Preview: Premiership, Round 19

As England claimed a first Grand Slam for 13 years, Saracens second row duo George Kruis and Maro Itoje saw their stock rise considerably.

And this is bad news for Attwood who failed to feature in Eddie Jones' England side for this year's Six Nations, as well as missing out on the World Cup party.

But Attwood could prove a point at the Rec on Friday as Bath host league-leaders Saracens, something not lost on the 28-year-old.

"George had a tremendous Six Nations, there was a lot of talk about him being player of the tournament and I thought that he deserved it," Attwood said.

"And then Maro has obviously come in and done superbly well - the competition for the second row with England is unbelievable now - which isn't great for me!

"But that is something I have to deal with and this is my first opportunity to get back to it with Bath and to be playing these two guys is great way to test myself out.

"We have had some good battles against Saracens and they have probably come out on top a bit more than us - particularly the most recent one [when Bath lost 19-13].

"That was a disappointing one at their place because we played really well for most of the game but in the last 15 we fell away and they pinched it - probably deservedly."

Bath have won their last two games at the Rec - against London Irish and Newcastle Falcons - but have yet to win three in a row at the venue this season.

Saracens, meanwhile, returned to the top of the Premiership table with their victory over Exeter Chiefs last time out, but four sides have tallied more league points in the last six rounds than Mark McCall's troops.

Saracens have lost just one of their last dozen Premiership encounters with Bath and returning flyhalf Owen Farrell is keen for that run to continue as he slips seamlessly back into domestic action after helping England to the Grand Slam.

"You don't feel like you have to pull yourself out of bed to get up for a game, and next we've got Bath away and then Northampton in the quarterfinal in Europe," Farrell told London24.

"It's easy for us to come back into this. Everyone was excited this week to get playing with the boys and to put a good performance in.

"There have been eight weeks of Premiership games [with the Six Nations players away]. Normally there's, what, four? This is a different year because of the World Cup.

"It will be a tough period for some clubs, yes. They are the cards you are dealt. We just get on with what we've got to do."

We take a look at all the Round 19 action!

Friday:

Bath v Saracens

(Recreation Ground - Kick-off: 19.45; 18.45 GMT)

Saracens returned to the top of the Premiership table with their victory over Exeter Chiefs, but four sides have tallied more league points in the last six rounds than Sarries.

Saracens only two away defeats this season have been at Harlequins in Round Nine and at Leicester in Round 17. Saracens have lost just one of their last dozen Premiership encounters with Bath including last season's Final: 11-23 at the Recreation Ground in October 2014.

Teams: 

Bath: 15 Anthony Watson, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Ollie Devoto, 11 Horacio Agulla, 10 George Ford, 9 Chris Cook, 8 Amanaki Mafi, 7 Francois Louw (captain), 6 Matt Garvey, 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Rob Webber, 1 Nathan Catt. 

Replacements: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Max Lahiff, 18 David Wilson, 19 Leroy Houston, 20 David Denton, 21 Guy Mercer, 22 Will Homer, 23 Rhys Priestland.

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, 12 Brad Barritt (captain), 11 Duncan Taylor, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Will Fraser, 6 Michael Rhodes, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Petrus Du Plessis, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Mako Vunipola. 

Replacements: 16 Jared Saunders, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Titi Lamositele, 19 Alistair Hargreaves, 20 Kelly Brown, 21 Neil De Kock, 22 Mike Ellery, 23 Ben Ransom.

Referee: Gregory Garner

Assistant referees: Simon McConnell, Paul Dix

TMO: Graham Hughes

Saturday:

Exeter Chiefs v Worcester Warriors:

(Sandy Park - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)

Worcester Warriors are in the midst of their best ever run in the Premiership having won their last four fixtures. In fact over the last six matches Worcester have tallied two more points than Exeter have.

Exeter have won all seven previous Premiership encounters with Warriors, whilst Worcester's most recent victory over the Chiefs in any tournament was 25-14 in the old Division One at the County Ground in March 2004

Teams: 

Exeter Chiefs: 15 Phil Dollman, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Gareth Steenson (captain), 9 Will Chudley, 8 Thomas Waldrom, 7 Julian Salvi, 6 Don Armand, 5 Damian Welch, 4 Ollie Atkins, 3 Moray Low, 2 Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 Ben Moon.

Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Mitch Lees, 20 Kai Horstmann, 21 Dave Lewis, 22 Michele Campagnaro, 23 James Short.

Worcester Warriors: 15 Chris Pennell, 14 Bryce Heem, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Ryan Mills, 11 Cooper Vuna, 10 Tom Heathcote, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 GJ van Velze (captain), 7 Sam Betty, 6 Carl Kirwan, 5 Darren Barry, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 James Johnston, 2 Niall Annett, 1 Val Rapava Ruskin.

Replacements: 16 Jaba Bregvadze, 17 Na’ama Leleimalefaga, 18 Gareth Milasinovich, 19 Dan Sanderson, 20 Matt Cox, 21 Luke Baldwin, 22 Ryan Lamb, 23 Andy Symons.

Referee: Thomas Foley

Assistant referees: Gareth Copsey, Ross Campbell

TMO: Keith Lewis

Harlequins v Newcastle Falcons

(Twickenham Stoop - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)

Newcastle Falcons have lost their last five matches since beating Northampton Saints 26-25 at Kingston Park in Round 13. The Falcons have not won away from home in any competition since a trip to London Irish in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in February 2015.

Newcastle have however won their last two fixtures against Harlequins and have only once before achieved a Premiership double over 'Quins in the same season – when they were champions in 1997/98. The Falcons most recent victory at Twickenham Stoop in the Premiership was in September 2000.

Teams: 

Harlequins: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Marland Yarde, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Ben Botica, 9 Danny Care (captain), 8 Nick Easter, 7 Jack Clifford, 6 Chris Robshaw, 5 James Horwill, 4 George Merrick, 3 Will Collier, 2 Joe Gray, 1 Joe Marler.

Replacements: 16 Dave Ward, 17 Mark Lambert, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Sam Twomey, 20 Mat Luamanu, 21 Karl Dickson, 22 Matt Hopper, 23 Ross Chisholm.

Newcastle Falcons: 15 Alex Tait, 14 Marcus Watson, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Adam Powell, 11 Sinoti Sinoti, 10 Mike Delany, 9 Michael Young, 8 Ally Hogg, 7 Will Welch (captain), 6 Nili Latu, 5 Calum Green, 4 Mark Wilson, 3 Taione Vea, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Rob Vickers.

Replacements: 16 Scott Lawson, 17 Alex Rogers, 18 Kensuke Hatakeyama, 19 Sean Robinson, 20 Simon Hammersley, 21 Sonatane Takulua, 22 Craig Willis, 23 Belisario Agulla.

Referee: Matthew Carley

Assistant referees: Andy Watson, Kelvin Stewart

TMO: Rowan Kitt

London Irish v Sale Sharks

(Madejski Stadium - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)

London Irish's only victory in their last seven Premiership clashes was 23-18 at home to Gloucester in Round 17. The Exiles have lost just twice at Madejski Stadium since November: to Grenoble in the European Challenge Cup in January and to Exeter in the Premiership the following month. 

The last five encounters between the two clubs have gone in favour of the home side whilst Sale have not been victorious in Reading since October 2006.

Teams:

London Irish: 15 Sean Maitland, 14 Tom Fowlie, 13 Ciaran Hearn, 12 Johnny Williams, 11 Andrew Fenby, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Scott Steele, 8 Ofisa Treviranus, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Luke Narraway (captain), 5 Matt Symons, 4 Jebb Sinclair, 3 Halani Aulika, 2 David Paice, 1 Tom Court.

Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Tom Smallbone, 18 Leo Halavatau, 19 Jerry Sexton, 20 Rob McCusker, 21 Brendan McKibbin, 22 Theo Brophy Clews, 23 Fergus Mulchrone.

