Premiership: Big guns return for Saracens while Stuart Hogg set for Sandy Park farewell

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The Premiership has reached its penultimate round as five games take place this weekend, including the London derby between Saracens and London Irish on Sunday.

Here are the teams and predictions for those encounters.

Friday

Newcastle Falcons v Northampton Saints

Form: Newcastle Falcons’ only victory in their last six Premiership Rugby matches was 17-12 at home to Gloucester on 24 March. The Falcons’ only defeat at Kingston Park in their last five Premiership matches was 19-34 to London Irish in Round 19. Northampton Saints’ last six encounters in the Premiership have all been won by the home side on the day. The Saints have won just once on the road in the league since Round 5, 19-18 at Leicester on 28 January. Northampton have lost only one of their last five fixtures against Newcastle in Premiership Rugby: 10-18 at Kingston Park in May 2021.

Prediction: Northampton by 10

The teams:

Newcastle: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Matias Orlando, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Michael Young (c), 8 Callum Chick, 7 Freddie Lockwood, 6 Pedro Rubiolo, 5 Sebastian de Chaves, 4 Greg Peterson, 3 Mark Tampin, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Logovi’i Mulipola
Replacements: 16 Conrad Cade, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Conor Kenny, 19 Philip van der Walt, 20 Carl Fearns, 21 Sam Stuart, 22 Tom Penny, 23 Alex Tait

Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 Tom Collins, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Paul Hill, 2 Sam Matavesi, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Alfie Petch, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Angus Scott-Young, 21 Sam Graham, 22 Tom James, 23 Tom Litchfield

Venue: Kingston Park
Kick-off: 19:45 BST (18:45 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes
Assistant referees: Luke Pearce, Adam Leal
TMO: Stuart Terheege

Saturday

Exeter Chiefs v Bristol Bears

Form: Exeter Chiefs have won just one of their last four Premiership Rugby matches: 24-5 at home to Newcastle in Round 20. The Chiefs have not been defeated at Sandy Park in any competition since Saracens were the visitors in Round 7 of the Premiership in October. Bristol Bears have lost their last two league fixtures since beating Harlequins 51- 26 at Ashton Gate in Round 20. The Bears’ only victory in their last four away trips in Premiership Rugby was 15-13 at Bath on 24 February. Exeter’s only defeat in their last four encounters with Bristol was 33-40 at Ashton Gate last May. The Bears have won on three of their last four visits to Sandy Park in all competitions.

Prediction: Exeter by 5

The teams:

Exeter: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tom Wyatt, 13 Henry Slade (c), 12 Ian Whitten, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Joe Simmonds, 9 Will Becconsall, 8 Sam Simmonds, 7 Jannes Kirsten, 6 Dave Ewers, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Jack Dunne, 3 Marcus Street, 2 Dan Frost, 1 Nika Abuladze
Replacements: 16 Jack Yeandle, 17 Alec Hepburn, 18 Josh Iosefa-Scott, 19 Aidon Davis, 20 Christ Tshiunza, 21 Stu Townsend, 22 Harvey Skinner, 23 Sean O’Brien

Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Siva Naulago, 13 Joe Jenkins, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 Callum Sheedy, 9 Harry Randall (cc), 8 Fitz Harding, 7 Sam Jeffries, 6 Steven Luatua (cc), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Batley, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Will Capon, 1 Yann Thomas
Replacements: 16 Fred Davies, 17 Jake Woolmore, 18 George Kloska, 19 Charlie Rice, 20 Dan Thomas, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Ioan Lloyd

Venue: Sandy Park
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Craig Maxwell-Keys
Assistant referees: Anthony Woodthorpe, Jonathan Healy
TMO: David Rose

Harlequins v Bath

Form: Harlequins’ last six matches in Premiership Rugby have all been won by the home side on the day. Quins are unbeaten in their last seven visits to Twickenham Stadium, since London Irish beat them there in the London Double Header in 2017. Bath have won their last two matches in the Premiership and have not won three in succession in the competition since last November. Bath beat Gloucester at Kingsholm last Friday evening and have not won back-to-back away games in Premiership Rugby since March 2021. Bath have won on four of their last six visits to Twickenham. Harlequins’ only defeat in their last five encounters with Bath was 17-21 at the Recreation Ground in January 2022. The two sides have met only once before at Twickenham – the final of the 1992 Pilkington Cup which was won by Bath 15-12 after extra time.

