Aviva Premiership round 2 Preview

In the blink of an eye Round 2 of the Aviva Premiership is upon us, some sides will be looking forward to working off the solid platform that they laid last weekend whilst for others Round 2 is another opportunity to make a positive start to the season.

 Across the country there are some scintillating match ups and with the Rugby World Cup semi-finals it is a weekend to savour from a rugby perspective.

The round kicks off at Kingsholm where Gloucester Rugby welcome defending Champions Saracens to town. Matches between the two sides are always tempestuous affairs both had positives starts to the season last weekend. Gloucester Rugby are reintroducing Jonny May, Ben Morgan and James Hook to their starting lineup with the latter pushing captain Billy Twelvetrees back out to a more familiar role in the centres. Saracens will be led by Jamie George, Owen Farrell returns to the starting XV with Richard Wigglesworth on the bench. We all know about the firepower that both contain in their backlines however an area of focus should be the scrummage given the experienced front rows facing each other. Their last meeting at Kingsholm was decided by that memorable 50m James Hook penalty and this one could be equally close. Gloucester haven’t recored victories in rounds 1 and 2 since the 2007/08 Premiership season conversely Saracens have won their two fixtures of a season every year since 2011/12. Which way will this one go?

The AJ Bell Stadium will open its doors for the first time this year as the Sale Sharks host the Worcester Warriors on Friday night. The two had polar opposite starts to their Aviva Premiership campaigns last weekend as the Warriors showed huge grit to record a memorable victory and Sale struggled on the road. On home turf Steve Diamond’s side must sharpen up their act and they must sort out their scrummage if they wish to play a spot of rugby. Worcester will need to ensure that they reach the heights of last Friday night’s performance, which means bringing a physical and focused defence, good decision making at the breakdown and confidence in their attacking game. Worcester haven’t won on Sale soil since a trip to Edgeley Park in November 2008, the question is could they record another dramatic victory and make it 2 from 2 in the Aviva Premiership?

The Stadium MK will host the Northampton Saints and Newcastle Falcons due to the final building work being completed at Franklin’s Gardens. The message for both sides from their respective Directors of Rugby will be ‘up your game’ for neither reached their full potential in Round 1. The Saints bring Tom Wood, Courtney Lawes and George Pisi into their starting XV that should add the leadership and power required. Newcastle’s Alesana Tuilagi will make his first start of the season for the Falcons alongside Giovanbattista Venditti’s club debut out wide. The Falcons must front up against what is likely to be a smarting Saints side and need to significantly lower their penalty count in order to allow themselves the opportunity to put their own game on the park.

The Ricoh Arena will start its first full year as an Aviva Premiership venue with a cracking fixture between Wasps and Bath Rugby. The individual match ups in this match are outstanding from Jimmy Gopperth and George Ford at 10 to Nathan Hughes and Leroy Houston in the back row. The pace housed in both sides’ back lines is phenomenal and rest assured positive rugby will definitely be the order of the day. Frank Halai will be making his Wasps debut and Bath Rugby will be unleashing Niko Matawalu for his first full Aviva Premiership start. Bath head on the road in search of their fourth successive Premiership away victory and if they achieve it, it will be the first time since March 2010. Conversely Wasps will be looking to kick start their home season well and christen a new season at the Ricoh appropriately.

The Exeter Chiefs return home to Sandy Park ready to impress their home crowd after a strong, but unfulfilling, performance at The Rec. Henry Slade, Jack Nowell and Tomas Francais all are named into the starting XV and with Julian Salvi, Geoff Parling and Sam Hill on the bench the strength of Exeter’s squad is clear for all to see. London Irish also have their own firepower to unleash in the form of Scotland International’s Blair Cowen and Sean Maitland and Aseli Tikoirotuma will start his first game for the Exiles out wide. On the road Irish must sharpen up their game in terms of their handling and face into the storm for Sandy Park is a tough place to travel to. Conversely Exeter just need to relax, play their rugby and then sharpen their claws to finish the job in the last quarter. 

The final match of the weekend is at Welford Road where the Leicester Tigers will welcome Harlequins to town. Harlequins have changed just one of their starting XV that beat Wasps in Round 1 with Mike Brown returning to the 15 jersey whilst the Leicester Tigers welcome a number of men back into the mix. Tom Youngs impact will be noticeable and with Dan Cole ready to fire off the bench the Tigers are ready for the confrontational forward battle that will ensue. Peter Betham looked purposeful last weekend so watch out for more of his powerful running and a Luke Wallace versus Tom Croft match up on the blindside will be fascinating. This should be feisty fixture, the Leicester Tigers have lost just one of their last 18 home games at Welford Road in the tournament however Harlequins were sharp and menacing last weekend.