The Premiership returns this weekend as five matches take place, including the clash between the defending champions Leicester Tigers and league leaders Saracens.
Friday
Bristol Bears v Newcastle Falcons
Form: Bristol Bears have won just once in Premiership Rugby since Round 3: 15-12 at Harlequins on 27 December. Bristol are unbeaten in their last five matches in all competitions at Ashton Gate. Newcastle Falcons have won four of their last six Premiership Rugby fixtures with the two defeats being in their two most recent away games at London Irish and at Bath. The Falcons have won only once away from home in the tournament since April: 27-21 at Gloucester in Round 10. Newcastle beat Bristol 30-15 at Kingston Park in Round 4 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the West Country men since 2016/17. The Falcons’ only previous victory at Ashton Gate was in May 2017.
Prediction: Bristol by 5
The teams:
Bristol: 15 Noah Heward, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall, 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (c), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Jake Woolmore
Replacements: 16 Fred Davies, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 George Kloska, 19 Ed Holmes, 20 Jake Heenan, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Harry Ascherl, 23 Ioan Lloyd
Newcastle: 15 Tom Penny, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Carl Fearns, 7 Callum Chick, 6 Gary Graham, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Adam Brocklebank
Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tian Schoeman, 23 Ben Stevenson
Venue: Ashton Gate
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Craig Maxwell-Keys, Phil Watters
TMO: Dean Richards
Gloucester v Harlequins
Form: Gloucester have won only two of their last eight Premiership Rugby matches, beating Northampton Saints and London Irish both at Kingsholm in December. Gloucester have lost their last two fixtures at Kingsholm in all competitions and have not lost three in succession at the venue since early 2021. Harlequins have slipped to four straight defeats in Premiership Rugby since beating Bath at the Recreation Ground on December 2. The Londoners have not lost five in succession in the competition since 2019. Harlequins have won twice more on the road in Premiership Rugby this season, at Newcastle in Round 1 and at Sale in Round 7. Harlequins have won their last seven fixtures against Gloucester in Premiership Rugby since the Cherry and Whites 29-7 victory at Twickenham Stoop in March 2019. Harlequins have won on their last four visits to Kingsholm.
Prediction: Gloucester by 3
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santi Carreras, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Albert Tuisue, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Ruan Ackermann, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Seb Blake, 1 Val Rapava-Ruskin
Replacements: 16 Henry Walker, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Jack Clement, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Tom Seabrook, 23 Louis Rees-Zammit
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Oscar Beard, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Danny Care, 8 Tom Lawday, 7 Luke Wallace, 6 James Chisholm, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Musk, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 George Hammond, 20 Matas Jurevicius, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Luke Northmore
Venue: Twickenham Stoop
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Sara Cox, Alex Thomas
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Saturday
Bath v London Irish
Form: Bath have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby encounters, beating Newcastle Falcons 24-16 at the Recreation Ground on New Year’s Eve. This is their only victory at the Rec in any competition since they beat Leicester there on 11 November. London Irish have lost only one of their last five Premiership fixtures: 6-8 at Gloucester on New Year’s Eve. The Exiles have lost their last eight away games in Premiership Rugby since beating Newcastle 42-14 at Kingston Park in April. London Irish beat Bath 47-38 at Gtech Community Stadium in Round 4 and have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over the West Country men since 2006/07. London Irish have not beaten Bath at the Rec since a 16-0 scoreline in Premiership Rugby in November 2009.
Prediction: Bath by 10
The teams:
Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Cameron Redpath, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Piers Francis, 9 Ben Spencer, 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Miles Reid, 5 Josh McNally, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Valeriy Morozov, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Quinn Roux, 20 Fergus Lee-Warner, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Chris Cloete
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London Irish: 15 James Stokes, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ben Loader, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Joe Powell, 8 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Facundo Gigena
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Chandler Cunningham-South, 21 Ben White, 22 Luca Morisi, 23 Will Joseph
Venue: The Rec
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Wayne Falla
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks
Form: Northampton Saints have won two of their last three Premiership Rugby matches whilst at cinch Stadium their only defeat in the competition since Exeter were the visitors on 27 February 2022 was Leicester in September. Sale Sharks have lost just one of their last six league fixtures: 14-20 at Newcastle on 23 December. The Sharks’ record on the road in the Premiership this season is won three, lost two. Sale have lost only one of their last seven meetings with Northampton in Premiership Rugby: 14-17 at cinch Stadium in March 2021. Sharks have won on three of their last five visits to Northampton.
Prediction: Sale by 7
The teams:
Northampton: 15 George Furbank (c), 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Tom James, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Aaron Hinkley, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Robbie Smith, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Alex Coles, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Tom Collins
Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom O’Flaherty, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Arron Reed, 10 Rob du Preez, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Jono Ross (c), 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Bevan Rodd
Replacements: 16 Ethan Caine, 17 Si McIntyre, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 George Ford, 23 Tom Roebuck
Venue: Franklin’s Gardens
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Ian Tempest
Assistant referees: Nick Woodand, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Claire Hodnett
Sunday
Leicester Tigers v Saracens
Form: Leicester Tigers have lost their last three Premiership Rugby matches since beating Gloucester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Christmas Eve and have not lost four in succession in the tournament since 2019. Tigers have lost twice at home in the Premiership this season, to Sale in Round 5 and Northampton in Round 16. Saracens only defeat in Premiership Rugby this campaign was at London Irish on 23 December. Saracens have lost two of their last three away games in all competitions. The last four fixtures between the two clubs in the league have been evenly split with two wins a piece whilst Saracens most recent visit to Welford Road in October 2021 ending in the narrowest of defeats following a run of four straight victories at Leicester’s citadel.
Prediction: Saracens by 4
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Chris Ashton. 13 Matt Scott, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Cameron Henderson, 4 George Martin, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (c), 1 Tom West
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Francois van Wyk, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Sam Edwards, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Harry Simmons
Saracens: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Rotimi Segun, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Alex Lewington, 10 Alex Goode (c), 9 Aled Davies, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Tom Ellis, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Kapeli Pifeleti, 1 Eroni Mawi
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Robin Hislop, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Cameron Boon, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Ivan van Zyl, 22 Olly Hartley, 23 Ben Harris
Venue: Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Kick-off: 15:00 GMT
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Mike Hudson, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose