Magic Eight Ball - Aviva Premiership Round 8 Preview

The next stop on our Aviva Premiership journey takes us to Round 8 and the second round in this Autumn International Window. As expected Round 7 delivered us with a couple of surprises and some the outstanding rugby across the country. Now it is time to look forward to another weekend of action with the Out On The Full Round 8 preview;

The Twickenham Stoop opens its doors for its first Premiership Friday Night Lights since that defeat to Saracens and the home supporters will be hopeful for a different result this time around. Harlequins showed great character to grind out a win over Gloucester last Friday evening and I don’t expect Conor O'Shea to make many too many changes to the line up, unless forced to due to battered bodies. In Round 7 the Sale Sharks turned their dial up a notch against London Irish and will breeze into Lodnon town confident in their team structure and settled in their systems. The breakdown battle will be fascinating with strong two back rows and the Evans versus Cipriani showdown I cannot wait to watch, as long as both are selected!!! Personally I’m envisaging a tight one at The Stoop and a game that involves some flowing rugby as long as the weather gods are smiling on us. 

The Newcastle Falcons’ are imploring supporters to ‘Bring The Noise’ at Kingston Park this weekend as they welcome David Humphreys’ Gloucester. With London Welsh’s form the pressure is off Newcastle for instead of having to constantly worry about relegation they can build and develop. In order to be competitive this weekend Newcastle must bring their scrum to the table for with the likes of Nick Wood and John Afoa packing down opposite them it could be a long day if they don’t. The Cherry and Whites will be anxious to get back on a rugby field to ‘right their wrongs’ of last Friday night. Gloucester will be without their Captain Billy Twelvetress as he is given the nod for England duty so again another of their young guns will be given an opportunity to shine. This shouldn't be an issue for Humphreys' side as they Billy Burns waiting in the wings and if they play with confidence and conviction their backs should excel on the artificial surface. 

When Exeter Chiefs blew away London Welsh in Round 1 and followed it up by pushing a fully fit Leicester Tigers side all the way you knew that something special was happening at Sandy Park and since then they have continued to shine. Baxter and his men are delivering in all the right areas and that is why this match against Wasps will be fascinating. Wasps hit another gear last weekend against the aforementioned London Welsh; they were totally ruthless and relentless in their pursuit of victory. They are a side that houses enormous potential and if they back up their Round 7 performance against much stronger opposition then that will turn heads. In saying that Dai Young's men have lost their last five away games in the Aviva Premiership.  In my eyes this game is one of the picks of the weekend for with the talent on display on both sides it will be a close fought battle of wills.

At the Madjeski Stadium London Irish need to up their game in order to compete with Bath Rugby, for their performance against Sale in Round 7 won’t cut the mustard and Brian Smith and his men know this. London Irish have won only one of their last nine matches against Bath so they'll be looking to their enigmatic backs including Andrew Fenby and Alex Lewington to ignite something on home turf. Bath are a side that are cool, calm and collected, even without some of their shining England lights, Mike Ford and his team are building a rock solid rugby club in the West Country and I believe that they will be one of the sides the International period extremely well. Stu Hooper is one of the Premiership’s most respected leaders and this weekend he should drive his side to a vital away win.

The first of the Sunday matches is at Allianz Park where Saracens host the Northampton Saints. When both sides have all of their Internationals this is a humdinger of a fixture with little to choose between the two and even without some key men it will be one of the most intense games of the weekend. Northampton had a bad day at the office last weekend, however in my eyes their personnel losses are greater than Saracens’ are, and that will make this trip on the road challenging. Saracens’ time at Welford Road wasn’t pretty and they will have had a fairly heated analysis session on Monday for with their high standards their penalty count and inability to pull ahead just wasn’t good enough. Personally I don’t expected either side to make too many of the same mistakes in Round 8, both will have their tails up and be more than ready for a battle.

Of all of the losses that London Welsh have had to deal with this year last weekend’s slaughtering by Wasps was perhaps the toughest for the manner in which they were taken apart became difficult to watch. Conversely the Leicester Tigers showed a spot of grit and determination to stay in touch with Saracens in difficult conditions and Owen Williams’ form should have made Warren Gatland take notice. Predicting a bonus point win for the away side is not disrespecting London Welsh, sadly it is realistic however I hope that game is slightly less brutal than Round 7 was. The game is pretty well timed for the Tigers to consolidate their form and press on whilst Welsh must find the super human strength to pick themselves back up after being so comprehensively beaten up.

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