Round 12: Matchday Preview
SALE SHARKS vs WASPS RUGBY
Saturday 1st January
AJ Bell Stadium
14:00
Sale and Wasps go head to head in the first professional rugby fixture of 2022. Both of these sides will have a long list of new year’s resolutions as they look to move on from their disappointing starts to the Premiership season. Alex Sanderson’s side have only won one league game since Round 5, leaving them 11th on the ladder. Whilst Wasps form is slightly better, Lee Blackett’s side will be looking for only their second away win of the season when they visit the AJ Bell.
After an impressive away win against Ospreys in the Heineken Champions Cup, the Sharks haven’t been able to build momentum with their following two fixtures against Clermont and Newcastle being postponed due to COVID issues. We’ve seen both sides of teams playing after a forced absence, it either gives players a much-needed break to replenish the batteries or produces rust that needs shaking off. In Sale’s case, I think we’ll see the former. One of Sale’s biggest issues this season is the inconsistency in their lineups, they simply haven’t been able to get their best XV on the field enough and as a consequence have struggled. The two weeks off has provided some key players to recover and feature in this game, however, Sale are still missing a large contingent of big names. The likes of Tom Curry, Raffi Quirke, Faf De Klerk and Manu Tuilagi all won’t feature.
Ewan Ashman is given the number 2 jersey with Akker Van Der Merwe still unavailable, he’s partnered by England prop Bevan Rodd on the loosehead side and Nick Schonert at tighthead. The heavy South African presence remains in the rest of the pack with Lood De Jager, Jono Ross and the Du Preez twins all starting. Raffi Quirke is a surprising absence but it paves way for Will Cliff to make his return to partner AJ MacGinty in the halves. Byron McGuigan also makes his return after his suspension.
Sale’s style of play can be so effective when executed, with this forward pack they’ll look to deploy their old school bully ball style, led by the likes of Lood De Jager and the Du Preez twins. Alex Sanderson has tried to implement the Sarries style of play which he helped build; Play percentage rugby and bring immense physicality to every aspect of the game. When executed, that style of play is incredibly difficult to play against, particularly for a Wasps side that like to keep the ball in hand. With Wasps missing a load of key backs, Sale will be hoping to force Gopperth & co into mistakes with an imposing linespeed throughout.
Wasps got a much-needed win against London Irish last week, snapping a 6 game losing streak in all competitions. It’s been a brutal start to the season for Lee Blackett’s side with constant injury problems holding them back. That continues to be the theme for this week with Thomas Young, Gabe Oghre, Dan Robson, Jacob Umaga, Malakai Fekitoa, Zach Kibirige all unavailable. However, even with all the availabilities, the likes of Dan Frost, Vaea Fifita, Elliot Stooke and Alfie Barbeary all start. Wasps backline is where the depth is on display as they are down a number of key players. After Jacob Umaga’s suspension, Jimmy Gopperth shifts into fly-half, he’s partnered with Sam Woolstenholme at scrum-half with Dan Robson still injured. Francois Hougaard once again is required to start on the wing, Josh Bassett occupies the opposite touchline as he moves across after starting at centre in previous weeks.
Outplaying Sale’s pack is no mean feat, particularly when the likes of Lood De Jager and the Du Preez twins are involved, however, the advantage that the Wasps pack has in this game is their dynamism. Instead of trying to bash down the front door against this Sale pack, look for Wasps to introduce lots of changes from the point of attack. Lee Blackett’s plan will be to get Sale’s big boys moving as much as possible early on, if they can retain possession well, continuously shift the point of attack and limit turnover opportunities, they’ll give themselves a great chance late in the contest, particularly with their strong bench.
Both of these sides will be desperate to start the new year with a win and with a plethora of injuries for both sides, this game is up for grabs. This game will be all about who can assert their dominance up front, both teams will be looking to keep this game in the tight due to their depleted backlines. With the Sharks pack still littered with international talent they should be able to get the better of Wasps, particularly with a home crowd willing them on. Wasps are simply too injured throughout in this game and whilst the Sharks haven’t been great of late, they still host a number of game-changers in the pack.
