Even with the Six Nations kicking off this weekend, there's still a full set of Gallagher Premiership fixtures taking place. Darry Worthington previews.
The opening round of the 2022 Six Nations may take the spotlight this weekend but there’s plenty of domestic European rugby action on the go as well with the Top 14, United Rugby Championship and Gallagher Premiership all set to serve up hours of rugby entertainment over the weekend.
Friday 5 February
Gloucester 43/100 | Draw 20/1 | Irish 2/1 (21:45)
A Gloucester side on a hot streak will be looking to cement their place in the top 4 when they take on a plucky London Irish outfit who have been on a decent run themselves.
The hosts claimed their fourth win in their last six starts as they beat the Newcastle Falcons 22-32 away from home. They were missing some of their big-name players due to Six Nations call ups but this didn’t seem to hamper them at all as they ran in five tries to secure a bonus-point win.
Irish also had a great time of it in Round 13 as they produced an 18-14 victory against big boys Exeter. While the game was a rather poor spectacle, it did illustrate how much resolve their s to this Irish side, particularly when they’re playing in front of their own fans. Keep in mind, however, that Exeter were had been shorn of a number of first-teamers because of Six Nations call ups.
Irish are a very handy side but I think Gloucester will have too much for them to handle here.
Saturday 6 February
Bristol 2/13 | Draw 28/1 | Newcastle 48/10 (16:00)
Moving to our next fixture and we’ve got two underperforming sides locking horns with the 11th-placed Bristol Bears taking on 10th-placed Newcastle.
The Bears weren’t in action this past week as they enjoyed a bye. It was a bit of a momentum killer for them as they went into Round 13 off the back of some solid European results having registered wins over the Scarlets and Stade Francais.
Newcastle would have probably wished they had the weekend off as they were beaten by ten points by Gloucester. They struggled defensively during the fixture, leaving huge amounts of unguarded space out wide.
If they perform anywhere as well as they did in Europe a fortnight ago then Bristol should have no problems claiming the win here.
Exeter 49/100 | Draw 20/1 | Wasps 7/4 (16:30)
The Exeter Chiefs will be looking to bounce back from yet another shock defeat when they take on a Wasps side who are starting to produce the goods.
The hosts were a shambles last weekend as they let a 0-14 opening quarter lead slip to go down 18-14 to London Irish. What will be a major worry for Rob Baxter’s men is the fact that they failed to score a single point from the remaining 60 minutes of the fixture.
Wasps had a far more enjoyable round as they beat Saracens 26-20, with veteran Jimmy Goperth starring with the boot.
The Coventry-based outfit have beaten Saracens and Leicester in their last two games and I really fancy them to claim another big name scalp here.
They also may well be worth a shout to win the Premiership outright and are available at some tasty odds for that as well if you’re looking for a long-term bet.
Saracens 1/20 | Draw 38/1 | Bath 9/1 (17:00)
Saracens will be looking to bounce back from an indifferent showing when the take on last-placed Bath in North London.
The hosts for Saturday’s encounter really struggled without their English internationals and lacked guidance on the field as they panicked during some really promising build-up play against Wasps.
Bath produced a mammoth shock this past weekend as they beat Harlequins 21-17 at the Recreation Ground. They looked a completely different side to the one that has been turned over by all in sundry this season and if they play with the same vigour then they could well cause Saracens a few problems here.
Expect this to be a rather tight game with Bath starting to produce some decent rugby. I still fully expect the hosts to win it however it won’t be by much. Look to get on the plus closer to kick-off
Leicester 1/50 | Draw 38/1 | Worcester 12/1 (17:00)
The penultimate game of the weekend pits log-leaders Leicester up against 12th-placed Worcester.
The hosts lost their second game of the campaign last weekend going down 35-26 to the Sale Sharks. The Tigers coaching staff will be bitterly disappointed with the result as their team were 5-18 to the good heading into the half-time break.
Worcester also head into this one off the back of a poor result as they went down 13-29 to Northampton on their own patch. They struggled to really create any solid scoring chances during the fixture which is a massive worry headed into this one.
I expect the Tigers to bounce back strongly here.
Sunday 6 February
Harlequins 21/20 | Draw 22/1 | Sale 79/100 (15:00)
We close things out with what should be an absolute cracker between a Harlequins side looking to bounce back from a shock defeat and a Sale side that is having something of a mid-season resurgence.
The hosts went down to Bath by four points this past weekend and while it was a shock, they were never going to be at their best with the influential Marcus Smith on international duty.
Sale had a much better time in Round 13 as they registered a massively important nine-point victory over Leicester.
They looked really good last week and are missing fewer pivotal players to international call-ups than their opponents are.
