AP Round 21 - Preview

Table

	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus Pts	Points
1	Saracens	20	16	1	3	487	297	6	72
2	Leicester	20	14	1	5	480	298	10	68
3	Harlequins	20	13	0	7	496	408	8	60
4	Northampton	20	13	0	7	435	404	7	59
5	Gloucester	20	11	1	8	448	418	8	54
6	Exeter	20	10	1	9	465	383	8	50
7	Bath	20	9	1	10	411	385	10	48
8	London Wasps	20	9	0	11	467	470	11	47
9	Worcester	20	5	1	14	374	472	11	33
10	Sale	20	6	1	13	349	529	5	31
11	London Irish	20	6	1	13	392	541	4	30
12	London Welsh	20	4	0	16	351	550	7	18

Fixtures

Sat 20th Apr 13
14:15 Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers ESPN
15:00 Gloucester Rugby v Saracens
15:00 London Irish v London Welsh
15:00 Worcester Warriors v Harlequins
17:45 Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks Sky


Sun 21st Apr 13
14:00 PR London Wasps v Exeter Chiefs ESPN



Preview
Well, with two rounds to go, London Welsh are relegated while Saracens have a guaranteed home play-off semi and Tigers have a guaranteed semi and are one win away from guaranteeing a home fixture. Gloucester, with tricky fixtures to come look unlikely to challenge for Top 4 but should hang on to Top 6. Quins and Saints are probably fighting for 3rd and 4th spot. Exeter and Wasps appear to be duking it out for the final HEC spot, with Bath having to face Saracens and Tigers.

The weekend starts at the Rec where Bath host a Leicester team desperate to secure that home semi-final and put some pressure on Sarries for the top spot. When they are good, Bath can be very good - more often than not though they have seemed lacklustre. Right now they seem to be a team that is less than the sum of the parts. Defeat will consign them to the amlin for another year, even if they win they will probably still need to win in Round 22 - away to Sarries! With a week off next week when the European semi finals are to be played, we can expect Tigers to be at full strength. They should be too good for their former silverware rivals.

Gloucester-Sarries is perhaps the pick of the 3pm fixtures. Can an out of form get their campaign back on track and keep Top 4 hopes alive? It will need an injury/suspension hit front row to really come out firing and Freddie Burns to rediscover his pre-christmas form. Even then you feel that Sarries - even if they have one eye on Toulon the following week - will be too physical in defence, causing the turnovers that their counter-attacking style can thrive on. If we continue to see loopy passing from Glaws scrum-halves and Burns jogging towards his intended pass receiver, all time and space for the Glaws centres will be removed. In those situations Sarries thrive and could well cause the Shed to leave early.

With Dean Ryan's appointment to the Worcester hot seat adding some additional interest we could see a tight game at Sixways. Worcester have little to play for, half the team is leaving, but the half that are staying will be keen to impress against a misfiring Quins team. Quins problems start up front - Johnstone looks completely out of sorts and is shipping penalties by the handfull. Robshaw looks knackered and with Fa'asavalu of form there has been a real lack of grunt in the Quins pack. Slow ball has then been hampering Quins attack, further damaged by ball carriers not having support as close or in the numbers we have come to expect. Worcester are a much stronger team at home, Quins will be thinking about the last round where they face Saints. So of course my gut is telling me we will see a real stellar performance form the reigning champions.

London Irish, another side that appear to be losing half a team, host relegated London Welsh. With nothing to play for we could see a really open match. Whilstthese sides have scored the least tries in the AP, their defences have shipped the most, over 100 between them. London Irish have a lot more class and I would expect them to win an entertaining encounter.

Saints host a resurgent Sale sharks in the last match of the day. Sale looked good against Gloucester last week, but you have to wonder if Northampton have too much power up front. Northampton need the win more and should win with some comfort to set up a cracking final round matchup with Quins.

Sunday sees Wasps host Exeter in a match both sides will be desperate to win. Wasps results have been poor for the last month. Still capable of scoring tries at almost any time, there is a real quality about a lot of their play. Good in the lineout and with a rampaging backrow they are really let down by a lack of grunt in the tight - scrums and mauls being an area they have struggled in. Exeter will look to bash them up front and then move quick ball to try and capitalise on any defensive frailties on the Wasps flanks. Should be a cracking match.

