Gloucester vs Exeter
The weekend kicks off with an intriguing West Country derby. Gloucester showed much resilience to bounce back from their opening day humbling to beat Sale, especially after falling behind early on. This week they face a different kind of threat, though, as Exeter have looked like a settled, balanced team so far and were reasonably unlucky to fall to the Tigers last weekend. The most interesting of several important head to head battles comes in the midfield, as England incumbent 12 Billy Twelvetrees takes on young pretender Sam Hill. Hill has been excellent so far this season; Twelvetrees has not. He really needs a big performance this weekend.
Gloucester looked like they were starting to crank through the gears against Sale. As the squad spends more time together, they will only get better. They’ll come out on top of a close encounter tonight. Gloucester by 3.
Sale Sharks vs London Welsh
Sale have played some excellent rugby so far and yet find themselves with no wins from two games. Chris Cusiter and Danny Cipriani look to have struck up an excellent partnership, and the latter in particular has been filling the column inches at the right end of the newspapers recently. With Sale’s attacking game looking sharp, London Welsh need to up their defensive efforts this weekend, and quite significantly. 105 points shipped in two games is certain relegation form.
They won’t concede fifty again this weekend, but it’s extremely difficult to see anything other than a fairly comfortable home win here. Sale by 15.
Harlequins vs Wasps
Another of the more difficult ones to call this round. Harlequins were dire against Saracens, a real shadow of the team we know they can be. They didn’t click on the opening weekend either, when they narrowly defeated London Irish. Nick Evans is nowhere to be seen this weekend, and while he’s been poor so far, that must be injury-related – he’s one of their most important players. Wasps, meanwhile, have started strongly as last weekend’s shock win over the champions showed. James Haskell has stepped his game up several notches, and will have noticed the way in which Saracens, and particular Will Fraser, got in the faces of the Quins half-backs. He’ll look to emulate that, while in the backs there’s pace aplenty with Wade reinstated to join Daly and Varndell.
There are plenty of battles for potential England places in this one, and although Quins won’t – can’t – be as bad as last week, Wasps are on a high and could make it back to back wins. Wasps by 3.
London Irish vs Saracens
Owen Farrell returns to the Saracens starting line-up, having been like a dog straining at his leash in the first two weeks of the season. He’s had to watch his contenders for the England jersey impress while he’s been sat on the bench, so expect him to make a statement this weekend. Irish, of course, produced probably the shock of the season when they won at Allianz Park in February, and have actually won two of the last three encounters between these two sides.
That said, their shaky win over Newcastle last weekend was not a game they really deserved to win, and Saracens were insatiable against Harlequins – they should back that up at the Madejski. Saracens by 18.
Bath vs Leicester Tigers
A fantastic rivalry, this game is always one that stands out in the calendar and has produced some superb spectacles in recent years. Bath did the double over Leicester last season, a stat that will grate on the Tigers players and coaches. Tom Croft (should) make his first appearance in almost an entire season, and his free-running, pacey game will be an important boost against a Bath side with plenty of devil about them. George Ford against Freddie Burns, however, is undoubtedly the headline act, both fly-halves with entirely realistic designs on one of the England no.10 spots ahead of the Autumn Internationals.
Both sides have started strongly and there’s very little to choose between them on paper – which is where home advantage becomes a deciding factor. The hosts to sneak it. Bath by 2.
Newcastle vs Northampton Saints
It probably hasn’t been a fun time for the Saints players in training this week. They would never take anything for granted, but they were possibly a bit guilty of underestimating Wasps last week and they paid the price. They won’t be doing any such thing this week, against a Newcastle side who caused the Tigers some problems in round one before somehow conspiring to lose a game they really should have won against London Irish. Alex Tuilagi gets his first start for the Falcons, and will be licking his lips at the chance to run at opposite man Ken Pisi, whose one on one defence isn’t his strongest suit.
Saints have named Will Hooley at fly-half who, while full of potential, is certainly a downgrade on Stephen Myler. They should still win, but the margin might not be what it would have been had old head Myler been playing. Northampton by 12.
| Hosie | Hutch | |
| GLOvEXE | GLO by 3 | GLO by 3 |
| SALvWEL | SAL by 15 | SAL by 18 |
| HARvWAS | WAS by 3 | HAR by 3 |
| IRIvSAR | SAR by 18 | SAR by 13 |
| BATvLEI | BAT by 2 | BAT by 5 |
| NEWvNOR | NOR by 12 | NOR by 13 |
How do you see the weekend unfolding? Share your predictions below!
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
One reply on “Aviva Premiership 2014/2015: Round 3 Predictions”
I’m thinking that Wasps are going to beat Qunis this weekend. Especially if Quins are playing without Evans!? Is Botica starting at 10? I think Wasps were outstanding against Saints last week and if they can start taking that kind of form on the road, they will be a banana skin to a lot of teams.
Bath – Leicester should be a cracker, and I have a sneaky suspicion that the Tigers slightly superior defence could win the day.
I expect Sarries to win big again this week. They are fielding a mammoth second row in Hamilton and Smith, and I think Irish could struggle at scrum time.