Aviva Premiership Round 13 preview

It has been a little over a month since Round 12 of the Aviva Premiership and in that time the players have been moving around all over the place, securing contracts for next season.

The contenders for the knockout stages of the European competitions and the LV= Cup have been decided and the RBS Six Nations is well underway… needless to say it has been a busy time in the world of rugby!

This weekend, the Aviva Premiership is back, with the kick-off times having been altered to accommodate for the Six Nations. Reviewing the fixture list, the competition in the domestic league is set to be just as fierce as its international counterpart.

There are two sets of Friday Night Lights in Round 13, with the first at Sixways, where the Worcester Warriors host Leicester Tigers. Worcester’s last Aviva Premiership win was back in December 2012 when they narrowly beat Wasps 29-23. In stark contrast to the Tigers, who have only lost once in their last five Premiership encounters and in terms of their head to head contests against Dean Ryan’s men, have won the last 10!

A fair few miles down the road the Sale Sharks host Gloucester Rugby... the AJ Bell is fast becoming a fortress for Sale, winning their last five encounters there in all competitions. Despite this, achieving back-to-back victories in the Aviva Premiership has been a challenge for them and is something that they haven’t achieved since last February. The men in Cherry and White are searching for their first away victory over the Sharks since June 2002, 12 years is a long time ago and in fact, back in those days the competition was known as the Zurich Championship – needless to say, erasing that record would be welcomed by all concerned at Gloucester Rugby!

On Saturday live rugby returns to The Rec as Bath entertain the Newcastle Falcons. Bath are on a superb run of form at the moment having lost only one of their last 17 first team matches and you can be sure that they will not give up this winning record easily. In contrast the Falcons have lost six straight matches in a row in the league and haven’t won away since Round five at Sixways.

The 4G pitch at Allianz is the stage for an all London affair between Saracens and London Irish. Saracens dominance is clear for all to see as they sit pretty at the top of the table. Mark McCall’s men have lost only twice since October, and whilst London Irish are on the back of a strong run of form – winning their last 5 games in all competitions – you suspect that it will be a tough one at Allianz on Saturday afternoon.

Under the evening floodlights at Sandy Park there will be a bruising clash between the Exeter Chiefs and the Northampton Saints. The Chiefs will wish to turn around their Aviva Premiership form as they have lost their last four matches. Whereas the Saints haven’t lost an Aviva Premiership game since Round 3 and that shocking result at Kingsholm back in September.

In the final match of the weekend it is Derby Day at The Stoop as Harlequins welcome Wasps. With just one point separating the two teams and a fairly even run of recent form, the stage is set for another memorable derby day in South West London.