Saturday signals the final round of league matches in the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership season. Once again, the battle for the last playoff spots goes down to the wire, with five teams vying for the final positions.
With Northampton Saints and Saracens already confirmed in the final four, the final two spaces are right up for grabs.
Northampton will head over to third-placed Bath in a crunch match that will determine whether or not the hosts will make the playoffs for the first time since the 2019/20 season.
Harlequins will face off against fellow challengers Bristol as they look up to the playoff spaces from an outsider’s perspective. The winner of this challenge will hope that other results go their way.
Late runners Exeter have forced themselves back into contention, and with a victory over Leicester, they will give themselves a great opportunity to progress – subject to other results.
Sale travel south to Saracens in a must-win match for both sides. Saracens looking for a home semi-final – Sale simply looking for a semi final.
The bottom of the table clash between Newcastle and Gloucester at Kingsholm will also be a fascinating one, with both sides desperate to gain a morale boosting victory.
So with the round up complete, lets have a look at the lineups:
Bath Rugby vs Northampton Saints
Bath Rugby: 1 Beno Obano, 2 Tom Dunn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 4 Quinn Roux, 5 Charlie Ewels, 6 Ted Hill, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Josh Bayliss, 9 Ben Spencer, 10 Finn Russell, 11 Will Muir, 12 Cameron Redpath, 13 Ollie Lawrence, 14 Joe Cokanasiga, 15 Matt Gallagher
Replacements: 16 Niall Annett, 17 Juan Schoeman, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Elliott Stooke, 20 Alfie Barbeary, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Orlando Bailey, 23 Miles Reid
Northampton Saints: 15 James Ramm, 14 Tom Seabrook, 13 Tom Litchfield, 12 Burger Odendaal, 11 Ollie Sleightholme, 10 Rory Hutchinson, 9 Tom James, 1 Emmanuel Iyogun, 2 Sam Matavesi, 3 Elliot Millar Mills, 4 Temo Mayanavanua, 5 Tom Lockett, 6 Angus Scott-Young, 7 Lewis Ludlam (c), 8 Sam Graham
Replacements: 16 Robbie Smith, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Tom Pearson, 21 Archie McParland, 22 Charlie Savala, 23 Toby Thame
Harlequins vs Bristol Bears
Harlequins: 1. Fin Baxter 2. Jack Walker 3. Will Collier 4. Irne Herbst 5. Stephan Lewies (Captain) 6. Chandler Cunningham-South 7. Will Evans 8. Alex Dombrandt 9. Danny Care 10. Marcus Smith 11. Oscar Beard 12. Andre Esterhuizen 13. Luke Northmore 14. Louis Lynagh 15. Tyrone Green
Replacements: 16. Sam Riley 17. Simon Kerrod 18. Dillon Lewis 19. George Hammond 20. James Chisholm 21. Will Porter 22. Jarrod Evans 23. Will Joseph
Bristol Bears: Max Malins, 14. Noah Heward, 13. Benhard Janse van Rensburg, 12. James Williams, 11. Gabriel Ibitoye, 10. Callum Sheedy, 9. Harry Randall ; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Harry Thacker, 3. Kyle Sinckler, 4. James Dun, 5. Joe Batley, 6. Steven Luatua, 7. Fitz Harding (c), 8. Magnus Bradbury.
Replacements: 16. Gabriel Oghre, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. Josh Caulfield, 20. Ben Grondona, 21. Kieran Marmion, 22. Virimi Vakatawa, Siva Naulago.
Leicester Tigers vs Exeter Chiefs
Leicester Tigers: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Mike Brown, Matt Scott, 12 Dan Kelly, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Jack van Poortvliet, 1 Francois van Wyk, 2 Julián Montoya (C), 3 Dan Cole, 4 George Martin, 5 Harry Wells, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 7 Tommy Reffell, 8 Jasper Wiese.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Joe Heyes, 19 Finn Carnduff, 20 Olly Cracknell, 21 Tom Whiteley, 22 Kieran Wilkinson, 23 Solomone Kata.
Exeter Chiefs: 15 Dan John, 14 Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Joe Hawkins, 11 Olly Woodburn, 10 Harvey Skinner, 9 Tom Cairns, 1 Scott Sio, 2 Max Norey, 3 Marcus Street, 4 Jack Dunne, 5 Dafydd Jenkins (c), 6 Ethan Roots, 7 Jacques Vermeulen, 8 Greg Fisilau
Replacements: 16 Dan Frost, 17 Billy Keast, 18 Ehren Painter, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 Niall Armstrong, 22 Will Haydon-Wood, 23 Zack Wimbush
Saracens vs Sale Sharks
Saracens: 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Sean Maitland, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Tom Parton, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Christian Judge, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Hugh Tizard, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Ben Earl, 8 Tom Willis
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Marco Riccioni, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Theo McFarland, 21 Billy Vunipola, 22 Aled Davies, 23 Alex Goode
Sale Sharks: 15. Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr, 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. James Harper, 4. Cobus Wiese, 5. Hyron Andrews, 6. Ben Curry ©, 7. Sam Dugdale, 8. JL du Preez.
Replacements: 16. Tommy Taylor, 17. Si McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Ernst van Rhyn, 21. Raffi Quirke, 22. Sam James, 23. Arron Reed.
Gloucester Rugby vs Newcastle Falcons
Gloucester Rugby: 15. Josh Hathaway*, 14. Jonny May*, 13. Chris Harris, 12. Seb Atkinson*, 11. Ollie Thorley*, 10. Charlie Atkinson, 9. Caolan Englefield, 1. Jamal Ford-Robinson, 2. Seb Blake*, 3. Kirill Gotovtsev, 4. Freddie Clarke*, 5. Freddie Thomas*, 6. Ruan Ackermann, 7. Lewis Ludlow* (C), 8. Zach Mercer
Replacements: 16. Santi Socino, 17. Mayco Vivas, 18. Ciaran Knight*, 19. Albert Tuisue, 20. Jack Clement*, 21. Stephen Varney*, 22. Alex Hearle, 23. Jake Morris*
Newcastle Falcons: 15 Louis Brown, 14 Adam Radwan, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Cameron Hutchison, 11 Ben Redshaw, 10 Brett Connon, 9 Sam Stuart; 1 Adam Brocklebank, 2 Jamie Blamire, 3 Eduardo Bello, 4 Tim Cardall, 5 John Hawkins, 6 Sam Cross, 7 Guy Pepper, 8 Callum Chick (captain).
Replacements: 16 Bryan Byrne, 17 Mark Dormer, 18 Richard Palframan, 19 Adam Scott, 20 Freddie Lockwood, 21 James Elliott, 22 Rory Jennings, 23 Oli Spencer.
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