Aviva Premiership Round 21 preview

Posted on Apr 16, 2012 in Bath, English Rugby, Exeter, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester, Harlequins, Leeds Carnegie, Leicester Tigers, London Irish, London Wasps, Newcastle Falcons, Northampton, Premiership, Premiership Rugby, Sale Sharks, Saracens, Worcester Warriors

 

ROUND 21 FIXTURES

Friday 20th April

• Newcastle Falcons v Saracens (Kingston Park 7.45pm)  Live on ESPN

Saturday 21st April

• Bath Rugby v London Wasps (Recreation Ground, 2.15pm)
• Gloucester Rugby v Sale Sharks (Kingsholm, 3pm) 
• Worcester Warriors v London Irish (Sixways, 3pm)
• Harlequins v Leicester Tigers (Twickenham Stoop, 3.15pm)   Live on Sky Sports

Sunday 22nd April

• Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints (Sandy Park, 2pm)  Live on ESPN

Highlights show on ITV4 8pm Sunday evenings.

Newcastle Falcons v Saracens

Newcastle Falcons have now won back-to-back Aviva Premiership Rugby matches against Sale and Gloucester, but have not won three in succession in the competition since November 2009.

Saracens were victorious at London Irish on Saturday but slipped to 3rd place in the table – their lowest position since round three. Sarries only defeat in their last eight away games in all competitions was 11-16 at Worcester on 24 February. The reigning champions need just three more points to guarantee a semi-final spot for a third successive year.

Saracens have won their last six encounters with Newcastle in all competitions, with the Falcons most recent victory in the series being 13-9 at Kingston Park in February 2009.

Bath Rugby v London Wasps

Bath Rugby have slipped to four straight reversals in all competitions since beating Worcester at The Rec on 3 March. Bath have lost three of their last four home games.

London Wasps’ only win in their last four matches was 26-24 at home to Gloucester in Aviva Premiership Rugby on 1 April. Wasps only away victory since November was 32-11 at Rovigo in the European Challenge Cup on 14 January.

Wasps won 27-24 when the two teams met at Adams Park in round six, but have not achieved a season’s double over Bath since 2007/08. The Londoners have won on their last two visits to The Rec.

Gloucester Rugby v Sale Sharks

Gloucester Rugby have slipped to four consecutive reversals in Aviva Premiership Rugby but have not lost five in a row in the Premiership since early 2001. Gloucester have not lost three in a row at Kingsholm since April 2005.

Sale Sharks ended a three match losing run with their 16-9 victory at home to Bath on Friday. The Sharks’ solo away win in the Premiership since September was 16-13 at Bath on 3 December.

The last nineteen encounters between the two clubs in all competitions have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst Sale have not been victorious at Kingsholm since a 19-18 victory on 26 August 2000.

Worcester Warriors v London Irish

Worcester Warriors only win in their last four games was 19-9 at home to Newcastle on 23 March.

The Warriors’ five match winning run at Sixways in all competitions ended at the hands of Exeter on Saturday.

London Irish have slipped to seven straight defeats in Aviva Premiership Rugby – their worst ever sequence in Premiership history. The Exiles have won just once on the road this season in the tournament: 14-13 at Northampton in round three.

The Warriors are winless in their last ten Premiership encounters against London Irish since their 20-15 victory at Madejski Stadium on 11 September 2005.

Harlequins v Leicester Tigers 

Harlequins have already qualified for the semi-finals, and if they prevent Tigers winning this game it will be at home, whilst their only reversal in their last seven Aviva Premiership Rugby matches was 23-29 at Gloucester in round 16.

Leicester Tigers have picked up maximum points from their last five Premiership matches and require just two further league points to reach the playoffs for the eighth successive season. Tigers have suffered just one defeat to an English side since Harlequins visited Welford Road on 8 October.

Exeter Chiefs v Northampton Saints

Exeter Chiefs have won six of their last seven matches in Aviva Premiership Rugby including four victories in a row, whilst victory over Saints would guarantee them a first ever semi-final spot.

Northampton Saints have won just two of their last five away games in all competitions and must prevent the Chiefs winning this game if they are to keep their own hopes of a playoff spot alive.

Exeter’s only competitive victory over Northampton came in this equivalent fixture at Sandy Park last season.

Varndell returns for Quins clash

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 in English Rugby, London Wasps, Premiership

Tom Varndell returns to the London Wasps starting line-up after over three months out with injury to hand a boost to Dai Young’s side ahead of a trip to neighbours Harlequins on Saturday.

Varndell takes his place on the wing opposite Christian Wade, who returned from his own lay-off to good effect last week, with Richard Haughton making up a pacey back three for the High Wycombe based outfit.

In other changes to the side, flanker Jonathan Poff is back at open-side while Tim Payne and Tom Lindsay come back into the front row.

On the bench there is also another injury returnee with Chris Mayor providing backs cover, while Lee Robinson and Billy Vunipola also come in as replacements.

Stalwart lock Richard Birkett captains the side in the absence of Hugo Southwell who is out with an arm injury picked up last week.

Director of Rugby Dai Young had special praise for Varndell, Wade and Mayor who have worked hard to come back from injury.

