The Aviva
Premiership Round 4 treated us to another whirlwind weekend filled with the
usual mix of controversial decisions, big hits and tries. The fixtures in Round
5 are simply delicious… we have no less than four derbies to enjoy, Friday
Night Lights and a bottom of the table clash, you really can’t get much better
than that! It’s the final weekend before things get a European twist so
without further ado let’s dive straight into a preview of the Aviva Premiership Round 5;
Bath make the 184 mile trip from The Rec to the AJ Bell Stadium to take on the
Sale Sharks for my favourite fixture of the weekend ‘Friday Night Lights’. The
Sharks will be looking to replicate the strong performance that they displayed
against Northampton but will be hoping that they can take home
match winning points this week as opposed to nothing at all. Bath, on the other
hand, will be looking to put together a full 80 minutes of rugby as opposed to
the 40 that they showed against London Irish. All eyes will be on the fly
halves, the rejuvenated Danny Cipriani vs. the man of the moment George Ford. Will the
experienced maverick that so many love to hate come out on top? Or will the
young shining light of the West Country prevail? We will just have to wait and
see, personally my money’s on Cipriani but what do I know!? Elsewhere on the
pitch Kyle Eastmond’s performance will be scrutinised to the nth degree as the
speculation continues regarding the England Centre partnership for the autumn. With both
teams housing some brilliant youngsters and experienced old boys, it will be a great game of running rugby in Salford.
The first Saturday fixture is a London
Derby that is actually being played in Reading, London Irish vs. Harlequins. It
pains me to say it but I think that the men
in green are in for a tough old time this weekend against the former Champions. Hosting Quins at any point
in the season is a difficult one but hosting Quins after they didn’t perform to
their full potential last weekend and are there on the backlash is an
ominous prospect. Brian Smith’s men need to move up a fair few gears to compete
with O’Shea’s hurting 15. Watch out for the battle up front as London Irish’s pack have been going well and we all know that the Harlequins forwards are big boys who like to hit hard.
The second London Derby of the day is Saracens
vs. London Wasps and this one is actually being played in London at Allianz
Park. Given the massive performance from Saracens last weekend it is no
surprise that I’m predicting them to turn up all guns blazing and win this fairly comfortably. Keeping
their 100% winning record will create a huge platform for their European adventures and Wasps will
have to do something pretty spectacular to break it. Wasps do have weapons though, Joe
Launchbury is back on superb form, Ashley Johnson is thoroughly enjoying his rugby and
Andy Goode’s boot is as reliable as ever so they will be competitive however I
just feel Sarries have too much. The Vunipola brothers, Brits,
Stevens, Borthwick, that man Jacques Burger, Wigglesworth, Farrell, Ashton I
could keep going but I won’t… I think you get my drift. Look out for Will Fraser returning from injury, a big player with big skills and certainly one for the ladies to enjoy too as his presenting stint on BT Sport last weekend showed!!!
The bottom of the table clash is at
Sixways where Worcester Warriors host the Newcastle Falcons. After enjoying
their first try of the season last weekend and pushing the Cherry and Whites
all the way Newcastle will go into this fixture with the greater
confidence of the two teams. Worcester, well for Worcester it is already crunch
time, Dean Ryan’s pre-season optimism has gone replaced with a bit of fear... “It’s a huge
challenge to sort this club out.”. You already get the feeling that is now or
never to get a win for Worcester and I think this one will come down to tight margins so
the pressure will be on Rory Clegg and Ignacio Mieres to put away all
of the points scoring opportunities.
The final Saturday fixture is the BIG
one, Leicester Tigers vs. Northampton Saints at Welford Road. The two great
rivals going head to head, you can almost feel the tension and atmosphere already…
the noise will be electric and I certainly wouldn't want to be in referee J P
Doyle’s shoes, what a job he has! The last time that these two teams met at Twickenham
for that final Northampton didn't have their new recruits or look in the type
of form that they are now so expect a much closer result. The Tigers’ injury list still remains much longer
than they would like but with 4 Lions and countless Internationals they are not
exactly short of talent. The physicality and intensity of the match will be
brutal… with Dylan Hartley, Samu Manoa, Lewis Deacon and Dan Cole all on the pitch what else do you expect!? The standoff between Ben
Youngs and Lee Dickson at 9 is scintillating and I suspect that Courtney Lawes will continue his vendetta against Toby Flood, let's hope a little more legally this time shall we! I bet Cockers will be gutted to be missing this one but with a contract extension of 5 more years he has plenty more to enjoy in the future... that's as long as he doesn't receive any more bans! There is no doubt that this is
the pick of the weekend and I suggest that you either watch it or put your BT
Sport onto record so that you can experience all the action in full at some point over the course of the weekend.
The final match of Round 5 is another derby, this time between Gloucester vs. Exeter Chiefs. The Cherry and Whites, like so many other teams this weekend, need to step up their game. They clung onto victory by the skin of their teeth last weekend and against a physical and pumped up Chiefs I doubt that the same performance will be enough to win the match. The Chiefs, like Quins, will be smarting that they didn’t take their chances when they had them last weekend against Leicester so expect a big game from them. Gloucester’s backs are their trump card; Cook, Simpson-Daniel, Twelvetrees, Trinder, May and Burns are all match winners on their day. For Exeter their power comes up front from Sturgess, Tui (also known fondly by many as Tui Tank) and Mumm – throw in Tom James and the man with the best kicking percentage in the Aviva Premiership Gareth Steenson and you have yourself a nice little firecracker of a match!
As you can tell from the ample use of the words ‘corker’, ‘cracker’ and ‘humdinger’ we are set for a huge weekend of rugby. If you have tickets to any of the fixtures over the weekend do have a good time, I will be at the Madjeski Stadium on Saturday and then heading into the BT Sport Studio on Sunday for Social Media Duties. With just a few hours to go before Friday Night Lights it is time to get productive, tick off those actions and finish the working week as soon as possible for there is a massive weekend of rugby ahead just waiting for you to enjoy!
The final match of Round 5 is another derby, this time between Gloucester vs. Exeter Chiefs. The Cherry and Whites, like so many other teams this weekend, need to step up their game. They clung onto victory by the skin of their teeth last weekend and against a physical and pumped up Chiefs I doubt that the same performance will be enough to win the match. The Chiefs, like Quins, will be smarting that they didn’t take their chances when they had them last weekend against Leicester so expect a big game from them. Gloucester’s backs are their trump card; Cook, Simpson-Daniel, Twelvetrees, Trinder, May and Burns are all match winners on their day. For Exeter their power comes up front from Sturgess, Tui (also known fondly by many as Tui Tank) and Mumm – throw in Tom James and the man with the best kicking percentage in the Aviva Premiership Gareth Steenson and you have yourself a nice little firecracker of a match!
As you can tell from the ample use of the words ‘corker’, ‘cracker’ and ‘humdinger’ we are set for a huge weekend of rugby. If you have tickets to any of the fixtures over the weekend do have a good time, I will be at the Madjeski Stadium on Saturday and then heading into the BT Sport Studio on Sunday for Social Media Duties. With just a few hours to go before Friday Night Lights it is time to get productive, tick off those actions and finish the working week as soon as possible for there is a massive weekend of rugby ahead just waiting for you to enjoy!
