After 12 matches and 607 points
Round 3 of the Aviva Premiership is fast approaching us. Round 2 was quite the
weekend as emotions ran high all over the country and I expect that a number of
you, like myself, am still recovering from the highs and lows of the round.
The Round 3 action starts at Kingsholm where Gloucester Rugby will
host the Exeter Chiefs. Gloucester showed an
immense amount of resilience and fortitude to bounce back from their Round 1 annihilation
and turn around the weekend’s match against the Sale Sharks and in Round 3 they
must step up once again. The Exeter Chiefs will arrive in Gloucester with a bee
in their bonnet after coming so close to beating Leicester and will vent their frustration on the home side. Form wise, Exeter have won two
of their last three visits to Kingsholm however Gloucester nicked the last
match between the two sides in March by a single point. It will be a game filled
with tempo, both sides love to play at pace and let their backs ignite
proceedings; the Chiefs could unleash a fit again Jack Nowell, who played his
first rugby in 19 weeks in the A League on Monday night however it might be too soon. Gloucester aren’t
expected to shake things up in terms of selection as their squad understanding is still forming. The importance of securing back to back wins at Kingsholm is hugely significant
for Gloucester however Exeter have started this year with a bang and raised
their bar by about forty feet from last year. It will be a fascinating game to watch!
On Saturday the Sale Sharks host London Welsh at the AJ Bell Stadium as they looked to gain their
first win of the Aviva Premiership season. 0 from 2 was not the start that
Steve Diamond intended however with all due respect to London Welsh the home
side are expected to finish Round 3 with a win. London
Welsh delivered a much stronger performance at The Rec however their
defence remains a huge issue having shipped 105 points in two games. London Welsh
should compete well at the set piece with Ricky Reeves, Nathan Morris and Taione
Vea and they have pace and invention out the back with Seb Jewell and Seb Stegmann in particular. I fully expect to see a full box of Danny Cipriani
tricks on display and physical offerings from across the park for Diamond was not a happy man following their Round 2 loss. The Sharks must not chase the win too early and be impatient,
instead they must focus on delivering the performance and let the result
take care of itself. For London Welsh, as with the case every week, the phrase ‘going
for broke’ is appropriate and once again, sounding like a true broken record,
upping their tackle completion rate and firming up their defensive line will be
crucial if they are to get anything from the game. 
This weekend in South West London
Harlequins will host Wasps at the Twickenham Stoop. Harlequins’
performance against Saracens was distinctly below par; they dominated in terms
of the total territory (60%) and possession (62%) and yet were nil’ed by their
opposition. I’d say the less spoken about it the better because it wasn’t one
of their finest hours. At the complete opposite end of the spectrum Wasps
recorded one of their most significant wins in the Aviva Premiership in recent
years against the Northampton Saints. Wasps’ gargantuan physical effort was
matched by their invention in attack as they showed to the Premiership world exactly what
they can do. Dai Young’s words of ‘why are we surprised?’ will echo in every Wasps' ears as they run out on the field this weekend aiming to prove that
the high of Saints was not just a one off. Personally I’m excited to see the Joe
Simpson versus Danny Care clash at scrum half, selection permitting; both are have searing pace and are competitive and feisty
characters. I expect that Harlequins will bounce back and
I’m predicting a competitive clash however for what it is worth I believe that
Wasps might just squeeze this one.
London Irish have the pleasure of hosting Saracens for their first home game of the season at the Madejski Stadium.
Saracens were extremely impressive in Round 2, clinical with a capital C and of course consistency is their middle name. The Exiles have not won back-to-back games
in the tournament since February and it will be a tough ask to do so against
Saracens however they were the last team to beat Mark McCall’s side in the
regular competition. The arm wrestle at scrum time will be great to watch
with Tom Court, David Paice and Halani Aulika expected to be fronting up against Richard
Barrington, Jamie George and Kieran Longbottom, assuming neither Director of
Rugby rotates his personnel. Irish must lower their error count and work
extremely hard to find holes in the most organised defence in the Aviva
Premiership. Saracens have no real need to change anything, whilst there are
likely to be a few personnel changes due to their rotational policy,
none will make any difference to their performance level and a bonus point win
will be the aim.
The final game on Saturday is at
The Rec where Bath Rugby welcome the Leicester Tigers to town. I cannot wait
for this match; in my eyes it falls in the 'humdinger' category. Mike Ford wasn’t
wholly happy with his side's Round 2 performance and it goes without saying that Bath will raise their game against such esteemed opposition. Leicester showed steely resolve to hold out against the Chiefs and will roll into town
fired up for this, the first of their clashes against a one of the top sides. From 1 to 15
the expected head to heads are captivating and of course the most intriguing of
the lot is the Freddie Burns versus George Ford showdown which I believe will be phenomenal. If
Stuart Lancaster isn’t in the crowd at The Rec then he will certainly be tuning
into BT Sport to see his two young fly halves tussle for supremacy. Am I going to
pick a winner at this point in the week? Absolutely not!!! On home soil Bath will
be resilient however the Tigers love to break up a party... all in all it has
the potential to be the clash of the weekend. 
Finally on Sunday the Newcastle
Falcons entertain the Northampton Saints at Kingston Park. Dean Richards’ has
already said that it will be a ‘hard day at the office’ however he rightly
pointed out that ‘sometimes they are the best days because you have nothing to
lose you just go out there play your heart out.’ The Northampton Saints will be smarting after their Round 2 loss, it was not the plan and
it will have hurt them a lot. Jim Mallinder
may be forced to rotate a few individuals in order to manage bumps and bruises, however when the
teams are announced on Friday lunchtime I predict that it will be a strong Saints’ contingent
heading up to Kingston Park. This week Richards will try to impose on his team the
importance of staying calm, fronting up and taking your changes when they
arrive. The Falcons always give everything for 80 minutes and boy will they
need to with a scorned Saints in town. Everything points to a Saints victory,
with a bonus point and with respect to the Falcons personally I cannot see the result going
any other way.
Across the country in the Aviva Premiership Round 3 there
are huge clashes, they are the type of clashes that make you wish the week away
and then want to watch as much rugby as possible from Friday night to Sunday
afternoon. Will Harlequins redeem themselves? Will Gloucester ignite Kingsholm
once again? Which side will end victorious at the Rec? There are so many
questions hanging just waiting to be answered, it will
be an almighty round of Aviva Premiership rugby!!
