Wasps, Exeter and Saracens fight for home comforts as Harlequins and Saints battle for Champions Cup place

Nine clubs still harbour Champions Cup hopes but Saracens look to have given up on a home semi-final ahead of next weekend's European final

Dai Young will hope his Wasps side can convert their dominance this season into top spot after the final round (Getty)

Bristol vs Newcastle Falcons, Ashton Gate, Saturday 16:00

Bristol are likely to know if there relegation to the Championship is confirmed by the time they kick on Saturday afternoon, with both Yorkshire Carnegie and London Irish taking healthy leads into this weekend’s Championship semi-finals in their bid for promotion. Should they both reach the final, Bristol will be relegated.

After just one year back in the Premiership, Bristol will bow out bottom of the pile and are saying goodbye to an incredible 25 players on Saturday, with Marc Jones captaining an unchanged side on his final appearance.

Marc Jones captain Bristol on his final appearance (Getty)

Newcastle’s side also has a familiar feel to it, with Dean Richards making just one change as Opeti Fonua starts at No 8 in place of Callum Chick, with the Falcons needing a bonus-point victory and hope that both Gloucester and Northampton lose without claiming any bonus points in order to finish seventh and reach the play-offs for the 20th and final European Champions Cup place.

Gloucester vs Exeter Chiefs, Kingsholm, Saturday 16:00

Scotland international Matt Scott returns from a two-month absence as one of eight changes made by Gloucester director of rugby David Humpreys, with his international and club captain, Greig Laidlaw, making his first start since injuring his ankle in the Six Nations.

Billy Twelvetrees starts at fly-half for the Cherry and Whites against their West Country rivals, while a youthful back-row sees Freddie Clarke and Lewis Ludlow start, with Jeremy Thrush and loosehead Paddy McAllister coming into the second and front rows respectively.

Greig Laidlaw makes his first start for Gloucester since January (Getty)

Exeter head into the clash knowing they can finish top of the table if they better Wasps’ result in their clash with Saracens, but Rob Baxter has been forced into widespread changes due to injuries suffered by Greg Holmes, Dave Ewers, Don Armand and Lachie Turner. Ben Moon and Luke Cowan-Dickie join Harry Williams in the front-row with Ollie Atkins starting at lock, while both Julian Salvi and Dave Dennis are named in the back-row alongside No 8 Kai Horstman.

England and soon-to-be Lions wing Jack Nowell switches to full-back to accommodate James Short on the wing in the only change behind the pack.

Northampton Saints vs Harlequins, Franklin’s Gardens, Saturday 16:00

Northampton are missing two fly-halves in Steven Myler and JJ Hanrahan – the latter suffering a shoulder injury in last week’s defeat by Exeter – so Harry Mallinder is moved to No 10 with Nafi Tuitavake brought into the centres.

With sixth place and automatic qualification for the European Champions Cup on the line between these two sides, Saints head coach Jim Mallinder recalls his big guns in George North, Tom Wood and Louis Picamoles, although reports across The Channel about the No 8’s imminent return to Montpellier in the summer will not have gone down well on the eve of their season-defining match.

Harry Mallinder moves to fly-half for Saints (Getty)

Quins meanwhile are without scrum-half Danny Care so Karl Dickson starts his final match before retirement alongside fly-half Nick Evans, who is also hanging up his boots at the end of the season. The Richmond side are in the box seat for sixth position, but defeat would leave them facing the Champions Cup play-offs and they could yet miss out altogether given Gloucester’s points difference is two better than Quins, though they need a bonus-point win over Exeter to draw level on 51 points.

Sale Sharks vs Bath, AJ Bell Stadium, Saturday 16:00

With nothing to play for beyond holding Worcester off for tenth place, Sale are unlikely to provide much resistance against a Bath side with an outside shot of the semi-finals and who need a huge points haul to reach the post-season.

The Sharks made six personnel changes with loosehead prop James Flynn starting his first Premiership game of the season. Andrei Ostrikov also comes into the pack, as does Ben Curry to partner his twin brother, Tom, on the flanks with Josh Beaumont at No 8. Mike Phillips returns to scrum-half in his final outing before retirement, while Johnny Leota and Byron McGuigan start at centre and wing respectively.

Semesa Rokoduguni injured his knee in the Army vs Navy match at Twickenham last week (Getty)

Bath are forced into four changes as they cling on to their faint top four hopes, with both Anthony Watson and Semesa Rokoduguni missing out through injury – the latter due to medial ligament damage suffered in the Army vs Navy game last week. In comes Matt Banahan on the wing, with Ben Obano starting at loosehead prop in place of the injured Nathan Catt. Dave Attwood returns at lock, while Tom Ellis is included at blindside flanker. Bath must claim a bonus-point victory over Sale and hope that Worcester to them a favour against Leicester in order to reach the semi-finals.

Wasps vs Saracens, Ricoh Arena, Saturday 16:00

Wasps know that victory should be enough to secure top spot in the Premiership as long as they match Exeter’s result in terms of bonus points, given their win tally will remain higher than the Chiefs. Dai Youngs makes multiple changes to his side, with Danny Cipriani restored to fly-half and Joe Simpson names at scrum-half, with the reshuffle seeing Jimmy Gopperth move to 12, Kurtley Beale slot in at full-back and Willie le Roux shunted out on the wing.

In the pack, both tighthead prop Jake Cooper-Woolley and No 8 Nathan Hughes return, while Ashley Jones is back from injury to take a place on the bench.

Danny Cipriani returns after two weeks out of the starting line-up (Getty)

Even though Saracens can potentially secure a home semi-final place, Mark McCall has elected to make widespread changes due to next weekend’s European Champions Cup final against Clermont Auvergne. Eight new faces come into the side along with four positional switches, with Mike Ellery, Marcelo Bosch, Sean Maitland and Ben Spencer brought into the backline, with Alex Lozowski switching to fly-half, Nick Tompkins moving in to 12 and Chris Wyles switching to full-back.

Titi Lamositele, Jim Hamilton, Michael Rhodes and Jackson Wray all come into the pack, while South African veteran Schalk Burger moves to No 8. A strong bench sees Jamie George, Kelly Brown and Alex Goode all feature, along with England call-up Nick Isiekwe.

Worcester Warriors vs Leicester Tigers, Sixways, Saturday 16:00

Worcester make four changes to their side as they look to end the season by overtaking Sale and denting Leicester’s play-off hopes in the process, with Phil Dowson set to make his final appearance before retiring to take up a coaching role with Northampton.

Phil Dowson makes his final appearance for Worcester before retirement (Getty)

Ireland lock Donncha O’Callaghan replaces Chris Vui, Garet Milasinovich starts at tighthead prop and Ryan Bower replaces the suspended Val Rapava Ruskin, who has been banned for six weeks for pushing a referee last weekend.

Leicester will hope for a straightforward victory to secure their place in the top four and make just one change for the final match of the regular season, with Peter Betham named on the wing in place of the injured JP Pietersen.