Premiership starts for Danny Cipriani and Maro Itoje

Planet Rugby

Round Five of the Premiership is set for kick-off as six games take place, including the highly anticipated clash between Wasps and Exeter Chiefs on Saturday.

Check on all the team news for the weekend while we also predict the results of the games.

Friday

Sale Sharks v Harlequins

Form: Sale Sharks’ only win in their last six Premiership Rugby fixtures was 20-19 at home to Bath in Round One. The Sharks tripped up in their most recent encounter at AJ Bell Stadium losing 15-25 to Exeter ending an eight-game winning run at the venue. Defending champions Harlequins have begun the season with maximum league points after their first three matches and have now won their last six games in succession since they last visited Sale on June 4. Quins have won their last two away games, their best sequence for twelve months. The last five fixtures between the two clubs in Premiership Rugby have all gone the way of home team advantage whilst Harlequins have not been victorious at AJ Bell Stadium since a 25-23 victory in April 2015.

Prediction: Harlequins by 7

The teams:

Sale Sharks: 15 Simon Hammersley, 14 Denny Solomona, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Byron McGuigan, 10 Kieran Wilkinson, 9 Raffi Quirke, 8 Daniel du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Jean-Luc du Preez, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Curtis Langdon, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Tommy Taylor, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 JP du Preez, 20 Cameron Nield, 21 Gus Warr, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Luke James

Harlequins: 15 Tyrone Green, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Jack Kenningham, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Dino Lamb, 4 Matt Symons, 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Will Collier, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Tom Lawday, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Louis Lynagh

Venue: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson, John Meredith
TMO: Ian Tempest

Saturday

Newcastle Falcons v Bristol Bears

Form: Newcastle Falcons’ record in Premiership Rugby this season is an even won two, lost two. The Falcons have lost just one of their last five home games at Kingston Park: 20-26 to Harlequins in Round One. Bristol Bears’ only victory in their last five Premiership Rugby games was 25-20 at home to Bath on October 1. The Bears have lost their last two away games in Premiership Rugby and have not lost three in succession on their travels since 2018/19. Bristol have won their last four encounters with Newcastle since the Falcons 39-27 victory at Ashton Gate in May 2017. The Bears have been victorious on their last two visits to Kingston Park and have never won three in a row at the venue.

Prediction: Newcastle Falcons by 5

The teams:

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Ben Stevenson, 12 Max Wright, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Louis Schreuder, 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Will Welch (c), 6 Callum Chick, 5 George Merrick, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Jamie Blamire, 17 Kyle Cooper, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Will Montgomery, 20 Gary Graham, 21 Cameron Nordli-Kelemeti, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 George Wacokecoke

Bristol Bears: 15 Ioan Lloyd, 14 Toby Fricker, 13. Jack Bates, 12. Antoine Frisch, 11 Alapati Leiua, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Fitz Harding, 7 Dan Thomas, 6 Sam Jeffries, 5 Joe Joyce, 4 Dave Attwood (c), 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Jake Kerr, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Harry Thacker, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 John Afoa, 19 John Hawkins, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Tom Whiteley, 23 Charlie Powell

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Christophe Ridley
Assistant Referees: Adam Leal, Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Wasps v Exeter Chiefs

Form: Wasps’ three games so far in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day. Wasps have lost just one of their last five matches played at Coventry Building Society Arena: 31-38 to Leicester on June 12. Exeter Chiefs have won their last two Premiership Rugby fixtures, against Sale and Worcester since Northampton beat them at Sandy Park at the end of September. The Chiefs’ only defeat in their last five away games was 19-34 at Leicester in Round One. The last eight fixtures between the two clubs have been evenly split with four wins apiece. Exeter have won just twice in their seven previous visits to play Wasps in Coventry, in December 2015 and September 2018.

Prediction: Exeter Chiefs by 9

The teams:

Wasps: 15 Marcus Watson, 14 Zach Kibirige, 13 Michael Le Bourgeois, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Jacob Umaga, 9 Dan Robson, 8 Tom Willis, 7 Thomas Young, 6 Brad Shields (c), 5 Elliott Stooke, 4 Vaea Fifita, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Robin Hislop
Replacements: 16 Patrick Harrison, 17 Ben Harris, 18 Pieter Scholtz, 19 Tim Cardall, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Will Simonds, 23 Ali Crossdale