LT, great work

Quite nervous about the Wasps vs Chiefs game tbh - as Rob Baxter has said, this is in effect Exe's cup final this year, with a place in the Heino next season at stake for both clubs, assuming that Barf get beaten on Saturday by the Borg. We certainly cannot afford to kick loosely to their back three (waiting to her if Wade has recovered from the knock he picked up v Sarries), and Wasps have been v good at exploiting our lineout weakness in recent meets. I'm hoping that our general level of dynamism will roll Wasps over in the end, but am expecting an attritional trench warfare battle for a long spell

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Quite nervous about the Wasps vs Chiefs game tbh - as Rob Baxter has said, this is in effect Exe's cup final this year, with a place in the Heino next season at stake for both clubs, assuming that Barf get beaten on Saturday by the Borg. We certainly cannot afford to kick loosely to their back three (waiting to her if Wade has recovered from the knock he picked up v Sarries), and Wasps have been v good at exploiting our lineout weakness in recent meets. I'm hoping that our general level of dynamism will roll Wasps over in the end, but am expecting an attritional trench warfare battle for a long spell

The Borg? (N.B. I know this is Tigers - but why?)

aslongasbut100ofus potentially you could still overhaul Gloucester for 5th if they lose to Saracens.

Gloucester haven't yet guaranteed their HC place. I expect them to perform more likes they did in the Quins game than the Sale game unfortunately.

Wasps are in the best position fixtures wise but their form has been poor recently.

Well, I said it was a must win 5 pointer from Tigers last week, and so it proved to be with Sarries thumping a sorry Worcester. Its another must win 5 pointer against Bath this weekend too. Can't see Sarries slipping up against Glaws.

I agree that Sarries will beat Glaws, but why does it have to be a 5pts for us? Sarries will top the table so really we just need to maintain form and get the win needed for a home semi-final.

LondonTiger wrote:I agree that Sarries will beat Glaws, but why does it have to be a 5pts for us? Sarries will top the table so really we just need to maintain form and get the win needed for a home semi-final.

Sarries topping the table isn't a forgone conclusion. If Tigers can take 10 points from their next two games then Sarries are under some pressure to win their remaining fixtures (which are arguably harder) in order to gaurentee top spot - what about if Glaws do beat Sarries - 5 points against Bath will come in handy don't you think, with LI at home last game. Tables turned.

Jimpy wrote:

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Quite nervous about the Wasps vs Chiefs game tbh - as Rob Baxter has said, this is in effect Exe's cup final this year, with a place in the Heino next season at stake for both clubs, assuming that Barf get beaten on Saturday by the Borg. We certainly cannot afford to kick loosely to their back three (waiting to her if Wade has recovered from the knock he picked up v Sarries), and Wasps have been v good at exploiting our lineout weakness in recent meets. I'm hoping that our general level of dynamism will roll Wasps over in the end, but am expecting an attritional trench warfare battle for a long spell

The Borg? (N.B. I know this is Tigers - but why?)

My mistake, thought Barf had Sarries, who are obvs the Borg

Jimpy wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:I agree that Sarries will beat Glaws, but why does it have to be a 5pts for us? Sarries will top the table so really we just need to maintain form and get the win needed for a home semi-final.

Sarries topping the table isn't a forgone conclusion. If Tigers can take 10 points from their next two games then Sarries are under some pressure to win their remaining fixtures (which are arguably harder) in order to gaurentee top spot - what about if Glaws do beat Sarries - 5 points against Bath will come in handy don't you think, with LI at home last game. Tables turned.

And pigs might fly! We would need a turn around of biblical proportions! Kingsholm always gives us the edge, but we're totally clueless at the moment and i believe Sarries will be topping the table after their visit.

Hope Saints get the win against Sale but certainly not a forgone conclusion. Got to target the Sale scrum and try not to let the impressive Sales centers from last week see much of the ball.

