- Wasps -2 (Evns, Bet Victor) v Bath
- Sale to score first (4/7, William Hill) v Worcester
Bath and Wasps make one change apiece to their starting line-up for Friday night’s clash at The Rec.
The home side bring in Tom de Glanville for Anthony Watson at full-back with Watson shifting to the right-wing in place of Semesa Rokoduguni.
As for the visitors, Wasps’ decision to start with Thomas Young at openside means Jack Willis shifts to number eight.
Looking at the respective team selections, one appears to be reactionary and the other made from a position of strength.
Removing Watson from full-back is hardly the vote of confidence that a Lions player would expect, even after he came unstuck at the hands of George Ford and his perfectly executed spiral bomb in a 36-31 defeat to Leicester last Sunday.
It’s doubtful that any player would have coped well with the tactic and the finger of blame should probably be directed at the kick chasers, who failed to close the England 10 down in sufficient time to stop him getting the kicks away.
Equally, Rokoduguni will feel hard done by. The Fijian-born England international touched the ball twice at Welford Road, which is a damning statistic for such a dangerous player, but one which points to Bath’s disconnect between forwards and backs – a topic that was touched upon by the impressive Cameron Redpath when speaking to the local press this week.
Something is not quite right at Bath and hasn’t been for a long time, and the predictability of their game plan sees them getting found out more often than not.
A side as well-coached as Wasps won’t have had to spend too long analysing the opposition and will be able to focus on building their own performance, not that they did too much wrong in dismantling Exeter last weekend.
The return of Brad Shields only adds more impact to a bench that has helped power Wasps to victory in recent weeks and conceding two points on the handicap just doesn’t seem enough.
Warriors slow out of the blocks
As the side most affected by coronavirus at the end of last season, Sale Sharks have been the least affected this time around as they prepare to take on Worcester.
Ironically, it was the cancellation of their Round 22 home game against the Warriors that scuppered the Sharks’ bid to qualify for the Premiership play-offs for the first since they won the trophy in 2006.
However, they have managed to dodge that particular bullet so far this season with all five of their games taking place. Unfortunately for them, though, their form has deserted them.
Worcester had also played a full set of fixtures until their round four clash with Harlequins fell victim to the Covid curse so they will go to the AJ Bell with a week’s rest under their belts.
Whilst never unwelcome from a player welfare point of view, the lay-off could work against them in terms of improving the way they start games.
The Warriors have yet to score a single try in the first quarter of league matches this season and have only bagged six points.
Whilst they improve as an attacking force as the half wears on, the average difference between the number of points scored and conceded by them at the interval is still -8 per match.
Turning this around against a side that has yet to have its line breached in the first quarter of matches will take some doing, which is why we believe the half-time handicap should be closely scrutinised.
Sale to start well, then take their foot of the gas and let Worcester back in, before finishing with a late flourish is our prediction.
