Lots of green arrows for me on Superbru last week, having picked Gloucester to beat Saracens along with only 16% of the community, but I didn’t see Worcester’s win over Saints coming.
Newcastle v Gloucester
The Falcons were the surprise team at the start of the season, and normally you’d put this one down for a home win, but the trajectory of each side is making me think differently. Newcastle has lost their last three matches by 10, 17 and 30 points respectively, whilst Gloucester has recorded wins over Northampton, Bath and Saracens in the same period. Gloucester by 6.
Bath v Harlequins
Aside from that tremendous win at Wasps, Quins’ away form continues to let them down, and whilst Bath hasn’t quite been firing, the smart money is on the home win. Bath by 4.
Leicester v Worcester
It was a hugely important win for Worcester last week, which lifted them off the bottom of the table, but winning at Welford Road against the Tigers on a 6-match winning streak seems unlikely. Leicester by 13.
Sale v Northampton
Both teams have lost their last three matches, but I’m leaning towards the home team in this one. If you can go to Sixways and lose, you can certainly go to Salford and lose. Sale by 4.
Saracens v Exeter
As I mentioned last week, now is a good time to play Sarries, but I still fancy them at home, and a win here would see them leapfrog the Chiefs into first place on the table. Saracens by 6.
London Irish v Wasps
The Exiles are now bottom of the table and looking vulnerable. They gave Bath a reasonable run last weekend, but that’s not going to be enough in the long run, and Wasps should win this. Wasps by 9.
Bets:
I still can’t access the LeoVegas site from overseas, but I did ask them to place a bet for me on Gloucester over Sarries, so I’ll be heading up that leaderboard hopefully. I’m going to wait till I’m home at the weekend to look at the markets for this weekend, as there are a few tricky picks here.
See how well we’re doing in the LeoVegas Punters’ Union rugby betting league at puntersunion.leovegas.com. We’re going head-to-head with other UK rugby titles this season to see who can win the most rugby bets and finish top in May! Who are you betting on this weekend?
Follow Hutch on Twitter: @Hutch_James
Almost agree with your results except Newcastle and Sale matches. Newcastle’ll beat Gloucester, for me Newcastle by 10.
Sale with a powerful team and with Van Rensburg on the bench against a depleted Saints. For me Sale by 15
Sarries badly need a win! We have lost our last 3 in all competitions. Missing both fly halves isn’t going to help either, big big day for Max Malins!
Too effing right!
Yoda (the dimutive former DoR at Sarries) is phucqing Sarries around.
He says he wants to build depth in the England squad. Fine! Release Farrell and Vinupola on Tuesday.
Gone for the same results. Glos v Newks is the one that I keep wondering about. If Glos hadn’t beaten Bath, I would have definitely said Newks, but there does seem to be something stirring under Ackermann including away form. Am fully prepared to have my hopes dashed though. Very similar line up to the Sarries game, with quite a few young players starting to make their mark, so maybe not the baggage of previous disappointments.
Someone put together an unavailable team for this game for Glos on Shedweb. Only two of them on international duty, but it undoubtedly includes a first choice back 4 and arguably first choice back row. Interesting and painful reading!
Ruskin, Motu’u, Balmain
Galarza, Denton
Moriaty, Rowan, Morgan
Braley, O Williams
Scott, Trinder
Sharples, Woodward, Marshall.
I accept that most other teams are probably in the same boat.
Glos good value last night. They look a good side and will be pushing hard for a top 6 finish. Top 4 might be a step too far but they might be in the mix.
Newcastle really have to do better. To only score a single try given the ball they had was a terrible return.