Been a while since I did this but my predictions

Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers Away Win
Gloucester Rugby v Saracens Away Win
London Irish v London Welsh Home Win, TBP
Worcester Warriors v Harlequins Home Win
Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks Home Win
London Wasps v Exeter Chiefs Away Win

Don't worry Quins fans, although I think Saints may jump above you this week I still think you will win on the final weekend to set up a trip to Leicester and not Saracens in the playoffs

Poor form and Worcester beingbat home aside, I fully expect a win this weekend.

Wuss v Quins is 50/50 for me. Quins have all the tools to go there and tonk them, but they haven't looked like doing that all season and i'd be very surprised if it happened now.

HongKongCherry wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:I agree that Sarries will beat Glaws, but why does it have to be a 5pts for us? Sarries will top the table so really we just need to maintain form and get the win needed for a home semi-final.

Sarries topping the table isn't a forgone conclusion. If Tigers can take 10 points from their next two games then Sarries are under some pressure to win their remaining fixtures (which are arguably harder) in order to gaurentee top spot - what about if Glaws do beat Sarries - 5 points against Bath will come in handy don't you think, with LI at home last game. Tables turned.

And pigs might fly! We would need a turn around of biblical proportions! Kingsholm always gives us the edge, but we're totally clueless at the moment and i believe Sarries will be topping the table after their visit.

Show a little faith baby...

(Oddball. Kelly's Heroes).

Don't give me those negative waves so early in the morning.

HongKongCherry wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:I agree that Sarries will beat Glaws, but why does it have to be a 5pts for us? Sarries will top the table so really we just need to maintain form and get the win needed for a home semi-final.

Sarries topping the table isn't a forgone conclusion. If Tigers can take 10 points from their next two games then Sarries are under some pressure to win their remaining fixtures (which are arguably harder) in order to gaurentee top spot - what about if Glaws do beat Sarries - 5 points against Bath will come in handy don't you think, with LI at home last game. Tables turned.

And pigs might fly! We would need a turn around of biblical proportions! Kingsholm always gives us the edge, but we're totally clueless at the moment and i believe Sarries will be topping the table after their visit.

I think Gloucester are definitely capable of winning. You raised your game for Quins and beat them at home. At Kingsholm you are a stronger side. Also Saracens are likely to not put out their strongest 23.

Bathman_in_London wrote:Don't give me those negative waves so early in the morning.

But Glaws are a piece of Sh*t, the defence leaks tries all over the place...

Bath must concede a lot of penalties because 38 tries for, 24 tries against is very good.

Surprising that Bath have the 3rd best defence in the league.

Interesting looking at the AP stats that Quins have leaked 100 more points than Sarries and Leicester.

http://www.premiershiprugby.com/matchcentre/tables/index.php

Jimpy wrote:

Bathman_in_London wrote:Don't give me those negative waves so early in the morning.

But Glaws are a piece of Sh*t, the defence leaks tries all over the place...

Sarries only have one weak point, its ass-hton. You have to hit him hard and hit him from behind...

beshocked wrote:Bath must concede a lot of penalties because 38 tries for, 24 tries against is very good.

Surprising that Bath have the 3rd best defence in the league.

Interesting looking at the AP stats that Quins have leaked 100 more points than Sarries and Leicester.

http://www.premiershiprugby.com/matchcentre/tables/index.php

Yeah beshocked we do give away a lot of penalties, far too many silly ones to be honest, a few cooler heads and I'm sure we would have won some of the close ones that we lost. GG's game plan has been rather low risk, defence and take the points when you can, but when your 1st choice Fh is a 70% kicker, it doesnt really work.

Bathman_in_London wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

Bathman_in_London wrote:Don't give me those negative waves so early in the morning.

But Glaws are a piece of Sh*t, the defence leaks tries all over the place...

Sarries only have one weak point, its ass-hton. You have to hit him hard and hit him from behind...

Or just punch him in the face.

Bathman_in_London wrote:

Jimpy wrote:

Bathman_in_London wrote:Don't give me those negative waves so early in the morning.

But Glaws are a piece of Sh*t, the defence leaks tries all over the place...

Sarries only have one weak point, its ass-hton. You have to hit him hard and hit him from behind...

That sounds wrong......

Ashton has 3 tries in 3 games now. Players are more comfortable at club than international level generally.

