Mark McCall’s Saracens will play host to Johan Ackermann’s Gloucester on Saturday the 25th of May in the first of the day’s Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.
Gloucester will be looking to upset the applecart when they travel to London to take on a much-fancied Saracens outfit. The hosts have a fine pedigree when it comes to semi-finals rugby and head into this one having won four of the tournament’s five previous five semi-finals.
Saracens v Gloucester
Saturday 25 May
Allianz Park
14:30
To Win (80 Mins)
Saracens 1/6
Draw 30/1
Gloucester 15/4
Saracens
The North London side will be looking to cap off a fruitful year in style by adding the Gallagher Premiership trophy to their 2018/19 season haul which includes the European Champions Cup. They will need to be on their guard this weekend if they are to give themselves a shot at the double as Gloucester are a well-drilled side who are more than capable of producing an upset here.
Saracens enjoyed a solid round-robin campaign winning 16 of their regular season games while suffering six defeats. One of the aforementioned losses cam last weekend when they went down 31-29 to the Worcester Warriors. Saracens fielded a weakened size for that game, however, and they will be back to full strength this coming weekend.
Gloucester
It’s amazing how far Gloucester have come under the tutelage of Johan Ackermann. The former Golden Lions coach has taken the English side from mid-table also-rans to genuine title contenders. What makes this even more staggering is that the former Springbok has been able to complete this mini-revolution in just two seasons.
Gloucester enjoyed a solid regular season finishing third on the table with 13 wins from their 22 games. Like Saracens, the visitors also come into this one off the back of a loss having gone down 46-41 to the Sale Sharks. They will also welcome back a number of first stringers -who were rested for the final regular season game – this weekend.
Verdict: Saracens 1/6
This should be a cracking game with both sides fielding a number of talented rugby players. Saracens have only actually won two of the last five meetings between the sides. I can’t see them suffering another defeat here, however, especially considering the game is being played in North London.
Written by Darry Worthington for Hollywoodbets.
