by The teams have been named for this weekend’s Premiership fixtures, including the encounter between table top Saracens and sixth-placed Exeter Chiefs on Saturday at the StoneX Stadium.
Check out the squads and our predictions for all of the weekend’s games here.
Friday
Sale Sharks vs Leicester Tigers
Module: Sale Sharks’ last four games in Gallagher Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home team. The Sharks have only been defeated once at home in any competition since April – 13-29 by Harlequins in Round 7 of Premiership Rugby. Leicester Tigers are unbeaten in their last six first team games since a narrow defeat at Bath in round 10 of Gallagher Premiership Rugby. The Tigers’ away record this season in Premiership Rugby is two wins, one draw and three defeats. The Sale have lost just one of their last eight Premiership Rugby games against Leicester: 11-19 at Mattiolli Woods Welford Road in October 2021. Tigers have not won at Salford City Stadium since 35-13 in May 2018.
Prediction: Sale from 4
The teams:
Sale: 15 Luke James, 14 Arron Reed, 13 Sam James, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 Rob Du Preez (c), 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Ben Curry, 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Cobus Wiese, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simon McIntyre
Substitutions: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 James Harper, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Jono Ross, 21 Joe Simpson, 22 Tom Curtis, 23 Byron McGuigan
Leicester: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Guy Porter, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 8 Olly Cracknell, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg (c), 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Harry Wells, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Charlie Clare, 1 James Whitcombe
Substitutions: 16 Gabriel Oghre, 17 Nefi Leatigaga, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Calum Green, 20 Sean Jansen, 21 Ben Youngs, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Chris Ashton
Place: AJ Bell Stadium
Kick off: 19:45 GMT
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Greg MacDonald, Peter Allan
TMO: Claire Hodnet
Saturday
Bath v Newcastle Falcons
Module: Bath Rugby have lost their last two Premiership Rugby meetings, albeit with a bonus point, since beating Leicester 19-18 at the Recreation Ground on 11 November. Bath’s only other home win in Premiership Rugby this season was against Northampton in Round 7. The Newcastle Falcons have won three of their last four Premiership Rugby matches, with defeat by London Irish in Round 12. The Falcons they have won just one of their last seven Premiership Rugby away games: 27-21 at Gloucester in Round 10. The sides’ last five clashes have all been impressively won by the away side on the matchday.
Prediction: Bathroom by 7
The teams:
Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer (C), 8 Josh Bayliss, 7 Sam Underhill, 6 Ted Hill, 5 Fergus Lee-Warner, 4 Dave Attwood, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Lewis Boyce
Substitutions: 16 John Stewart, 17 Valeriy Morozov, 18 Johannes Jonker, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Miles Reid, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Jonathan Joseph, 23 Chris Cloete
Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Ben Stevenson, 13 Matias Orlando, 12 Tom Penny (c), 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart, 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
Substitutions: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Logovi’i Mulipola, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Matthew Dalton, 20 Tom Marshall, 21 Michael Young, 22 Matias Moroni, 23 Adam Radwan
Place: Recreational land
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Referee: Jack Makepeace
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose
Gloucester versus Irish London
Module: Gloucester Rugby’s only win in their last five Premiership Rugby matches was 34-19 at home to Northampton on 3 December. Gloucester have only been defeated at Kingsholm once in any competition since May: 21-27 against Newcastle in Round 10 of Premiership Rugby. London Irish have won their last two Premiership Rugby matches, both at home, against Newcastle and Saracens and have not won three consecutive matches in the competition since the start of 2020. The Exiles are unbeaten away Premiership Rugby winners since their long trip to Newcastle on April 22nd. Gloucester are unbeaten in their last four games against London Irish since the Exiles 32-26 win at Brentford in February 2021. London Irish have only won twice at Kingsholm in Premiership Rugby history, beating the hosts 13-9 in January 2006 and 18 -12 seven years later.