Get Tindall wearing dreadlocks and Ashton will be a gonna

Yeah reading that back if you didnt know it came from Kelly's Heroes that could sound a bit dodgy... Plus better suited to Leicester games when Murphy isnt at 15 I suppose...

Sat 20th Apr 13
14:15 Bath Rugby v Leicester Tigers TIGERS
15:00 Gloucester Rugby v Saracens SARRIES
15:00 London Irish v London Welsh IRISH
15:00 Worcester Warriors v Harlequins
17:45 Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks SAINTS


Sun 21st Apr 13
14:00 PR London Wasps v Exeter Chiefs EXETER

Worcester v Quins teams - interested to see how Kvesic goers against Robshaw. COS selects what he views as his strongest team.

Worcester
15 Chris Pennell, 14 Josh Drauniniu, 13 Alex Grove, 12 Jon Clarke, 11 Ben Howard, 10 Andy Goode, 9 Jonny Arr
1 Matt Mullan, 2 Ed Shervington, 3 Euan Murray, 4 James Percival (c), 5 Chris Jones, 6 Neil Best, 7 Matt Kvesic, 8 Semisi Taulava

Replacements
16 Aleki Lutui, 17 Rob O'Donnell, 18 John Andress, 19 Craig Gillies, 20 Jake Abbott, 21 Shaun Perry, 22 Danny Gray, 23 Joe Carlisle


Quins
Harlequins team

15. Mike Brown, 14. Tom Williams, 13. George Lowe, 12. Jordan Turner-Hall, 11. Ugo Monye, 10. Nick Evans, 9. Danny Care
1. Joe Marler, 2. Joe Gray, 3. James Johnston, 4. Olly Kohn, 5. George Robson, 6. Maurie Fa'asavalu, 7. Chris Robshaw, 8. Nick Easter

16. Rob Buchanan, 17. Mark Lambert, 18. Will Collier, 19. Charlie Matthews, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Karl Dickson, 22. Ben Botica, 23. Ross Chisholm

Gloucester - Sarries teams for this weekend:

Gloucester Rugby:
Rob Cook; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Koree Britton, Shaun Knight; Tom Savage (capt), Lua Lokotui; Sione Kalamafoni, Akapusi Qera, Ben Morgan

Replacements:
Tommaso d'Apice, Dan Murphy, Yann Thomas, Peter Buxton, Andy Hazell, Dave Lewis, Ryan Mills, Martyn Thomas



Saracens:
15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth
1 Rhys Gill, 2 John Smit, 3 Matt Stevens, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 6 Jackson Wray, 7 Will Fraser, 8 Ernst Joubert

16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 George Kruis, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Joe Maddock

Saints v Sale Teams:

Northampton:
15 Ben FODEN, 14 Ken PISI, 13 Tom MAY, 12 Luther BURRELL, 11 Jamie ELLIOTT, 10 Stephen MYLER,9 Lee DICKSON
1 Soane TONGA'UIHA, 2 Dylan HARTLEY (capt), 3 Brian MUJATI,4 Courtney LAWES, 5 Christian DAY, 6 Tom WOOD, 7 Phil DOWSON, 8 GJ VAN VELZE

Replacements
16 Mike HAYWOOD, 17 Alex WALLER, 18 Paul DORAN JONES, 19 Samu MANOA, 20 Calum CLARK, 21 Martin ROBERTS, 22 Ryan LAMB, 23 James WILSON



Sale Sharks Team
Mike Haley, Tom Brady, Mark Cueto, Jonny Leota, Charlie Amesbury, Danny Cipriani, Dwayne Peel, Ross Harrison, Tommy Taylor, Henry Thomas, Kearnan Myall, Tom Holmes, Richie Vernon, David Seymour Captain, James Gaskell
Replacements Marc Jones, James Flynn, Aston Croall, Josh Beaumont, James Doyle, Nathan Fowles, Sam James, Charlie Ingall

Bath Rugby team to face Leicester Tigers

15. Ollie Devoto
14. Semesa Rokoduguni
13. Ben Williams
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Horacio Agulla
10. Stephen Donald
9. Michael Claassens
1. Paul James
2. Rob Webber
3. David Wilson
4. Dominic Day
5. Dave Attwood
6. Francois Louw ( c )
7. Guy Mercer
8. Simon Taylor

