Aviva Premiership Round 17 - Preview

Welcome back to the Aviva Premiership! After all of the RBS 6 Nations and LV= Cup excitement of the past 3 weeks it is now the turn of the Premiership to provide more scintillating fixtures and nerve-wracking finishes. 

There are just 6 rounds left and from here on in the Aviva Premiership becomes extremely serious, a point or two either way can make or break a team and it is the time to stand up and be counted for. 

Round 17 starts with one of the most important games of the season for the Worcester Warriors who, in-spite of a number of spirited performances, are yet to win a match and time is running out. 

Now is the time that they really need to believe in their own collective ability and see out a full 80 minutes. For their opponents, London Wasps, history seems to be repeating itself, as once again they have found themselves enduring another ‘mid-season slump’ after losing their last three Premiership matches in a row. 

Dai Young’s side certainly need to be careful in this round: against Sale in Round 16 they kicked away a lot of possession and with the lethal Chris Pennell on the other side employing the same tactic again could prove to be costly. It’s time for the experienced Wasps players to step up and dictate the game and collectively they need to ensure that they are not the first to be defeated by the hearty Warriors.

The Sale Sharks have been steadily building for a number of rounds now and their performances have an air of assurance about them. Overall nothing too flash is going on under Steve Diamond’s watch – they are simply executing the basics extremely well, getting on with their business and recording results. 

Their opponents are the mighty Northampton Saints, who have been impressive throughout the international period with players ‘filling in’ for their international counterparts excelling in the Premiership. 

Their blip in the LV Cup final shouldn’t bother them; instead they should use it as ammunition. However, Sale do have the set piece strength and back line quality to compete with them and it is likely to be a fierce contest at Franklin’s Gardens. 

Also this weekend there is a London Derby with a difference as Saracens and Harlequins head to Wembley Stadium to battle it out on the hallowed turf. 

In Round 16 Saracens blew away Bath and the task set before Mark McCall’s men is to replicate, or even build on that level of performance this weekend. 

Harlequins will be extremely happy that the RBS 6 Nations are over; however, they might have to wait another week to have their full International contingent back as I believe that a few individuals are being rested. 

There is no doubt that if this is the case it will have been a difficult decision to make but absolutely the right one to avoid burn out. 

Saracens are the more experienced of the two sides and Quins will certainly have their work cut out to gain their first away win since October last year.

Gloucester haven't really enjoyed the 2013/14 season so far – it has been a mixed bag and Nigel Davies will wish his men to deliver more consistency in the final 6 rounds. With a new scrum coach on board (Trevor Woodman) it will be interesting to see if he has been able to visibly develop the Gloucester scrum in just a few short weeks. 

Their opponents Newcastle also haven’t enjoyed the best of seasons this year: winning has been a huge luxury and one that they haven’t enjoyed since last October. 

Their last Aviva Premiership performance against Tigers was gutsy and promising: they scored tries and worked their socks off for 80 minutes; however, they still lost by a good 30 points... which is never ideal!! Both sides haven’t enjoyed the 2013/14 season and this one could be a close fought battle at Kingsholm.

It is that time of year again, when everything turns green and London Irish host their annual St Patricks Day Party…

This year’s fixture has an added spice to it given the fact that the visitors are Bath, a team that contains so many ex-Irish gents in its ranks, both on and off the pitch. 

Bath have been in great form, Round 16 excluded, and on paper everything points to an away victory; however, as we witnessed over the 6 Nations, the 16^th man can be hugely influential. 

The battle of the powerful back rows will be an intriguing watch… Bath’s row have developed into a formidable hunting pack and the prospect of Garvey, Louw and Houston going hard at Low, Cowen and Treviranus (should all be fit and picked) is an exciting one. 

Brian Smith’s men will need all the luck of the Irish to come away with a win, whereas Mike Ford’s men need to go back to basics, play themselves into the match and remind everyone just why they have had the words ‘playoff contenders’ written all over them throughout the season.

The final fixture of the weekend is at Welford Road between the Leicester Tigers and the Exeter Chiefs. Welford Road remains a stronghold for Richard Cockerill’s men despite some of their more ‘interesting’ performances this season; however, Exeter will arrive bursting with confidence after their LV= Cup Title win this weekend. 

With both Niki Goneva and Fetu'u Vainikolo likely to be on the pitch, expect some blistering runs and game changing breaks. Exeter will want to match the Tigers up front and plough on from there whilst Leicester will wish to nullify their visitors early on in order to stamp out that title winning confidence. 

Prior to Round 16 both teams looked out of sorts in the Aviva Premiership; although, now that they both have enjoyed some time to regroup and refresh expect a huge clash on Sunday in front of a packed crowd at Welford Road.