January 2014 and the start of a brand new year, whilst many people are
busy making resolutions and vowing never, ever to drink again our Premiership
players have been working very hard in preparation Round 12. Starting the year with
a strong win is the ambition for every single one of our Premiership Clubs however
as we all know there can only be one winner on the day, unless we see 6 draws
which I think is fairly unlikely. Round 12 is a monstrous round of rugby and
filled with huge clashes so let’s dive straight in and preview all of the
fixtures;
The Northampton Saints versus Harlequins, what a way to kick off Premiership Rugby in 2014, this is a clash of epic proportions and one that undoubtedly will deliver some stunning rugby. What a difference a few months makes… Harlequins are no longer a team that are struggling to find their feet instead they are back to their best playing that delightfully entertaining ‘Quins’ Style’ of rugby. The Big Game will have been a huge confidence boost for Conor O’Shea’s men however missing out on the bonus point victory will have provided a suitable platform of frustration to work off for this huge away encounter. The Saints’ dismissal of Bath last weekend was ruthless and cut-throat, they have a squad filled with outrageous talent and bruising men who never take a step back. Anticipating the team selection it will be a phenomenal game with North, Hartley, Manoa, Day, Easter, Walker, Care, Brown all going at each other on the same pitch. Which way do I think it will go??! It’s a tough call but I think that Saints, no Quins, no Saints, I'm going with Saints... might just have the edge, however it is going to be close, very close.
The Northampton Saints versus Harlequins, what a way to kick off Premiership Rugby in 2014, this is a clash of epic proportions and one that undoubtedly will deliver some stunning rugby. What a difference a few months makes… Harlequins are no longer a team that are struggling to find their feet instead they are back to their best playing that delightfully entertaining ‘Quins’ Style’ of rugby. The Big Game will have been a huge confidence boost for Conor O’Shea’s men however missing out on the bonus point victory will have provided a suitable platform of frustration to work off for this huge away encounter. The Saints’ dismissal of Bath last weekend was ruthless and cut-throat, they have a squad filled with outrageous talent and bruising men who never take a step back. Anticipating the team selection it will be a phenomenal game with North, Hartley, Manoa, Day, Easter, Walker, Care, Brown all going at each other on the same pitch. Which way do I think it will go??! It’s a tough call but I think that Saints, no Quins, no Saints, I'm going with Saints... might just have the edge, however it is going to be close, very close.
The other set of Friday Night Lights are back up at
Kingston Park where the Falcons host ‘local’ rivals Sale Sharks… and whilst it
might not contain as many big names as the encounter at Franklin’s Gardens it
will still be a hotly contested game of rugby. Newcastle are likely to field
their new Samoan winger Sinoti Sinoti for the first time who will hopefully be
able to add to their tiny try count. Look out of the return of Richard Mayhew and
as ever I’m predicting that Mike Blair will orchestrate things well from 9. For
Sale it will be all about the usual suspects… Mike Paterson, Mark Cueto and if
he is back from illness Danny Cipriani. The Sharks will be disappointed that
they did not take more from their trip to Welford Road and of course all eyes
will be on Dean Richard’s assessment of Steve Diamond and his teams’
scrummaging… let’s hope that the post-match interviews are a little less heated
this week shall we!!
On Saturday the London Irish host the Worcester Warriors at the Madjeski Stadium and boy is there a lot riding on this match for both teams. Speaking to Blair Cowen this weekend at Irish’s Media Day he described the mood at Irish as “extremely disappointed and frustrated” as they feel they are a much better side than any of us have seen yet this year. He feels that they are a team that should be achieving winning bonus points not just gaining losing bonus so expect a big performance from the men in Green this weekend. Whilst the Warriors did lose quite heavily last weekend to Saracens the scoreline does them a disservice as again their performance improved. Sadly they are currently breaking records for the wrong reasons as they are only the third side in the history of the Premiership to reach the halfway stage without gaining a victory however a win on the road would be absolutely tremendous for Dean Ryan and his squad.