Replacements

16. Eusebio Guinazu
17. Nathan Catt
18. Anthony Perenise
19. Will Spencer
20. Mat Gilbert
21. Nick Koster
22. Peter Stringer
23. Tom Heathcote


15 Mathew Tait
14 Matt Smith
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Steve Mafi
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 Rob Hawkins
17 Fraser Balmain
18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Ed Slater
20 Jordan Crane
21 Sam Harrison
22 Dan Bowden
23 Geordan Murphy



Only 1 winner here I think...

Bath v Leicester:

Teams already posted. Unsurprisingly Tigers recall Tom Youngs, Parling and Croft. Slightly more surprisingly Mafi starts in the second row with Slater dropping to the bench and Bowden and Murphy replace Ford and Smith on the bench.

Bath going in with just two backs on the bench I think.

Are Sale trying to manipulate the EQP payments again?

Looks like a lot of new playes in the team announced

Missing from last week: Tuitupou, Shephard, MacLeod, Dickinson, Ostrikov, Braid from starting lineup (all foreign)

In we see Mike Haley (25yo no AP matches), Charlie Amesbury, Danny Cipriani, Ross Harrison, Tom Holmes (2 starts this season), Vernon (from the bench)

What happened to Genovea for Tigers? He injured?

LondonTiger wrote:
Quins
Harlequins team

15. Mike Brown, 14. Tom Williams, 13. George Lowe, 12. Jordan Turner-Hall, 11. Ugo Monye, 10. Nick Evans, 9. Danny Care
1. Joe Marler, 2. Joe Gray, 3. James Johnston, 4. Olly Kohn, 5. George Robson, 6. Maurie Fa'asavalu, 7. Chris Robshaw, 8. Nick Easter

16. Rob Buchanan, 17. Mark Lambert, 18. Will Collier, 19. Charlie Matthews, 20. Tom Guest, 21. Karl Dickson, 22. Ben Botica, 23. Ross Chisholm

Liking that team a lot. Hopefully JTH can bring the balance back to the backline and find the brilliant partnership that him and Lowe used to have in time for the play offs. Casson is a great prospect and when the Quins team is firing he's a very handy player to have on, but at the moment when we're struggling JTH's direct running and gainline smashing power is necessary.

My only issue is Big Mo straight back in at 6, he's been crap all season and along with Johnston has contributed to the lack of oomph when we go forward. Don't know how he is still starting and Wallace/Trayfoot don't get a look in on the bench.

Bathman_in_London wrote:Bath Rugby team to face Leicester Tigers

15. Ollie Devoto
14. Semesa Rokoduguni
13. Ben Williams
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Horacio Agulla
10. Stephen Donald
9. Michael Claassens
1. Paul James
2. Rob Webber
3. David Wilson
4. Dominic Day
5. Dave Attwood
6. Francois Louw ( c )
7. Guy Mercer
8. Simon Taylor

Replacements

16. Eusebio Guinazu
17. Nathan Catt
18. Anthony Perenise
19. Will Spencer
20. Mat Gilbert
21. Nick Koster
22. Peter Stringer
23. Tom Heathcote


15 Mathew Tait
14 Matt Smith
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Steve Mafi
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 Rob Hawkins
17 Fraser Balmain
18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Ed Slater
20 Jordan Crane
21 Sam Harrison
22 Dan Bowden
23 Geordan Murphy



Only 1 winner here I think...

Yeah, Bath will win this easily....

Seriously, and obviously i'm biased, but I don't think tere is a single Bath player on that team sheet that would make it into the Tigers side.

yappysnap wrote:What happened to Genovea for Tigers? He injured?

i think he was injured up until a couple of weeks ago, i presume he's trying to fight his way back into the squad.

LondonTiger wrote:Are Sale trying to manipulate the EQP payments again?

