Round 1: Matchday Preview
BRISTOL BEARS VS SARACENS
Friday 17th September
Ashton Gate
19:45
The inaugural fixture of the 2021/2022 season is a mouth-watering one. The 5 time champions Saracens head to Ashton Gate to face last year's regular season table toppers, the Bristol Bears. The offseason has seen a number of players cross over between the two teams with England Internationals Ben Earl and Max Malins re-joining Saracens after their loan stints at Bristol and Tom Whitely heading the other way to the southwest.
Saracens re-join the Premiership after spending last season in the Championship. Boasting a squad loaded with world-class talent, Saracens are expected to compete for the Premiership title straight away. Yet, their squad depth will be tested and player management whilst key members are on international duty will be key to their success.
The hosts are missing Kyle Sinckler and Semi Radradra whilst Saracens will be without Vincent Koch still involved with South Africa as well as Mako Vunipola, George, Itoje and Farrell who are all still under the mandatory Lions rest period. Their injury list also includes Goode, Malins, and Maitland.
Saracens performance will likely be an accurate barometer to how competitive the North Londoners can be this season in the periods without their stars. McCall has largely tried to shield his youngsters in this line-up, only the likes of Obatoyinbo and Segun start out of the young crop. Naming Lozowski to steer the ship alongside Aled Davies at scrum-half, is a clear indication that McCall wants experience at 10. Manu Vunipola, Sean Reffell and Callum Hunter-Hill will be limited to contributing from the bench.
Pat Lam will be looking to start the season with a win, taking advantage of Saracens missing their stars and the fact that they haven’t played in the Premiership for over a year. They will look to challenge Saracens fitness and defence playing fast-paced rugby, upping the tempo with quick lineouts and long-range attacks.
Ashton gate will be bouncing on Friday night with a full capacity once again and Pat Lam will be looking to set the tone to the tune of the 7 year contract he just penned with the Bears. Although Mark McCall will certainly have other plans in place, Bristol’s running game and counter-attacking abilities will prove too much for a team likely to look rusty in round 1.
Prediction: Bristol 32 v 20 Saracens
LEICESTER TIGERS VS EXETER CHIEFS
Saturday 18th September
Welford Road
15:00
Leicester Tigers have been highly touted and are very much expected to be fighting for the top spots this season. They face Exeter, the two times Premiership Champions, who have along with Saracens set the bar in the last five years.
Tigers will be relishing this challenge and will set their sights on starting the season with a major scalp. Leicester go into this fixture with a full-strength team, only Tom Youngs and Julian Montoya unavailable through injury and international commitments respectively. Steve Borthwick knows that this is a key opportunity to capitalise on an Exeter team that, conversely, is missing a number of key players.
Despite the opportunity to let Chiefs’ youngsters shine, Rob Baxter still has an abundance of talent and experience at his disposal to mix with the youngsters. We’ve mentioned Rus Tuima in our Exeter Chiefs preview and he will have the chance to show off his physicality, in what will be a game that will be won and lost up-front.
The battle of attrition of this game will be combined with a territorial kicking game where both teams will look to play in the right areas of the field and capitalise on any momentum they can garner. Genge, Liebenberg and Martin will go to battle with the equally hard-nosed trio of Hepburn, Armand and Kirsten. However, whilst the forwards will be fighting for momentum and precious gain-line carries, it's the territorial battle that ensues which will give one of the two teams the upper-hand.
I think the game will be decided by the control that the 9 and 10 pairings can have on the game. I think the experience of Youngs and Ford will steer their pack in the right areas of the field with a deft kicking game. However, Maunder and Simmonds are both equally capable operators and if their pack gets momentum they can punish the Tigers.
Exeter should win this on paper, yet I do think that Leicester have what it takes to win this at Welford Road. It will be a close affair and I’m going to stick my neck out and take Leicester to win the collisions just enough for Youngs and Ford to pull the strings to the tune of Steve Borthwick’s old-school hard work based gameplan.
Prediction: Leicester 18 - 17 Exeter
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS VS GLOUCESTER RUGBY
Saturday 18th September
Franklin’s Gardens
15:00
Northampton and Gloucester get stuck into their season at the Gardens boasting their new signings from their respective benches. The hosts have their new momentum stopper, Juarno Augustus, parked on the bench, but expect him to make some noise whenever Boyd chooses to go to his bench. Similarly, Gloucester has preferred Lloyd Evans for the creative playmaker role at 10, so Hastings’ cherry & white debut will come from the bench.
Saints have named a team very similar to that of last season, with no real surprises. Ludlam leads a pack featuring the usual suspects; club stalwart Tom Wood, Teimana Harrison and David Ribbans. James Grayson and Alex Mitchell will be orchestrating their attack with the likes of Rory Hutchinson, Tom Collins and George Furbank midfield and outside threats. Interestingly, Matty Proctor has been named on the wing,
Skivington, on the other hand, has surprised me with the lineup named for the Cherry & Whites. Ben Morgan in the second-row is an atypical selection to say the least, however, it does accommodate for the exciting dynamic ball-carrier that Jack Clement is. Gloucester have clearly named a team that intends to match Saints physically in defence and provide hard-graft ball carries off of Ben Meehan their new scrum-half. They’ll also target the second half with a bench including Ruan Ackermann and Hastings that can bring on both momentum and finishing prowess.
