An enthralling regular season of Premiership rugby rounds off this weekend with seven teams still in the hunt for the play-offs, and you can find reports from all five fixtures in The Rugby Paper this Sunday.
In the week that the Vunipola brothers announced their departure from Saracens at the end of the season, the six-time Premiership champions will be eager to secure a home semi-final against play-off hopefuls Sale Sharks, whose top four hopes remain in the balance.
Mark McCall has high praise for Vunipolas, saying they are ‘two of the keenest rugby minds’ he’s ever come across in an interview this week, while Chris Hewett outlines in his column how Mako reinvented the job of a loosehead prop.
League-leaders Northampton have opted to rotate for their trip to Bath with Johann van Graan’s side desperate to do all they can and book a home semi-final. As part of the starting XV this week, lock Quinn Roux feels he’s in the best shape of his life, hoping to play an integral role in Bath’s run-in.
Exeter are another of the teams on the precipice of the play-offs, needing at least a win against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road. Chiefs’ academy centre Nick Lilley is our Young Gun this week following his recent selection for the England U18 squad.
Harlequins and Bristol are set to provide fireworks once again with both sides needing a win to have a chance at grabbing that coveted final play-off spot.
Whilst Newcastle’s trip to Gloucester is the only fixture without play-off implications, the Cherry and Whites will want to build momentum going into their Challenge Cup final next Friday, and captain Lewis Ludlow insists their poor league form will be forgotten if they can secure European Challenge Cup glory.
We’ll also have all eight games from the United Rugby Championship, alongside an exclusive interview with former Wasps fly-half and one-time England cap winner Jacob Umaga ahead of Benetton’s push for the quarter-finals.
As the summer tours rapidly approach, Wales captain Dewi Lake discusses the need to bring some needed joy into Welsh Rugby ahead of their two fixtures against Australia and lone test against South Africa.
From the Championship, alongside reports from all five games, Ealing Trailfinders back row Simon Uzokwe claims the league keeps getting tougher to win after regaining the title last weekend.
Also in the Championship, Cornish Pirates coach Gavin Cattle believes his side has shown this season they could sustain a Premiership outfit whilst Doncaster Knights’ Charlie Beckett discusses his career in My Life in Rugby after recently announcing his retirement.
We also have Brendan Gallagher’s Rugby Matters column this week which focuses in on Courtney Lawes claiming he’s level with England’s best-ever back rows.
As Super Rugby Pacific hurtles towards the end of the season, we’ll have a round-up of all the games with the pick of the bunch being the Brumbies chance to end the Crusaders’ top-eight hopes.
And finally, we’ll be looking ahead to Division One of the Bill Beaumont County Championship, with reports from Divisions Two and Three.
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