Aviva Premiership preview - Week 16

Round 16 is here already - it seems like yesterday that we were discussing Round 1 and now there are only 7 short rounds (including this one) left before the knock out stages.

This really is the business end of the season, every single point counts and in Round 16 there are some clashes of gargantuan proportion.

It is a welcome return to the Premiership’s Friday Night Lights as Bath host Saracens at The Rec. This is set to be a brutal encounter between two of the top performing teams of this year’s Premiership campaign so far.

This week Mike Ford said that Saracens were “two or three years ahead” of his team in terms of their development and whilst this may be the case you do get the feeling that Bath could pull out something very special.

The home team are likely to welcome back George Ford from England duty and will look towards their electric backs: Watson, Devoto, Eastmond, Abendanon and co, to deliver them with points galore.

Saracens have their back line firepower too and their notorious Wolfpack will be chomping at the bit to get their teeth into the hosts. All in all it really will be something special down at The Rec on Friday night.

On Saturday Sandy Park re-opens its doors and welcomes London Irish to town. The Exeter Chiefs’ difficult run of form continued last weekend when they suffered their 5^th straight Premiership defeat. However, their performance was a step in the right direction.

Rob Baxter has been honest and to the point in his assessments and this week he has described the match as a 'must win' game. London Irish had a frustrating day in Round 15 where they gifted Tigers too many points and didn't secure all of their own opportunities. Their record against the Chiefs isn’t too impressive having lost their last 4 encounters; though, with the return to full action of Marland Yarde expect a reaction from Brian Smith’s men.

At The Stoop on Saturday Harlequins will host the Worcester Warriors. Quins have looked a little off-colour lately without their Internationals and last weekend had to deal with further injury woes losing Tom Casson and Tim Molenaar; it remains to be seen whether they will take any part in this weekend’s clash.

Quins need to re-find their tempo and cut out their errors this weekend in order to deliver the win that everyone expects them to. For Worcester it really is do or die time, with Newcastle gaining a losing bonus point last weekend they are now 12 points adrift at the bottom. Dean Ryan has asked his men to 'fight like mad' and 'perform emotionally' this weekend in order to keep their Premiership survival hopes alive.

At Adams Park there is a fascinating middle of the table clash between the London Wasps and the Sale Sharks.

Sale have a strong record against the London side having won five out of their last six encounters in all competitions and given the fact that they have won their last two away fixtures, confidence will be high going into this match.

The home team will be much happier with their performance in Round 15, but certainly need to reign in their discipline this weekend in order to not give away so many penalties.

Enjoy the battle of the full backs between Elliot Daly and Rob Miller as it has the potential to be Kearney/Brown esque and of course watch out for the ‘clash of the titans’ between two huge back rows.

In the final Saturday fixture the Northampton Saints take on Nigel Davies’ Gloucester – the only side to have beaten them this season. The Saints were made to work hard last weekend at Kingston Park and will be pleased to be returning back to Franklin’s Gardens where they are unbeaten since last March.

Ben Foden is likely to make his first appearance back after injury and the ever reliable Stephen Myler will be as critical as ever to exert a strong hold on the game. Their Cherry and White opponents are starting to find their confidence; their stronger set piece has certainly helped them; however, it will be tested to its limits this weekend. 

The final game of the weekend is up at Kingston Park where the Newcastle Falcons welcome the Leicester Tigers to town.

Newcastle haven’t beaten their opponents in the Premiership since 2009 and are without a league win since Round 6, although, their performances of late have been full of heart and determination.

The Tigers have shown an equal amount of heart to deliver three ugly wins in a row and will certainly be aiming to deliver a much prettier one this weekend. Expect Owen Williams to start again at 10 after an assured performance last weekend and naturally all eyes will be on the return of Manu Tuilagi who will run out for the first time this year after his lengthy spell on the side-lines. 

All-in-all Round 16 is set to be a mighty fine weekend of Premiership Rugby; there are huge clashes all over the country and, as mentioned previously at this stage in the season, every single point really does count.