Bath Rugby vs Gloucester Rugby
The West Country derby always stirs the emotions of the locals, so even though there is nothing riding on this game in terms of the league, there will still be plenty of incentive to win for both sides. Bath have favoured continuity over the opportunity to rest their first team regulars, naming almost as strong a team as possible – Jonathan Joseph and Stuart Hooper are the only two guys to be afforded a rest. Conversely, with a couple of tough Champions Cup play-off games on the horizon, Gloucester have rotated heavily, with youngsters the likes of Steph Reynolds, Calum Braley and Lewis Ludlow all getting a shot.
Looking at the two line-ups, and given they’re at home, it’s almost impossible to see this game going any other way than a home win. Bath by 21.
Exeter Chiefs vs Sale Sharks
There’s all to play for in this game. Exeter know they will likely need a bonus point win, and a sizeable one, if they are to make the end of season play-offs, while Sale can sneak into the European spots if Wasps shoot themselves in the foot and lose at London Irish. And therein lies the beauty of this final day; with all the games kicking off at the same time, both sides will be going hammer and tongs at each other as they’ll have no idea of what’s going on elsewhere. Both teams name as strong a line-up as they can, although the loss of Dave Ewers for Exeter is sure to be keenly felt.
Exeter’s win over Saracens was a brave one, and while they should notch another victory here, it’s unlikely it’ll be as big as they need. Exeter by 15.
Leicester Tigers vs Northampton Saints
Northampton enter this game with top of the table sewn up – they have taken the opportunity to rest the vast majority of their first team regulars, with an eye on the play-offs to come. Leicester know that a win of any sort will be enough to see them through to the semi-finals, and have named largely the same team as the side that shocked Wasps last weekend. Seremaia Bai is banned so the behemoth that is Christian Loamanu comes into the centres, while Ed Slater makes his first start of the season, but at blindside flanker rather than his more familiar position of lock.
If the Tigers combine the same steely determination with the increased accuracy of last weekend, they should have too much for a second string Saints side. Leicester by 9.
London Irish vs Wasps
London Irish can do Sale a favour by beating Wasps – should the Sharks then win themselves, they would leapfrog Wasps into the Champions Cup qualification spots. To be honest, though, the chances of that happening are slim to none – the Exiles have looked like they’ve been on holiday already for some weeks now. Wasps know that missing out on that final qualification spot would represent a spectacular fall from grace, given they looked like a shoo in for the play-offs at one stage.
Andy Goode plays his last game for Wasps against the team he is set to join next season – he should finish his black and gold career with a comfortable win. Wasps by 15.
London Welsh vs Saracens
Saracens and Exeter have the same number of points and the same number of games won, so, assuming the Tigers get past the Saints and both Sarries and the Chiefs get five-point wins, it will come down to points difference to choose between them (simple, right?). With that in mind, Sarries couldn’t have wished for a more perfect final game. They put 78 points on London Welsh in the reverse of this fixture earlier this season, and a similar result here would confirm their place in the play-offs – there’s no way Exeter will beat Sale with that sort of margin. Owen Farrell is given his first start since returning from injury, and will hope to find the fluency that was lacking from his game when he came off the bench last week.
Saracens should get what they need from this game, and while it may not be as big a scoreline as last time, they should still finish in the play-offs. Saracens by 55.
Newcastle Falcons vs Harlequins
There’s absolutely nothing riding on this game, other than pride, so we could be in for a thrilling game up at Kingston Park. Harlequins have given some of their younger talents a chance to shine, with George Merrick, James Chisholm and Joe Marchant all starting. Newcastle’s season has gone better than they would have expected, and they have set themselves some real foundations from which to build next year. They will want to give their loyal fans a good send-off.
This could actually end up being one of the closer games this weekend, but it should also be a thriller with nothing really on the line. The hosts can cap an encouraging season with their fifth win of the year. Newcastle by 3.
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
7 replies on “Aviva Premiership 2014/2015 Predictions: Round 22”
Sarries have (unsurprisingly) put out their strongest team for the LW game. Expecting big games from Ashton, Farrell, Mako and Billy V, and Wyles of course!!
Given the teams that have been selected I would expect Leicester and Sarries to claim the remaining P/O places which is a shame as Exeter have played so much better than Leicester this season.
As a Saints fan I would rather we played Sarries who we have a excellent track record against than Exeter, who we have an poor record against, but can’t help feeling that somehow that Exeter deserve it more.
Northampton has fielded a very second string side… I wasn’t holding out much hope for Leicester, despite a great performance last week, but now I am daring to believe we can sneak into that play-off spot.
I would actually be a bit pissed off if I was a Sarries or (especially) Exeter fan, as if Tigers win and chuck another team out, you would kinda feel Saints have just thrown them under the bus. Hmm
Yeah i’m guessing many fans will feel that way but you can’t blame Saints for what they have done. Almost any team given the opportunity to rest players prior to the playoff in a meaningless fixture would have done the same.
Fact of the matter is Exeter have lost to the Tigers twice this season so if they miss out then you could look to those fixtures as the deciding factor
As a Bath fan, I am happier with that to, makes it more likely that we’d have you in the semi’s instead of Sarries, which no offence, (Wasps game aside), given the relative form of the last couple of months, would appear to be the easier of the two possibilities (ignoring the fact that it’s a semi and is not going to be easy which ever way)!
I think both Sarries and Exeter expected Saints to do this. Saints have put out stronger teams for LV cup games this season.
As a Wasps fan if we don’t make top 6 we will have only ourselves to blame, it should not come down to other teams results getting us where we want to be, likewise Exeter and Saracens, it’s good team/game management by saints to rest a few ahead of next week , we would all do exactly the same if we were in their position, so relying on the result of their clash with Tigers means the work hasn’t been done in previous games