Looks like a lot of new playes in the team announced

Missing from last week: Tuitupou, Shephard, MacLeod, Dickinson, Ostrikov, Braid from starting lineup (all foreign)

In we see Mike Haley (25yo no AP matches), Charlie Amesbury, Danny Cipriani, Ross Harrison, Tom Holmes (2 starts this season), Vernon (from the bench)

Add in 7 englishmen on the bench with almost not first team experience between them and to me it looks like Diamond is taking the urine, again

LondonTiger wrote:Bath v Leicester:

Teams already posted. Unsurprisingly Tigers recall Tom Youngs, Parling and Croft. Slightly more surprisingly Mafi starts in the second row with Slater dropping to the bench and Bowden and Murphy replace Ford and Smith on the bench.

Bath going in with just two backs on the bench I think.

Yes Bath seem to have gone for a large pack apart from Mercer and then loaded the bench with forwards, so they clearly expect an up front battle.

I'm not expecting anything other than a Leicester win, but I hope we can give Claasens a good final send off, he has been a very good player for us over the years.
Given that Abendanon is injured and Alex Tuilagi has gone, does this mean that there won't be quite as many rib breakers on the Bath fullback as there has been in recent times?

Jimpy wrote:
Yeah, Bath will win this easily....

Seriously, and obviously i'm biased, but I don't think tere is a single Bath player on that team sheet that would make it into the Tigers side.

I would take Agulla, Paul James (over Mulipola but not Ayerza) and probably Attwood over the second row version of Mafi

Bathman_in_London wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Bath v Leicester:

Teams already posted. Unsurprisingly Tigers recall Tom Youngs, Parling and Croft. Slightly more surprisingly Mafi starts in the second row with Slater dropping to the bench and Bowden and Murphy replace Ford and Smith on the bench.

Bath going in with just two backs on the bench I think.

Yes Bath seem to have gone for a large pack apart from Mercer and then loaded the bench with forwards, so they clearly expect an up front battle.

I'm not expecting anything other than a Leicester win, but I hope we can give Claasens a good final send off, he has been a very good player for us over the years.
Given that Abendanon is injured and Alex Tuilagi has gone, does this mean that there won't be quite as many rib breakers on the Bath fullback as there has been in recent times?

Not until the next gen of Tuilagis arrive

Devoto will get hit by Manu, Thompstone and Mafi instead

As long as they are late hits to maintain the tradition...

LondonTiger wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Are Sale trying to manipulate the EQP payments again?

Looks like a lot of new playes in the team announced

Missing from last week: Tuitupou, Shephard, MacLeod, Dickinson, Ostrikov, Braid from starting lineup (all foreign)

In we see Mike Haley (25yo no AP matches), Charlie Amesbury, Danny Cipriani, Ross Harrison, Tom Holmes (2 starts this season), Vernon (from the bench)

Add in 7 englishmen on the bench with almost not first team experience between them and to me it looks like Diamond is taking the urine, again

Quite frankly, you can't blame him.

If the RFU and PRL between them try to manipulate the competition by adopting ill thought-out rules, there's no point complaining about clubs taking evasive actions to satisfy them.

Wasps: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Andrea Masi, 12 Chris Bell (c), 11 Tom Varndell, 10 Stephen Jones, 9 Joe Simpson, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 James Haskell, 6 Ashley Johnson, 5 Joe Launchbury, 4 Tom Palmer, 3 Phil Swainston, 2 T Rhys Thomas, 1 Zak Taulafo.

Replacements: 16 Tom Lindsay, 17 Will Taylor, 18 Simon McIntyre, 19 Marco Wentzel, 20 Sam Jones, 21 Charlie Davies, 22 Tommy Bell, 23 Hugo Southwell.

Exeter: 15 Luke Arscott, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Phil Dollman, 12 Jason Shoemark, 11 Matt Jess, 10 Gareth Steenson, 9 Haydn Thomas, 8 Richard Baxter (c), 7 James Scaysbrook, 6 Ben White, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Dean Mumm, 3 Hoani Tui, 2 Jack Yeandle, 1 Brett Sturgess.

Replacements: 16 Chris Whitehead, 17 Carl Rimmer, 18 Craig Mitchell, 19 Aly Muldowney, 20 Dave Ewers, 21 Will Chudley, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Ian Whitten.