Prediction: Gloucester by 5
The teams:
Gloucester: 15 Lloyd Evans, 14 Jonny May, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Ollie Thorley, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Ben Meehan, 8 Ruan Ackermann, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Harry Taylor, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Alex Craig ,3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 Santiago Socino, 1 Harry Elrington
Substitutions: 16 George McGuigan, 17 Alex Seville, 18 Ciaran Knight, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Albert Tuisue, 21 Stephen Varney, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Tom Seabrook
London Irish: 15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 Matt Rogerson (c), 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Chunya Munga , 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Mike Willemse, 1 Will Goodrick-Clarke
Substitutions: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Danilo Fischetti, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Josh Caulfield, 20 Josh Basham, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Luca Morisi
Place: Kingholm
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Simon Harding, George Selwood
TMO: Andrew Jackson
Saracens v Exeter Chiefs
Module: Saracens’ run of nine consecutive Premiership Rugby wins this season ended with a 20-29 defeat at London Irish last Friday. Saracens have won their last twelve home games in Premiership Rugby since Gloucester beat them by a single point at the StoneX Stadium on 8 January. Exeter Chiefs have won their last five first team games since stumbling at Newcastle in Round 11 of Premiership Rugby. The Chiefs have lost their last three away games of the tournament since beating Bristol 50-14 at Ashton Gate on 7 October. Saracens have lost just two of their last seven meetings with the Devonians, while Exeter’s most recent win at StoneX Stadium was 20-18 in November 2017.
Prediction: Saracens for 10
The teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Max Malins, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Nick Isiekwe, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Substitutions: 16 Kapeli Pifeleti, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Alex Lozowski, 23 Alex Lewington
Exter: 15 Josh Hodge, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Solomone Kata, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Sam Maunder, 8 Greg Fisilau, 7 Chris Tshiunza, 6 Santiago Grondona, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Ruben van Heerden, 3 Harry Williams, 2 Jack Yeandle (c), 1 Scott Sio
Substitutions: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 18 Patrick Schickerling, 19 Jack Dunne, 20 Lewis Pearson, 21 Tom Cairns, 22 Tom Hendrickson, 23 Rory O’Loughlin
Place: StoneX Stadium
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Phil Watters
TMO: Rowan Kitt
Sunday
Northampton Saints v Harlequins
Module: Northampton have lost their last two Premiership Rugby games, both away from home, against Saracens and against Gloucester. Saints’ only defeat at the cinch Stadium in Premiership Rugby since February was 21-41 at local rivals Leicester at the end of September. Harlequins’ four-game winning streak in Premiership Rugby ended with a 12-15 draw against Bristol at the Twickenham Stoop on Tuesday. The Londoners have won three of their four Premiership Rugby away games this season. Harlequins’ only defeat in their last six matches with the Saints in Premiership Rugby was by a single point on their most recent visit to Franklin’s Gardens in April. Harlequins have only been successful once at Northampton in any competition since 2012: 49-29 in Premiership Rugby in November 2020.
Prediction: Northampton by 3
The teams:
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Fraser Dingwall, 11 James Ramm, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Lewis Ludlam (c), 7 Angus Scott-Young, 6 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 5 Alex Moon , 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller
Substitutions: 16 Mikey Haywood, 17 Emmanuel Iyogun, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Karl Wilkins, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Rory Hutchinson, 23 Courtnall Skosan
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Cadan Murley, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Josh Bassett, 10 Tommy Allan, 9 Lewis Gjaltema, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Tom Lawday, 6 Archie White, 5 George Hammond, 4 Dino Lamb , 3 Simon Kerrod, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Fin Baxter
Substitutions: 16 George Head, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Charlie Matthews, 20 Luke Wallace, 21 Danny Care, 22 Will Edwards, 23 Oscar Beard
Place: Franklin Gardens
Kick off: 3pm GMT
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards
READ MORE: Rob Baxter: Exeter boss expects more Premiership shocks before calling latest law changes ‘madness’
The article Premiership: Ben Earl set to score 100 for Saracens against Exeter Chiefs as Santiago Carreras returns to halfback for Gloucester first appeared on Planetrugby.com.