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade (c), 12 Tom Hendrickson, 11 Facundo Cordero, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Jack Maunder, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Richard Capstick, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Ryan McCauley, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Alec Hepburn
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Sam Nixon, 19 Will Witty, 20 Don Armand, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Joe Simmonds, 23 Tom O’Flaherty

Venue: Coventry Building Society Arena
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant Referees: Simon Harding, Greg Macdonald
TMO: Tom Foley

Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers

Form: Worcester Warriors have slipped to three straight defeats in Premiership Rugby since beating London Irish 36-24 at Sixways in Round One – Worcester’s only victory at Sixways in any tournament since 21st November 2020. Leicester Tigers have won their last five Premiership Rugby encounters since losing 23-26 to Bristol at Welford Road on 5 June. The Tigers have not won six in succession in the tournament since 2017, whilst they have not begun a league campaign with six wins out of six since in Division One in season 1994/95. The Tigers have won their last three fixtures against the Warriors with their 18-17 victory on their most recent victory to Sixways in May ending a run of three successive defeats at the venue in all competitions.

Prediction: Leicester Tigers by 8

The teams:

Worcester Warriors: 15 Harri Doel, 14 Perry Humphreys, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Francois Venter (cc), 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Billy Searle, 9 Will Chudley, 8 Sione Vailanu, 7 Sam Lewis, 6 Kyle Hatherell, 5 Justin Clegg, 4 Andrew Kitchener, 3 Christian Judge, 2 Scott Baldwin (cc), 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Jay Tyack, 19 Joe Batley, 20 Matt Kvesic, 21 Gareth Simpson, 22 Fin Smith, 23 Oli Morris

Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Matías Moroni, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Nemani Nadolo, 10 George Ford, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Marco van Staden, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Eli Snyman, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Julián Montoya, 1 Ellis Genge (c)
Replacements: 16 Nic Dolly, 17 Nephi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Cameron Henderson, 20 Ollie Chessum, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Kini Murimurivalu

Venue: Sixways
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant Referees: Sara Cox, Joe James
TMO: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Sunday

Bath v Saracens

Form: Bath have slipped to three successive Premiership Rugby defeats although on each occasion they have earned a losing bonus point. Bath’s only victory at the Recreation Ground in any competition since mid-April was 30-24 against Northampton in Premiership Rugby on 12 June. Saracens have lost only one of their last four Premiership Rugby matches – 12-13 at Leicester in Round Three this season. Saracens’ previous defeat away from home was on a trip to face Cornish Pirates in the RFU Championship in March 2021. The last three meetings between the two clubs have been shared with one win apiece plus a draw. Saracens won 25-12 on their most recent visit to Bath in November 2019 to end a three-game winning run by the home side at the venue.

Prediction: Saracens by 12

The teams:

Bath: 15 Tom de Glanville, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Will Muir, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Ollie Fox, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Charlie Ewels (c), 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Jacques du Toit, 17 Lewis Boyce, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Mike Williams, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Max Green, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Ruaridh McConnochie

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Max Malins, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Andy Christie, 20 Sean Reffell, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Dom Morris, 23 Rotimi Según

Venue: Recreation Ground
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Paul Dix
TMO: Andrew Jackson

London Irish v Gloucester

Form: London Irish’s most recent victory in Premiership Rugby was 36-33 against Bath at Brentford Community Stadium at the end of March. The Exiles are without a win in their last five Premiership Rugby at Brentford but in that time have secured two try bonus points and three losing bonus points. Gloucester Rugby have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches after beginning the season with a pair of defeats. The Cherry & Whites won their most recent away game 31-23 at Worcester and have not won successive matches on their travels since April 2019. The last four meetings between the two clubs have all been won by the home side on the day whilst Gloucester’s most recent success on Irish’s soil was 33-29 at Madejski Stadium in March 2018.

Prediction: Gloucester by 3

The teams:

London Irish: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ben Loader, 13 Curtis Rona, 12 Terrence Hepetema, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Nick Phipps, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Isaac Curtis-Harris, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Steve Mafi, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Allan Dell
Replacements: 16 Matt Cornish, 17 Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18 Ollie Hoskins, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Ben Donnell, 21 Ben White, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Benhard van Rensburg

Gloucester: 15 Santiago Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Jack Singleton, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Santiago Socino, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Freddie Thomas, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Kyle Moyle

Venue: Brentford Community Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant Referees: Mike Hudson & Rob Warburton
TMO: David Rose

 

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Head-to-heads will define Sale v Harlequins

Planet Rugby features writer James While previews the Premiership round's opening fixture between Sale and Harlequins, which takes place this Friday.