall, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Tom Cruse, 1 Ben Harris
Replacements: 16 Antonio Harris, 17 Zurabi Zhvania, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Ben Morris, 21 Craig Hampson, 22 Billy Searle, 23 Juan de Jongh
Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 16:00 GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Phil Watters
Television match official: Sean Davey
Sunday
Bath have made one change to their side to face Leicester Tigers at the Rec on Sunday.
Matt Garvey returns to the starting line-up to co-captain the side and will join Elliott Stooke in the second-row.
Nathan Catt, Tom Dunn and Henry Thomas continue in the front-row with Tom Ellis, Sam Underhill and Francois Louw completing the pack.
Will Chudley joins Garvey as co-captain after leading the team to a 14-24 victory over Wasps last weekend. A try scorer in that game, Chudley starts at scrum-half alongside Freddie Burns, who contributed 19 points in a man of the match performance at the Ricoh Arena.
Jamie Roberts and Max Wright form the midfield pairing, with Ruaridh McConnochie and Semesa Rokoduguni looking to make an impact off the wings. James Wilson completes the backline at full-back.
Rhys Priestland and Charlie Ewels return to the squad as the duo are named among the replacements for Bath’s final game of 2018.
Meanwhile, Brendon O’Connor and Graham Kitchener return to the Leicester Tigers forward pack for Sunday’s trip to face Bath.
Back-rower O’Connor and lock Kitchener replace Guy Thompson and Will Spencer who took knocks in the bonus-point win over Harlequins last weekend.
In the only other change to the starting line-up, Jake Kerr starts at hooker, with Australia international Tatafu Polota-Nau reverting to the bench.
Will Evans is included among the replacements after missing the last two games.
Form: Bath Rugby’s only defeat in the last four rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby was 8-16 at Newcastle on 23 November. Bath have won only once at the Recreation Ground in any tournament since September: 28-13 over Worcester in round 7 of Premiership Rugby. Leicester Tigers three game losing run in Gallagher Premiership Rugby ended with their 35-24 victory over Harlequins at Welford Road on Saturday. The Tigers have lost their last five away games in all competitions since beating Northampton at Twickenham Stadium in round 6 of Premiership Rugby. Leicester’s victory over Bath at Twickenham Stadium in April ended a three-game winning run by the West Countrymen over their old rivals in all tournaments. Leicester have won just once at the Recreation Ground in Premiership Rugby in their last 11 visits: 37-6 in March 2011.
The teams:
Bath: 15 James Wilson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Max Wright, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Freddie Burns, 9 Will Chudley (cc), 8 Francois Louw, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Tom Ellis, 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Matt Garvey (cc), 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Nathan Catt
Replacements: 16 Ross Batty, 17 Jacques van Rooyen, 18 Max Lahiff, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Max Green, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Cooper Vuna
Leicester: 15 George Worth, 14 Jonah Holmes, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Matt Toomua, 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Sione Kalamafoni, 7 Brendon O’Connor, 6 Mike Fitzgerald, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jake Kerr, 1 Ellis Genge
Replacements: 16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Will Evans, 21 Ben White, 22 Gareth Owen, 23 Jordan Olowofela
Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: JP Doyle
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Simon McConnell
Television match official: Stuart Terheege
Bristol Bears round off 2018 with a mouth-watering clash with Newcastle Falcons on Sunday.
With a bumper crowd expected at Ashton Gate, Pat Lam makes three changes from the side that suffered defeat to Sale Sharks last weekend.
Tom Pincus makes his first Premiership start in place of Alapati Leiua (ankle) in the only change to the backline, while Dan Thomas and Jordan Crane come into the back-row.
Bristol include George Smith among the replacements, while lock Ed Holmes also returns to the 23-man squad.
Meanwhile, Newcastle captain Will Welch makes a welcome return from injury for this Premiership encounter.
The skipper has missed almost three months after injuring his ankle at Sale Sharks in early October, Welch returning to a Falcons side showing six changes from the one which took a bonus point from last weekend’s narrow defeat to Gloucester.
He is joined in the back-row by Callum Chick, who scored two tries in captaining the Falcons’ table-topping A-Team in last Sunday’s 59-27 Premiership Rugby Shield win over Wasps.
Sami Mavinga comes in at loosehead prop in a front-row which also sees George McGuigan drafted in at hooker, the two additions to Newcastle’s backline being scrum-half Michael Young and winger Adam Radwan.
Sam Lockwood, Mark Wilson and Alex Tait all miss the game through injury, Newcastle having taken nine points from their last three Premiership matches.
Form: Bristol Bears only victory in the last six rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby was 41-10 against Leicester at Ashton Gate on 1 December. Bristol’s home record in Premiership Rugby this season is won three lost two. Newcastle Falcons have lost their last three matches in all tournaments since beating Northampton at Franklin’s Gardens in round 9 of Gallagher Premiership Rugby. The Falcons have tallied more league points on their travels in Premiership Rugby this season than they have at home. Newcastle have lost just one of their last six encounters with Bristol: 14-19 at Kingston Park in the RFU Championship in April 2013. Newcastle won 39-27 on their only previous visit to Ashton Gate in May 2017.
The teams:
Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Luke Morahan, 13 Will Hurrell, 12 Siale Piutau (cc), 11 Tom Pincus, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Jordan Crane (cc), 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Steven Luatua, 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Chris Vui, 3 John Afoa, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Nick Fenton-Wells, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 Lewis Thiede, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 George Smith, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Callum Sheedy, 23 Piers O’Conor
Newcastle: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Vereniki Goneva, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Adam Radwan, 10 Toby Flood, 9 Michael Young, 8 Callum Chick, 7 John Hardie, 6 Will Welch (c), 5 Tevita Cavubati, 4 Calum Green, 3 Logovi’i Mulipola, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Sami Mavinga
Replacements: 16 Kyle Cooper, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 David Wilson, 19 Andrew Davidson, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Brett Connon, 23 Tom Arscott
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Paul Dix, Anthony Woodthorpe
Television match official: David Rose