Prediction: Northampton Saints 26 - 16 Gloucester
WORCESTER WARRIORS VS LONDON IRISH
Saturday 18th September
Sixways
15:00
Worcester Warriors host London Irish to start the season. The two teams faced off in Round 1 last year with Worcester winning 11-10, their only win of the season. Both sides come into the season with a host of new signings in the hope that they can improve on their disappointing 2020/21’s. Benhard Janse Van Rensburg, Marcel Van Der Merwe and Ben White make their debuts for the Exiles whilst Scott Baldwin, Willi Heinz, Christian Judge and Owen Williams make their first appearances for Worcester. The Warriors will be missing their new marquee signings in Duhan Van Der Merwe and Rory Sutherland who still face the mandatory rest period following the British and Irish Lions tour.
London’s Irish’s acquisitions over the summer have been savvy. Whilst they aren’t the most well known, they will fit the Exiles’ enterprising style of play perfectly. The game plan in their opener will be simple; dominate the set-piece, give Paddy Jackson quick ball to distribute to the talent outside of him and punish any Warriors ill-discipline in their own half with 3 points. Worcester’s set-piece was one of the worst in the Premiership last season. Declan Kidney will no doubt have his side prepared to set up the rolling maul, with Coleman and Simmons controlling the lineout.
Worcester will be hoping that their new additions can make an impact straight away. The path to victory for Worcester will be winning the kicking battle and limiting the unforced errors. Willi Heinz will look to use his excellent kicking game to pin London Irish back and make them play out of their own half. With Hill and Kvesic leading the defensive line, Worcester will NEED to slow Irish’s ruck ball down to stop their outside backs benefitting from front foot ball.
I see this game going one of two ways. Either London Irish are able to dominate the set-piece and have quick ball to give their electric backs space to exploit in which they will win comfortably, or Worcester are able to win the territorial battle, keep Irish’s set-piece in check and use their home ground advantage to sneak home to an opening day victory. I think it’s more likely that scenario one occurs, so I’m going with a London Irish win.
Prediction: Worcester 17 - London Irish 25
SALE SHARKS VS BATH RUGBY
Saturday 18th September
AJ Bell
17:00
Sale kick-off their first season with Alex Sanderson at the helm from day 1 at the AJ Bell. Sharks fans will be eager to see how the first pre-season in the mould of Sanderson looks like. They will be missing their key international contingent with AJ Macginty, Faf De Klerk and Lood De Jager committed for the USA and South Africa respectively. This will be a great opportunity for Raffi Quirke to show his talents. Sale will look to continue on their form from last season based first and foremost on their stifling defense. No better team to test themselves than against the Bath boys who have been talking about embracing their ‘style’ game much the same way that Quins did last season.
Bath will be looking to prove that this summer's PR was not just lip-service and that David Williams’ return as attack coach will unleash the potential of what is a star-studded backline. Bath will also be at full strength with no internationals committed this weekend, so they will be expecting to win.
They will test the Sharks’ defence, certainly utilizing the new 50/22 and Drop-out laws in their favour. Cipriani will use the threat of a deft kicking game to keep Sale's defence guessing. Variety will be the key to Bath’s attack this season and if they can mix it up between short-kicks in behind, deep 50/22 touch finders and quick hands out the back, they’ll be exciting and tough to stop.
I am sure Bath will come out firing all guns blazing and try to play fast, running rugby from the get go. Yet, whilst I’d like to say that Bath can win this game, I can’t write off Sanderson and Sale’s defence. I expect a tight affair where ultimately who makes fewer mistakes and concedes less wins. For that reason, I’m picking Sale.
Prediction: Sale 28 - Bath 25
NEWCASTLE FALCONS VS HARLEQUINS RUGBY
Sunday 19th
Kingston Park
15:00
The reigning champs are heading up north to close out the first round of Premiership action. Newcastle have stated their intent to make Kingston Park a fortress this season and make visitors earn their victories.
Quins will be looking to start their title defence in the right way with a convincing victory. They will be missing mercurial Fly-Half Marcus Smith as he continues the mandatory rest for Lions players. However, as he is expected to miss a number of games this season with likely international commitments, this is the perfect opportunity to see whether Tommaso Allan can steer the ship in the same way as the absent Smith.
I am also excited to see how Jack Walker fits into the scheme with his ball-playing game and whether their scrum will miss the departure of Baldwin. At outside centre, Joe Marchant, will be a menace, a truly exciting player to watch who will be looking to play himself into England contention.
Mike Brown and Nathan Earle are both unable to make their debut for Falcons fittingly against their former club. Nonetheless the Falcons squad featuring a hard-yards pack will be looking to play suffocating defence and straightforward attack before utilising their pace weapons on the wings.
I am expecting a tight first half dictated by positional play and perhaps a few more errors as both teams try to play more expansive rugby. If Newcastle can impose themselves we may well have a tight game on our hands but overall, I think the second-half will be free-flowing and suiting to Quins’ game proving too much for the Falcons.
Prediction: 21-35
Bristol host Saracens for a thrilling opening fixture.
“We’re delighted to have secured Pat’s signature on a long-term contract. It’s no surprise he would have the interest of every top club in the world, so it’s testament to the ambition of the Bears that Pat was eager to stay.”
Gallagher Premiership Round 1
“Gloucester have clearly named a team that intends to match Saints physically in defence and provide hard-graft ball carries off of Ben Meehan their new scrum-half”
