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| (C) Paler Images |
Round 15 starts at Kingston Park where the Newcastle Falcons will host Dai Young’s Wasps. Here are two sides that are coming off the back of completely contrasting performances in Round 14; Wasps delivered a dominant victory over their Premiership ‘bogey’ team Harlequins whilst the Falcons were shown up at Sandy Park as they forgot to pack their A Game. Richards’ men must up their performance levels in all facets of their game, in particular defensively for Wasps house a huge number of threats in their back line and have been enjoying playing some expansive rugby this season. I hope to see Newcastle back to their best and giving as good as they get underneath the Friday Night Lights however Wasps will have firmly targeted this as must win game to continue their charge for the Top 6 finish they have in mind. Key Men; Falcons’ Captain Will Welch to pick his side back up and Wasps’ Nathan Hughes to continue to drive his team forwards with gusto.
At the AJ Bell Stadium the Sale Sharks will welcome Saracens for their fourth meeting of the season across both the Aviva Premiership and European competitions. Saracens have won every single encounter to date and will not want to relinquish that record. Last Sunday’s clash with Bath proved Mark McCall's monumental strength in squad depth and they have the luxury of Mako Vunipola, Alex Goode, Richard Wigglesworth and Brad Barritt all back in their ranks. Sale had a solid warm up against London Welsh and with the man who in Steve Diamond’s words ‘instrumental to everything that we do’, back, Danny Cipriani, they’ll be ready for the challenge. This game is the start of an important run for the Sharks for if they are to cement a Top 6 position they’ll need to take a big win over one of their next three opponents; Saracens, Leicester Tigers or Bath. Key Men; England’s returnees on both sides are all men with points to prove prior to the Ireland training week.
Further South on Saturday afternoon, rugby returns home to Kingsholm as the Cherry & Whites will host London Welsh. David Humphreys’ men will have been bitterly disappointed that they didn’t finish off the game at Welford Road and they’ll feel that this match is the perfect opportunity to blow away a few cobwebs. London Welsh produced some positive rugby in Round 14 however they weren’t as clinical as they should have been with their basics. Welsh’s Assistant Coach Ollie Smith was open and honest with me following their defeat and said that they will focus on delivering ’80 minutes of competitive rugby’ and then they will see where that takes them. Key Men; XV men in the pink of Welsh need to focus & all deliver to their capabilities.
In London Harlequins will aim to bounce back from their defeat in Coventry as they welcome the Exeter Chiefs to the Capital. Conor O’Shea’s side have an impressive Premiership home record, they haven’t lost there since November 2014 however if they deliver to the same standard as Round 14 that record is unlikely to be standing come 5.30pm on Saturday afternoon. The Chiefs will breeze into town riding on a wave of confidence; they have within their ranks the Aviva Premiership’s top try scorer, Thomas Waldrom and one of the competition’s most naturally gifted players, Henry Slade. It is vital that Harlequins deliver a performance based on solidity at the set piece and positive rugby to keep themselves in touching distance of their high expectations. Key Men; the half backs on both sides will need to ignite their teams into life
The final game on Saturday is at The Rec where Mike Ford’s Bath will host the Northampton Saints. This one will be an intriguing battle; Bath missed their key sparks last weekend however began to tick towards the end of the game at Allianz Park. They say that the manner in which you end a game always informs the start of the next so at home I expect Bath to come out of the blocks much more emphatically in Round 15. The Saints will have had a brutal week of analysis; their performance against London Irish was very much below par and strong words will have been delivered this week across the board. I’m expecting a strong forward battle and physical clash as both sides aim to show that they are still title contenders. Key Men; Watch out for the Back Rows and the clash of Manoa, Clark & Dickinson against Garvey, Louw & Houston – seismic!
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| (C) Charlie Hill |
The one and only game on Sunday is in Reading where London Irish welcome the Leicester Tigers to town. Whilst Irish pushed the Saints close last Friday night they weren’t 100% pleased with their performance and will be focusing hard this week on delivering a cleaner output. The Tigers showed just the type of character that we expect from the East Midland’s outfit as they edged Gloucester at home with world of pressure on their shoulders and a win this weekend would be instrumental to building on that platform of confidence. I expect another eye catching performance from Freddie Burns and with the Madjeski being a better surface under foot than Welford Road a little more sparkle from Richard Cockerill’s backs. Key Men; The Battle of the 10s – Burns vs. Geraghty