Prediction: Sale Sharks 28 - 20 Wasps Rugby
EXETER CHIEFS vs BRISTOL BEARS
Saturday 1st January
Sandy Park
16:30
The Chiefs will be looking to build upon their impressive win against Saracens in their last Premiership outing. Rob Baxter’s side are slowly rounding into shape, whilst they haven’t been the dominant Exeter of old, it feels as if they aren’t too far away. For this clash, Exeter are fully loaded. The pack features the likes of Luke Cowan-Dickie, who captains the side, Jonny Hill, Dave Ewers and Sam Simmonds, along with the other usual suspects. In the backs, the big news is that Ollie Devoto is back after injury to start at inside centre. Aside from Devoto’s inclusion, the backline is unchanged from their win over Sarries in Round 10.
It’s been a strange season up to this point for the Chiefs, they currently sit 6th on the ladder but are only 5 points off the top 4. So far this season, they have impressive wins over Saracens and Gloucester but have also dropped home games to London Irish and Newcastle. The good news for Chiefs fans is that they have a wealth of coaching and player experience, they know that the season is long and the only focus is improving week on week. With practically a clean bill of health, now is the time in the season for the Chiefs to make a real push. For this game, their target will be the Bristol forward pack, Exeter’s style of play is to gain the upper hand at the set-piece and in the tight and it will be no different against a Bristol pack that has struggled mightily this year. The game plan will be to limit Bristol’s front-foot ball by shunting them backwards in collisions. The most dangerous area for the Bears is their outside backs but, if they can’t provide them with quick, front-foot ball, the likes of Radradra and Piutau can’t be as damaging.
The Bears will be looking to move on from their second half of 2021 and hope that they can regain their form of last season for the start of 2022. This season has been a nightmare for the Bears straight from the get-go and entering Round 12, Pat Lam’s side have only won one game away from home all season. Last week was much improved for Bristol, it looked as if they were set to end Leicester’s unbeaten start to the season until Guy Porter’s 84th-minute match-winning try. Nevertheless, Bristol fans will certainly be happy with the improved performance, if they can continue playing at that level of intensity, they’ll start climbing up the table quickly. We all know how Quins rose from the depths of the table at a similar stage last season and went on to win the Premiership, Bristol certainly have the quality to do the same.
The Bears have made three changes from last week’s loss to Leicester, the most notable is that Nathan Hughes returns from injury. He’ll be deployed looking to solve one of Bristol’s biggest problems this season, forwards getting over the gain line. Dan Thomas is also back into the side after some time out, he replaces club captain Steven Luatua who is unavailable. In the backline, Luke Morahan returns to start on the wing replacing Toby Fricker who picked up an early injury last week.
Last week, there was a clear improvement defensively for the Bears. They were able to stifle Leicester by attacking the breakdown and matching their physicality in the collision. The next step is to retain that level of consistency in defence. In attack, the recipe for success is for the forward pack to get over the gain line so the likes of Radradra and Piutau can run free at defences with quick ball. The re-entrance of Nathan Hughes is a huge boost for this side, he’s a player that will constantly punch through the defence and draw defenders to the contact point, creating those spaces out wide. If they can create inroads into Exeter’s defence through the middle, there are certainly opportunities out wide with the Chiefs individual defence in the wide channels still being questionable at times.
I do think that last week was a turning point for Bristol, whilst it was a brutal ending for them, the defence throughout was the best it’s been all season. However, this isn’t the right matchup for them to turn their fortunes around. This Chiefs side hasn’t fully clicked into gear as of yet but as previously mentioned, it feels like they’re not very far away. The level of talent in the starting lineup is frightening and I think they’ll be too strong up front for Bristol, particularly at Sandy Park.
Prediction: Exeter Chiefs 29 - 22 Bristol Bears
GLOUCESTER vs HARLEQUINS
Sunday 2nd January
Kingsholm
15:00
LEICESTER TIGERS vs NEWCASTLE FALCONS
Sunday 2nd January
Welford Road
15:00
NORTHAMPTON SAINTS vs SARACENS
Sunday 2nd January
Franklins Gardens
15:00
X vs X
Saturday X X
X Stadium