Full Round 2 Team News Here
The action kicks off under the Friday
Night Lights at The Stoop as Harlequins welcome Saracens for what is, in my
eyes, the clash of the weekend. Both sides delivered ‘half’ performances at
Twickenham, each had 40 show stopping minutes and
40 minutes that weren’t as impressive. Harlequins will certainly have that Semi
Final defeat in their minds and want to gain revenge on home soil however if
the form book is anything to go by it will be tough as Saracens have won six of
their last seven visits to The Stoop. The back row clash will be seismic
whomever the respective Directors of Rugby decide to select, when you have Jackson Wray, Will Fraser, Billy Vunipola up against Luke Wallace, Chris Robshaw,
Nick Easter you know what to expect; a break down and
hits that bring tears to your eyes. Out back both sides have International
quality talents capable of breathtaking rugby. If Harlequins are on their game
Saracens will be tested and could be turned over however McCall’s squad’s
consistency is famous and has the ability to take down any Premiership side on
its day. I’m not calling this one, instead I’m going to sit on the fence and
head to The Stoop to enjoy one hell of an Aviva Premiership battle underneath
my beloved Friday Night Lights!
On Saturday The Rec opens its
doors for the very first time this year as Bath host London Welsh. Bath’s first
round performance delivered the four points necessary and pleased Head Coach
Toby Booth who stressed after the game that ‘away wins are priceless’. On home
soil they will certainly be confident after Welsh’s first round
crushing at the hands of the Exeter Chiefs. Today London Welsh’s Winger Seb
Stegmann stressed to me that Sunday’s performance ‘just wasn’t them’ and told
me to expect ‘much more’ from the side this weekend. Welsh’s focus must be to secure their
defensive structure and up their tackle completion rate significantly or else a
similar score line looms. Bath’s backline is potent, their forwards are
bruising and with George Ford fresh and firing on as many cylinders as are
highlighted on his side’s Dyson shirts there is no reason why Bath fans should be anything but confident.
I expect that The Shed will be a
nervous place prior to kick off this weekend as their side had one hell of a
time it just a few days ago against the former Champions. Pride will play a
huge part in this match at Kingsholm and I fully expect Gloucester to raise
their game significantly against Sale on Saturday afternoon. Naturally, like
London Welsh, there will be a huge focus on firming up their defense as well as really dominating at scrum time. A cohesive performance
is the aim; the question is whether 7 days is enough time to be able to deliver
that? If you are an optimist you will say yes, if you are a realist the answer
is maybe. David Humprehys' has named an unchanged side and has entrusted his twenty three players with the task of turning things around at home. The visitors will bring a lot to the party, even without the injured Mark Cueto and
Dan Braid, their line out proficiency is a huge asset with Hines and Paterson
and so far I’m enjoying the Cusiter Cipriani partnership, even if we haven’t
seen them in full flow yet. Gloucester have beaten Sale just once in their last
six Premiership encounters and in all honesty a second win looks a difficult
prospect, however with the power of The Shed and pride at stake, anything can
happen. 
The Exeter Chiefs were perhaps the surprise
package of round one, after being deemed by many as very much a work in
progress they fired out of the blocks against a struggling London Welsh outfit. Undoubtedly
it was a great performance however the Leicester Tigers are a different kettle of fish and
will be a strong test for Rob Baxter’s side. Leicester dusted off their cobwebs
in front of 22,000 at Welford Road and made ‘the perfect start’ according to
Richard Cockerill. Home wins were few and far between last season at Sandy Park
and it is something that Captain Dean Mumm told me ‘really upset’ his team and
is a focus to fix from the word go this season. It will be interesting to see
how Exeter’s young centre pairing, Henry Slade and Sam Hill, front up against
the experience of Anthony Allen and Manu Tuilagi.
Slade and Hill, alongside Ewers were central to everything great last weekend
and double try scorer Thomas Waldrom will relish the prospect at taking on his
old side so early on in the season. Leicester’s fire power is of the Fijian
variety as well as their International half backs; Ben Youngs and
Freddie Burns. The Tigers
will be a tough task for the Chiefs, however in a newly refurbished Sandy Park
and coming off the back of such an impressive performance there isn’t a better
time to take on Cockerill’s prolific side. 
Adams Park is another stadium
that will open its doors for the first time this competitive season as Wasps have
the unenviable task of being the next side to face the Northampton Saints. Wasps’
performance at Twickenham was a frustrating one, for forty minutes they were
off key, defensively and moving forwards however once they pulled themselves
together it was impressive. Northampton well quite frankly they were sublime,
they were dominant in every single aspect of the game and they looked totally
at ease whilst doing so. From North''s hat trick to Wilson's sublime performance at full back they had it all and it will be a huge test for this new look Wasps side
and if they give anything less an eighty minute performance it will be game
over at Adams Park. Dai Young prefers Andrea Masi to Rob Miller and Tom Varndell slots in for Christian Wade after he is still shaken following a car accident this week. Jim Mallinder has announced an unchanged squad, from one to twenty three and Saints will march into town cool,
calm and collected and it is up to Wasps to meet the challenge head on and
really show what they are made of. 
The Newcastle Falcons and their brand spanking new surface at
Kingston Park welcome London Irish on Sunday afternoon for the final offering
of the weekend. Irish, unlike many sides, had an advantage having their own artificial
surface to train on at Hazelwood so the transition to this ‘new' surface shouldn’t be a factor in the game. Newcastle delivered a performance to be
pleased with against the Tigers however it didn’t end their 16 Aviva
Premiership match losing streak. London Irish didn’t really get into third or
even fourth gear from an attacking perspective at Twickenham in Round 1 and
relied on the boot of Shane Geraghty to deliver their losing bonus point. There
is no doubt that the Falcons will have circled this game on the schedule as a ‘winnable’
fixture whilst Irish will be keen to show that there is clear daylight between them
and their Northern rivals. Rounded performances will be king; Irish must keep
Sinoti Sinoti quiet out wide and really start to penetrate the gain line hard
if they are to succeed. Collectively the Exiles' experience is greater and if they
play to their on paper potential they should leave Newcastle happy and with a
victory. However the Falcons have their own point to prove and if their experienced players, the likes of Mike Blair and Phil Godman are on
song it could be tighter than we all expect.
Now it is time to sit back and relax as we have 6
more matches, 480 minutes of rugby to enjoy. Welcome to the weekend and to Round 2 of the Aviva Premiership.