Date: Sunday, April 21
Kick-off: 14:00 BST
Venue: Adams Park
Referee: Wayne Barnes (late replacement for Greg Garner)
Assistant referees: Robin Goodliffe, Roy Maybank
Television match official: David Grashoff

Wasps unleashing everything they have, Asbo

LondonTiger wrote:Gloucester - Sarries teams for this weekend:

Gloucester Rugby:
Rob Cook; Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Billy Twelvetrees, Jonny May; Freddie Burns, Dan Robson; Nick Wood, Koree Britton, Shaun Knight; Tom Savage (capt), Lua Lokotui; Sione Kalamafoni, Akapusi Qera, Ben Morgan

Replacements:
Tommaso d'Apice, Dan Murphy, Yann Thomas, Peter Buxton, Andy Hazell, Dave Lewis, Ryan Mills, Martyn Thomas



Saracens:
15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Wyles, 13 Joel Tomkins, 12 Owen Farrell, 11 David Strettle, 10 Charlie Hodgson, 9 Richard Wigglesworth
1 Rhys Gill, 2 John Smit, 3 Matt Stevens, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 6 Jackson Wray, 7 Will Fraser, 8 Ernst Joubert

16 Jamie George, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Carlos Nieto, 19 George Kruis, 20 Jacques Burger, 21 Ben Spencer, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Joe Maddock

Typical that Gloucester have put their best side out against Saracens. I wanted to see Tindall in the Gloucester backline in particular.

Unfortunately I don't think Gloucester are going to go down easily this week.

Looking at the Wasps side it's a shame they didn't play that one vs Leicester.

I've got the Original Notnots v Provisional Notnots game down as a draw.

This is the ultimate dead rubber.

Jimpy wrote:

Bathman_in_London wrote:Bath Rugby team to face Leicester Tigers

15. Ollie Devoto
14. Semesa Rokoduguni
13. Ben Williams
12. Kyle Eastmond
11. Horacio Agulla
10. Stephen Donald
9. Michael Claassens
1. Paul James
2. Rob Webber
3. David Wilson
4. Dominic Day
5. Dave Attwood
6. Francois Louw ( c )
7. Guy Mercer
8. Simon Taylor

Replacements

16. Eusebio Guinazu
17. Nathan Catt
18. Anthony Perenise
19. Will Spencer
20. Mat Gilbert
21. Nick Koster
22. Peter Stringer
23. Tom Heathcote


15 Mathew Tait
14 Matt Smith
13 Manusamoa Tuilagi
12 Anthony Allen
11 Adam Thompstone
10 Toby Flood (c)
9 Ben Youngs
1 Logovi'i Mulipola
2 Tom Youngs
3 Dan Cole
4 Steve Mafi
5 Geoff Parling
6 Tom Croft
7 Julian Salvi
8 Thomas Waldrom

Replacements
16 Rob Hawkins
17 Fraser Balmain
18 Martin Castrogiovanni
19 Ed Slater
20 Jordan Crane
21 Sam Harrison
22 Dan Bowden
23 Geordan Murphy



Only 1 winner here I think...

Yeah, Bath will win this easily.... :whistle:

Seriously, and obviously i'm biased, but I don't think tere is a single Bath player on that team sheet that would make it into the Tigers side.

Bearing in mind Agulla used to be first choice at Tiggers, he definitely would and Louw is a shoe in for any side in the Prem. I'd have him over Croft and Salvi everyday. I'd also have James over Mullipola and maybe Attwood over Mafi at lock

LondonTiger wrote:

Jimpy wrote:
Yeah, Bath will win this easily.... :whistle:

Seriously, and obviously i'm biased, but I don't think tere is a single Bath player on that team sheet that would make it into the Tigers side.

I would take Agulla, Paul James (over Mulipola but not Ayerza) and probably Attwood over the second row version of Mafi

Looks like we agree!

Louw is not a shoe in for any side in the Premiership. Louw would not get in the backrow of Leicester,Sarries or Quins in my opinion.

Warming the bench perhaps but then these sides have good backrow depth too.


Peter Stringer would definitely be ahead of Harrison. Heathcote above Bowden too.

Shoo in boys! SHOO in.

You're confusing Louw with Healy or O'Connell.