Sale Sharks: 15 Mike Haley, 14 Will Addison, 13 Sam James, 12 Sam Tuitupou, 11 Nev Edwards, 10 Danny Cipriani, 9 Peter Stringer, 8 Mark Easter, 7 David Seymour (captain), 6 Cameron Neild, 5 Andrei Ostrikov, 4 Bryn Evans, 3 Brian Mujati, 2 Tommy Taylor, 1 Eifion Lewis Roberts.

Replacements: 16 Neil Briggs, 17 Ross Harrison, 18 Vadim Cobilas, 19 Jonathan Mills, 20 Magnus Lund, 21 TJ Ioane, 22 Joe Ford, 23 Tom Brady.

Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys

Assistant referees: Roger Baileff, Roy Maybank

TMO: Sean Davey

Leicester Tigers v Gloucester

(Welford Road - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.15 GMT)

Gloucester have slipped to three successive defeats and have not lost four in a row in the Premiership since November 2013. Gloucester's only away victory in the competition since Round One came when they visited Bath on February 5.

The Tigers only defeat in their last six encounters with Gloucester was 16-33 at Kingsholm in October 2014. The Cherry & Whites have not own at Welford Road since October 2007.

Teams: 

Leicester Tigers: 15 Telusa Veainu, 14 Adam Thompstone, 13 Peter Betham, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Vereniki Goneva, 10 Owen Williams, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Ed Slater (captain), 7 Lachlan McCaffrey, 6 Tom Croft, 5 Graham Kitchener, 4 Dom Barrow, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Logovi'i Mulipola.

Replacements: 16 Greg Bateman, 17 Marcos Ayerza, 18 Fraser Balmain, 19 Sebastian de Chaves, 20 Brendon O'Connor, 21 Sam Harrison, 22 Freddie Burns, 23 Mathew Tait.

Gloucester: 15 Tom Marshall, 14 Rob Cook, 13 Henry Trinder, 12 Mark Atkinson, 11 Steve McColl, 10 James Hook, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Matt Kvesic, 6 Gareth Evans, 5 Mariano Galarza, 4 Tom Savage, 3 Paul Doran-Jones, 2 Darren Dawidiuk, 1 Paddy McAllister.

Replacements: 16 Luke Cole, 17 Yann Thomas, 18 John Afoa, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Lewis Ludlow, 21 Callum Braley, 22 Ollie Thorley, 23 Jacob Rowan.

Referee: JP Doyle

Assistant referees: Nigel Carrick, Paul Burton

TMO: David Grashoff

Sunday:

Wasp v Northampton Saints

(Ricoh Arena - Kick-off: 15.00; 14.00 GMT)

Northampton Saints only loss in the last five rounds of the Premiership was at Exeter on March 20. Wasps beat Northampton 24-11 at Franklin’s Gardens in Round 10 and have not achieved a season's Premiership double over the East Midlanders since season 2004/05. 

Northampton have visited Ricoh Arena twice before, both for semifinals, losing on both occasions, to Wasps in the European Rugby Champions Cup in 2007 and to Cardiff Blues in the Anglo-Welsh cup two years later.

Teams:

Wasps: 15 Rob Miller, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Elliot Daly, 12 Siale Piutau, 11 Frank Halai, 10 Jimmy Gopperth, 9 Craig Hampson, 8 Nathan Hughes, 7 George Smith, 6 Thomas Young, 5 Bradley Davies, 4 Joe Launchbury, 3 Jake Cooper-Woolley, 2 Ashley Johnson, 1 Matt Mullan (captain).

Replacements: 16  Carlo Festuccia, 17 Simon McIntyre, 18 Lorenzo Cittadini, 19 Kearnan Myall, 20 James Haskell, 21 Jamie Stevenson, 22 Ruaridh Jackson, 23 Sailosi Tagicakibau.

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Harry Mallinder, 11 George North, 10 Stephen Myler, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Sam Dickinson, 7 Teimana Harrison, 6 Tom Wood (captain), 5 Christian Day, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Mikey Haywood, 1 Alex Waller.

Replacements: 16 Reece Marshall, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Paul Hill, 19 James Craig, 20 Jon Fisher, 21 Lee Dickson, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Tom Collins.

Referee: Luke Pearce

Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, Robin Goodliffe

TMO: Geoff Warren

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