“Those guys have worked their socks off to get back when it would have been easy for them to write this season off and come back next year. That shows how much playing for Wasps means to them and they deserve praise for doing everything they could have to get back and make an impact before the end of the season after a lot of hard work.”

London Wasps team to play Harlequins

15. Richard Haughton
14. Christian Wade
13. Elliot Daly
12. Ryan Davis
11. Tom Varndell
10. Nick Robinson
9. Charlie Davies
1. Tim Payne
2. Tom Lindsay
3. Ben Broster
4. James Cannon
5. Richard Birkett ( c)
6. Joe Launchbury
7. Jonathan Poff
8. Sam Jones
Replacements
16. Vladislav Korshunov
17. Zac Taulafo
18. Simon McIntyre
19. Ross Filipo
20. Billy Vunipola
21. Lee Robinson
22. Chris Mayor
23. Jack Wallace

Harlequins team to face London Wasps

Posted on Apr 13, 2012 in English Rugby, Harlequins, Premiership

Harlequins return to Aviva Premiership action this weekend when they entertain local rivals, London Wasps to the Twickenham Stoop (Kick off 4.30pm).

Sam Smith joins the starting line up, with Mike Brown and Ugo Monye completing the back three. Jordan Turner Hall and George Lowe combine once again in the centres. Danny Care returns to the starting line up alongside Rory Clegg who continues at fly-half in place of the injured Nick Evans.

Joe Marler starts in the front row with Rob Buchanan and James Johnston. Olly Kohn partners George Robson in the second row. The back row sees Maurie Fa’asavalu  link with Nick Easter and Chris Robshaw, who captains the team.

The replacements see Aston Croall, Mark Lambert and Will Collier covering in the front row. Tomas Vallejos and Tom Guest will look to make an impact in the second and back row respectively. Karl Dickson covers scrum half with Benjamin Urdapilleta and Ross Chisholm covering the remainder of the backline.

15 Mike Brown

14 Ugo Monye

13 George Lowe

12 Jordan Turner-Hall

11 Sam Smith

10 Rory Clegg

9 Danny Care

1 Joe Marler

2 Rob Buchanan

3 James Johnston

4 Olly Kohn

5 George Robson

6 Maurie Fa’asavalu

7 Chris Robshaw (C)

8 Nick Easter

16 Aston Croall

17 Mark Lambert

18 Will Collier

19 Tomas Vallejos

20 Tom Guest

21 Karl Dickson

22 Benjamin Urdapilleta

23 Ross Chisholm

Dai Young previews London Wasps V Harlequins

Posted on Apr 12, 2012 in English Rugby, Harlequins, London Wasps, Premiership

Dai Young believes a clash against Aviva Premiership table-toppers Harlequins is the perfect game for his side to show what they are made of after a tough week at the Club.

Despite news this week about the Club’s financial issues, the Wasps Director of Rugby says his players and coaches are fully focused on Saturday’s game.

“I would be lying if I said that what has happened isn’t in the back of people’s minds but we have to control what we can control and let the off field stuff take care of itself. We have our own job to do and our job is to make sure we are in this league next year. After a very difficult week, I think Harlequins is the ideal game for us to play. We’re up against the top of the table and we are live on TV so we have to go out and show what we are made of.”

Young added that his squad, coming into the game on the back of a narrow loss to Biarritz last weekend but a win in their last Aviva Premiership outing against Gloucester, are well aware of the quality they will be up against at The Stoop.

“From our point of view, every game is a Cup final for us at this point, and we know what a great team we are up against on Saturday. They have an outstanding offloading game which we need to stop, and we know from when they played us at Adams Park how clinical they are. Last weekend against Biarritz we showed a lot of determination and spirit to bring the game back level when we were dead and buried, but we left ourselves a mountain to climb. We have to come out of the blocks well this weekend because if Harlequins get their noses in front, there will be no coming back.”

Wasps go into Saturday’s game knowing that a win could be enough to secure their Aviva Premiership status depending on results elsewhere. Young says it’s an extra motivation.

“Of course guys have one eye on other results but our focus is to simply get enough points out of our next two games against Harlequins and Bath to ensure that the last game of the season isn’t that pressure game where the winner takes all.”

London Wasps face Harlequins on Saturday, April 14th at 16.30

50,000 sold for Saracens v Harlequins at Wembley

Posted on Mar 5, 2012 in English Rugby, Harlequins, Premiership, Saracens

More than 50,000 tickets have been sold for the Saracens v Harlequins match at Wembley Stadium on Saturday March 31.

The top tier of the stadium is on sale for the first time, meaning the Aviva Premiership round 19 clash will set a new record for Saracens matches at Wembley.
“Saracens at Wembley has become recognised as a fantastic family day out offering great rugby and great entertainment at a great venue for a great price and with more than 50,000 tickets already sold, this will be our most successful yet," said Saracens chairman Nigel Wray.
The pre-match show, headlined by McFly, starts at 14h15 and one lucky fan will have the chance to win £250,000 with the kick off a ball in the Domino’s Kicking Challenge.
Ticket prices start from just £5. For more information visit www.saracensatwembley.com or call Ticketmaster on 0844 847 2482.