Prediction: Harlequins by 15

The teams:

Harlequins: 15 Josh Bassett, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt (c), 7 Will Evans, 6 Luke Wallace, 5 Irne Herbst, 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Will Collier, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Simon Kerrod, 19 George Hammond, 20 Jack Kenningham, 21 Lewis Gjaltema, 22 Luke Northmore, 23 Nick David

Bath: 15 Matt Gallagher, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 12 Max Ojomoh, 11 Ruaridh McConnochie, 10 Orlando Bailey, 9 Ben Spencer (c), 8 Miles Reid, 7 Chris Cloete, 6 Ted Hill, 5 GJ van Velze, 4 Josh McNally, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Tom Dunn, 1 Beno Obano
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 D’Arcy Rae, 19 Will Spencer, 20 Richard de Carpentier, 21 Max Green, 22 Piers Francis, 23 Josh Bayliss

Venue: Twickenham
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Karl Dickson
Assistant referees: Matthew Carley, Sara Cox
TMO: Rowan Kitt

Gloucester v Sale Sharks

Form: Gloucester have slipped to four straight defeats in Premiership Rugby since beating Harlequins 28-26 at Kingsholm in Round 17. The Cherry and Whites have not lost five in a row in the competition since February 2021. Gloucester have won only one of their last five home games in all competitions. Sale Sharks have won only two of their last five Premiership matches, at home to Saracens in Round 19 and at Bristol last weekend. The Sharks’ victory at Ashton Gate last Friday was their first success on the road in the league since their trip to Harlequins on 8 January. Sale have lost only one of their last six matches against Gloucester and that was by the narrowest of margins, 32-33, on their most recent visit to Kingsholm in October 2021.

Prediction: Sale by 7

The teams:

Gloucester: 15 Santi Carreras, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Seb Atkinson, 11 Jonny May, 10 Adam Hastings, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Ben Morgan, 7 Lewis Ludlow (c), 6 Jack Clement, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Freddie Clarke, 3 Kirill Gotovtsev, 2 George McGuigan, 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Seb Blake, 17 Harry Elrington, 18 Jamal Ford-Robinson, 19 Cam Jordan, 20 Freddie Thomas, 21 Charlie Chapman, 22 Billy Twelvetrees, 23 Alex Hearle

Sale: 15 Joe Carpenter, 14 Tom Roebuck, 13 Rob du Preez, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Tom O’Flaherty, 10 George Ford, 9 Gus Warr, 8 Jono Ross, 7 Ben Curry (c), 6 Tom Curry, 5 Jonny Hill, 4 Jean-Luc du Preez, 3 Nick Schonert, 2 Akker van der Merwe, 1 Simon McIntyre
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Josh Beaumont, 20 Sam Dugdale, 21 Raffi Quirke, 22 Sam James, 23 Arron Reed

Venue: Kingsholm
Kick-off: 17:30 BST (16:30 GMT)
Referee: Tom Foley
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards

Sunday

Saracens v London Irish

Form: Saracens have won just two of their last five Premiership Rugby matches, both at home to Newcastle at StoneX Stadium in Round 18 and Harlequins at Tottenham Stadium in Round 21. Saracens have won their last 14 games at StoneX Stadium in the Premiership since Gloucester beat them there 25-24 in January 2022. London Irish have lost only one of their last seven Premiership Rugby fixtures: 22-25 to Leicester at Gtech Community Stadium in Round 18. The Exiles have won their last two away games in the competition, at Bath and at Newcastle, and have not won three in a row on their travels since 2008. London Irish are unbeaten in their last three clashes with Saracens in the league, including a 29-20 victory at Gtech Community Stadium in Round 13 this season. They have not achieved a Premiership Rugby season’s double over their near neighbours since 2005/06. London Irish have already beaten Saracens at StoneX Stadium this season, in the Premiership Rugby Cup in October, but have not tasted success at the venue in Premiership Rugby since their first ever visit in February 2014.

Prediction: Saracens by 12

The teams:

Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Max Malins, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (c), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Jackson Wray, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Nick Isiekwe, 5 Callum Hunter-Hill, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Theo Dan, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Ethan Lewis, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Christian Judge, 19 Hugh Tizard, 20 Toby Knight, 21 Ruben de Haas, 22 Olly Hartley, 23 Rotimi Segun

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London Irish: 15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Ben White, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Matt Rogerson (c), 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Hugh O’Sullivan, 23 Henry Arundell

Venue: StoneX Stadium
Kick-off: 15:00 BST (14:00 GMT)
Referee: Adam Leal
Assistant referees: Andrew Jackson, John Meredith
TMO: Dean Richards

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