Gallagher Premiership round 14 previews
The long-awaited restart of the coronavirus-affected 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership season gets going this Friday in London, with other matches to follow across the weekend at Worcester, Exeter, Bath, Bristol and Northampton.
With 2019 champions Saracens already automatically relegated to the Championship for the 2020/21 season as punishment for repeated breaches of the top-flight salary cap, the emphasis over the remaining nine rounds of matches will be on the race for the play-offs and whether current leaders Exeter can be reeled in by the chasing pack.
A total of 57 matches – 54 regular-season games and three in the play-offs – will be played between now and October 24. Here is your guide to the first half-dozen fixtures:
Friday, August 14
Harlequins v Sale Sharks (Twickenham Stoop, 7:45pm)
Referee: Luke Pearce (98th Premiership game). Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson & Paul Dix. TMO: Rowan Kitt. Citing Officer: David Guyan.
Harlequins have won just twice in the last seven rounds of Gallagher Premiership Rugby: both at Twickenham Stoop, against Saracens on January 26 and Exeter on February 29. The Londoners have lost just twice at the venue in Premiership Rugby this season, to Worcester in round four and London Irish in round ten.
Sale Sharks’ only defeat in their last six Gallagher Premiership Rugby fixtures was 22-36 at Saracens on February 15. Sale have won three times on the road in the competition this campaign, at London Irish in round two, Exeter in round nine and Gloucester in round twelve.
Harlequins’ only victory in their last four encounters with Sale was 51-23 on the last occasion that the two locked horns at The Stoop in September 2018. The Sharks have won only once at Twickenham Stoop in Premiership Rugby since 2008: 16-12 in November 2014.
Straight in… no hanging about on the sidelines with Manu https://t.co/qXixwbVMFD
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 13, 2020
England wing Chris Ashton makes his debut against the club he left to join Harlequins. Full-back Mike Brown has recovered from a knee injury to make his first appearance since November. Centre Joe Marchant returns from his spell in Super Rugby.
Centre Manu Tuilagi makes his bow for Sale alongside fellow debutant Sam Hill. Faf de Klerk is present at scrum-half after overcoming the knee problem that has prevented him from playing since January. De Klerk’s fellow World Cup winner, Lood de Jager, makes his full debut at lock.
Saturday, August 15
Worcester Warriors v Gloucester Rugby (Sixways, 12:30pm)
Referee: Christophe Ridley (23rd Premiership game). Assistant Referees: Andrew Jackson & Wayne Falla. TMO: Keith Lewis. Citing Officer: John Byett
Worcester Warriors have lost their last six Gallagher Premiership Rugby matches since beating London Irish at Sixways on December 28. The Warriors have lost four in succession in all competitions at home but have not lost five in succession at the venue since early 2016.
Gloucester have lost their last five Gallagher Premiership fixtures but have not lost six in succession in the competition since 2012. Gloucester have lost their last nine away games in all tournaments since their 18-16 victory at Sale on the opening weekend of this season.
The last six fixtures between the two clubs have all been won by the home side on the day, while Gloucester have not been victorious at Sixways in the Premiership since May 2010.
Hopefully there has been more dialogue than suggested about this very important issue https://t.co/OwGDkrY7G5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 13, 2020
Exeter Chiefs v Leicester Tigers (Sandy Park, 2pm)
Referee: Tom Foley (77th Premiership game). Assistant Referees: Greg Macdonald & Jonathan Healy. TMO: Stuart Terheege. Citing Officer: Buster White.
Exeter Chiefs have lost just once in the last four rounds of the Gallagher Premiership: 30-34 at Harlequins in round twelve. The Chiefs have been defeated just twice at Sandy Park in Premiership Rugby this season, by Bristol in round four and Sale in round nine.
Leicester Tigers’ last six matches in the Premiership have all been won by the home side on the day while Tigers’ only away victory in the Premiership since October 2018 was at Newcastle in April 2019.
Exeter have won their last four encounters with Leicester in the Premiership. Tigers’ most recent victory at Sandy Park was 24-20 in September 2014.
Thinking big ahead of the restarthttps://t.co/s7sBoeO4tH
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 12, 2020
Bath Rugby v London Irish (Recreation Ground, 3pm)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys (74th Premiership game). Assistant Referees: Robert Warburton & Phil Watters. TMO: David Grashoff. Citing Officer: Brian Campsall.
Bath have lost their last two Gallagher Premiership matches since beating Harlequins at the Recreation Ground on February 22. Bath have lost twice at home in the Premiership this season, to Saracens in round five and Bristol in round twelve.
London Irish have lost their last two Gallagher Premiership encounters since beating Gloucester at Madejski Stadium on February 22. The Exiles have won three times on the road this season in the Premiership, at Wasps in round one, at Northampton in round nine and at Harlequins in round ten.
Bath’s only defeat to London Irish in any competition in the last decade was 22-29 at Reading in September 2012, while London Irish’s last success at the Recreation Ground came with a 16-0 victory in the Premiership in November 2009.
Eddie must have taught them all well on how to be boss… first Gustard, next Borthwick and now Hatley https://t.co/L99miUTJ9T
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 13, 2020
Bristol Bears v Saracens (Ashton Gate, 4:30pm)
Referee: Matthew Carley (93rd Premiership game). Assistant Referees: Adam Leal & Jack Makepeace. TMO: Claire Hodnett. Citing Officer: Duncan Bell.
Bristol Bears have won their last five Gallagher Premiership fixtures, their best ever winning run in the history of the competition. Bristol have lost just one of their last 14 home games in all competitions: 21-26 to Wasps in round seven.
Saracens’ only defeat in the last four rounds was 10-60 at Wasps on February 21. Saracens’ 27-21 victory at Northampton in their most recent away game ended a three-game losing run on the road in Premiership Rugby. Bristol’s only victory over Saracens in the Premiership since 2008 was 23-21 at Ashton Gate in April 2019.
'We have the best training centre in the country and that is not bragging, that is just factual'@BristolBears CEO Mark Tainton on their new training centre, ring-fencing, Lam, Radradra & how a clean-out of players in 2017 was needed, writes @heagneyl https://t.co/fsHrkGupXc
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 12, 2020
Sunday, August 16
Northampton Saints v Wasps (Franklin’s Gardens, 3pm)
Referee: Karl Dickson (26th Premiership game). Assistant Referees: Anthony Woodthorpe & Hamish Smales. TMO: Graham Hughes. Citing Officer: Danae Zamboulis.
Northampton Saints’ four-game losing run in the Premiership ended with their 16-10 victory at Worcester Warriors in round 13. The Saints have lost their last three encounters at Franklin’s Gardens but have not lost four in succession in Premiership Rugby at the famous old venue since 2006/07.
Wasps’ only defeat in the last five rounds of the Premiership was 9-18 at Leicester on February 15 – that was Wasps’ only away defeat in any competition since early December.
Northampton have won two of their last three Premiership fixtures against Wasps immediately following a run of six successive defeats stretching back to 2015. Wasps’ only victory at Franklin’s Gardens in the last five years was 36-17 in November 2018.
'As a black player, you get pigeon-holed. You’re either an athlete and you’ll get stuck on the wing or he’s big, let’s stick him in the second row' @Harlequins wing @natenate174 talks about gaining coaches' trust, his ACL, BLM & more, with @heagneyl 👨💻https://t.co/qxaJxTQeXM
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 2, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Wasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
3 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
3 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
3 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
30 Go to comments