On Saturday the London Irish host the Worcester Warriors at the Madjeski Stadium and boy is there a lot riding on this match for both teams. Speaking to Blair Cowen this weekend at Irish’s Media Day he described the mood at Irish as “extremely disappointed and frustrated” as they feel they are a much better side than any of us have seen yet this year. He feels that they are a team that should be achieving winning bonus points not just gaining losing bonus so expect a big performance from the men in Green this weekend. Whilst the Warriors did lose quite heavily last weekend to Saracens the scoreline does them a disservice as again their performance improved. Sadly they are currently breaking records for the wrong reasons as they are only the third side in the history of the Premiership to reach the halfway stage without gaining a victory however a win on the road would be absolutely tremendous for Dean Ryan and his squad.
Kingsholm will certainly be hoping for a more prosperous
New Year; however the very loud rumours that Freddie Burns has signed on the
dotted line at Leicester Tigers isn’t perhaps the way that they would have
wanted it to start! Gloucester ground out a hard fought win on the road last
weekend against London Irish and whilst that will have provided some confidence
Saracens are a completely different kettle of fish. The visitors are scoring
tries for fun and the notorious Wolfpack will be smelling blood this weekend
especially with the loss of Akapusi Qera to Toulose. It isn’t all doom and
gloom for the Cherry and Whites; Charlie Sharples and Jonny May both looked sharp
against Irish and they will certainly need to get into the game this weekend if
the home team have any chance of turning over the league leaders.
Leicester Tigers will be pleased to have a second
home game in the same number of weeks in order to try and steady their slightly
rickety ship however Bath will certainly not be an easy opponent. Personally I
hope that Owen Williams is given the chance to start at fly half again so that
he can develop in confidence and build on his superb performance last weekend. In
the centre Dan Bowden is out with a nasty injury "multiple fractures of
his cheekbone and eye socket" however Anthony Allen does return into the
match day squad. Let’s hope that in 2014 the ‘centre curse’ lifts and Tigers can
start to enjoy an injury free run. Turning the spotlight on Bath Rugby they
will arrive at Welford Road with a bee in their bonnet, it certainly wasn’t the
plan to be so comprehensively outplayed by Northampton Saints last weekend,
especially up front and this is their chance to put it right, on a big Welford
Road stage.
Finally London Wasps host Exeter Chiefs at Adams Park… two teams who enjoyed very different weekends in Round 11; Wasps controlled the game at Kingston Park and recorded a solid away victory whilst Exeter were caught out and didn’t show their true colours in front of seventy odd thousand at HQ. Wasps will understand that if there is a time to beat the Exeter Chiefs then it is now and they’ll look towards their big men to do so. The Chiefs will be hurting and will want to bounce back in style in order to prove that last weekend was simply a one off. Personally I’m looking forward to the battle of the back rows… the prospect of Ashley Johnson, James Haskell and Sam Jones going up against Tom Johnson, Ben White and Dave Ewers is a delicious one… expect great line breaks and huge hits that are returned with interest… and let’s not forget Steeno vs. Goode battle at 10! All in all Adams Park is in for a treat!!
Finally London Wasps host Exeter Chiefs at Adams Park… two teams who enjoyed very different weekends in Round 11; Wasps controlled the game at Kingston Park and recorded a solid away victory whilst Exeter were caught out and didn’t show their true colours in front of seventy odd thousand at HQ. Wasps will understand that if there is a time to beat the Exeter Chiefs then it is now and they’ll look towards their big men to do so. The Chiefs will be hurting and will want to bounce back in style in order to prove that last weekend was simply a one off. Personally I’m looking forward to the battle of the back rows… the prospect of Ashley Johnson, James Haskell and Sam Jones going up against Tom Johnson, Ben White and Dave Ewers is a delicious one… expect great line breaks and huge hits that are returned with interest… and let’s not forget Steeno vs. Goode battle at 10! All in all Adams Park is in for a treat!!
