Welcome to the Round 16 Preview, yes I did just say Round 16, it seems like yesterday that we were discussing Round 1 and now there are only 7 short rounds (including this one) left before the knock out stages, can you believe it!? We really are immersed in the business end of the season; every single point counts and in Round 16 we have some outrageously good clashes so let’s get straight to it and preview all of the weekend’s action;
It is a warm welcome back to the Friday Night Lights... as you all know I love a Friday night game and in Round 16 we have a real treat on our hands as Bath host Saracens at The Rec. This
is set to be a brutal encounter between two of the top performing teams of this
year’s Aviva Premiership so far. This week Mike Ford said that Saracens were “two or three years ahead” of his team in terms of their development and whilst this may be the case you do get the feeling that underneath their own Friday Night Lights Bath could pull out something very special. The home team are likely to welcome back George Ford from England duty and will look towards their electric backs to deliver them with points galore. Saracens, well they have their back line firepower too and their notorious Wolfpack will be chomping at the bit to get their teeth into their hosts. All in all it
really will be something special down at The Rec on Friday night and if you
don’t have a ticket don’t worry because it is one of the weekend’s televised
fixtures and that means that you can enjoy it from the comfort of your own home
or indeed the pub! Happy Days!!
On Saturday the
first stop on the Round 16 journey is Sandy Park where the Exeter Chiefs
are aiming to delight their fans and turn around their difficult run. Since the Chiefs' loss of form Rob Baxter has been honest and to
the point in his assessments and this week he has described the match as a
'must win' game. It is clear from Round 15 that things are starting to move in the right direction for
the Chiefs however they still need to find that little bit more to close out a match. Turning the spotlight onto their opponents London Irish expect to see a visible reaction to their frustrating day on
Saturday where they gifted Tigers too many points and didn't secure all of
their own opportunities. On an individual note watch out for Marland Yarde and Tom Johnson two big players who will want to impress Stuart Lancaster and remind him of their personal credentials.
At The Stoop on
Saturday Harlequins will host the Worcester Warriors and attempt
to break a couple of world records at the same time. I’ll leave the Quins media
team to explain the records (here) and
instead focus on the match. As mentioned in the Round 15 Review Harlequins are
a little off colour at the moment without their Internationals and like the
Chiefs they need to pull their socks up a bit. In saying that, their home form of late has been strong and their young players are shining, in particular young
Ollie Lindsay-Hague who is deputising well for England’s man of the moment Mike
Brown. For Worcester it really is do or die time, with Newcastle gaining a
losing bonus point last weekend they are now 12 points adrift at the bottom and
that is a slight cause for concern. Dean Ryan has asked his men to 'fight like
mad' and 'perform emotionally' this weekend against Quins and for what it is worth
I genuinely hope that they can pull something special out of the bag.
At Adams Park there
is a tasty middle of the table clash between the London Wasps and the Sale
Sharks. Sale have a strong record against the London side and given that
their last two away fixtures ended both with 4 points confidence will be high going
into this match. The home team will be much happier with their performance in
Round 15 but certainly need to reign in their discipline in order to not give away needless penalties that could be costly with Danny Cipriani's boot on the pitch. I fully expect that the tussle between Elliot
Daly and Rob Miller will be Kearney/Brown esque and of course watch out
for the clash of the titans between two mighty back rows.
In the final Saturday fixture the Northampton Saints take on Nigel Davies’ Gloucester, the only side to have beaten them this season. The Saints were made to work hard last weekend up North and will be pleased to be returning back into the comforting arms of Franklin’s Gardens where they are unbeaten since last March. Their Cherry and White opponents are starting to find their confidence; their stronger set piece has certainly helped them as it has provided them with a real platform for their backs to work off. The question is do they have enough confidence to back up their Round 3 win and topple the mighty Saints twice!? Answers on a Tweet please!!
In the final Saturday fixture the Northampton Saints take on Nigel Davies’ Gloucester, the only side to have beaten them this season. The Saints were made to work hard last weekend up North and will be pleased to be returning back into the comforting arms of Franklin’s Gardens where they are unbeaten since last March. Their Cherry and White opponents are starting to find their confidence; their stronger set piece has certainly helped them as it has provided them with a real platform for their backs to work off. The question is do they have enough confidence to back up their Round 3 win and topple the mighty Saints twice!? Answers on a Tweet please!!
The final game of
the weekend is up at Kingston Park where the Newcastle Falcons welcome
the Leicester Tigers to town. Newcastle haven’t beaten their opponents
in the Premiership since 2009 and are without a league win since Round 6
however their performances of late have been full of heart and determination.
The Tigers have shown an equal amount of heart to deliver 3 ugly wins in a row
and will certainly be aiming to deliver a much prettier one this weekend. Expect Owen
Williams to start again at 10 after an assured performance last weekend and
naturally all eyes will be on the return of Manu Tuilagi who will run out for
the first time this year after his lengthy spell on the side-lines.
All in all Round 16
is set to be a mighty fine round of Premiership Rugby, there are tasty little
head to heads all over the country and fixtures that make your heart race that
little bit faster at the thought of them. Thankfully there isn’t too long to wait before
the action starts... in fact there is just enough time make sure that you have your tickets ready or
your TV of choice sorted so that you can enjoy as much of the Aviva
Premiership action as physically possible!!
