Northampton – Bath

Northampton Saints will host Bath in what seems to be one of the most evenly matched clashes in the Aviva Rugby Premiership opening round.

Northampton finished 5th last season and they are expected to end up in a similar position at the end of this new season – not quite good enough to challenge for the title, but still better than most Premiership sides. The Saints made a number of interesting signings over the summer, the most important one being French international Louis Picamoles, who is set to start today against Bath.

The visitors have a pretty good squad and should do better than last season, when they finished 9th – 12 points behind today’s opponents. With a couple of good signings like Faletau and Fotuali’i, Bath actually looks solid, though they still don`t have the all around class of the top sides – with Northampton possibly being one of those top sides. Bath will probably try to open the game and play fast paced rugby today, as wing play seems to be pretty much their only advantage in this clash against a physically stronger opponent.

Bet on Northampton – Bath with the highest Aviva Premiership odds at 1xBet now!

Lineups:

Northampton Saints: 15 Ben Foden, 14 Ken Pisi, 13 George Pisi, 12 Luther Burrell, 11 Ahsee Tuala, 10 Harry Mallinder, 9 Lee Dickson, 8 Louis Picamoles, 7 Jamie Gibson, 6 Tom Wood (c), 5 Michael Paterson, 4 Courtney Lawes, 3 Kieran Brookes, 2 Dylan Hartley, 1 Alex Waller

Subs: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 Campese Ma’afu, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Sam Dickinson, 20 Teimana Harrison, 21 Nic Groom, 22 Stephen Myler, 23 George North

Bath: 15 Tom Homer, 14 Semesa Rokoduguni, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Max Clark, 11 Matt Banahan, 10 George Ford, 9 Kahn Fotuali’i, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 David Denton, 6 Matt Garvey (c), 5 Dave Attwood, 4 Charlie Ewels, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Ross Batty, 1 Nathan Catt

Subs: 16 Tom Dunn, 17 Nick Auterac, 18 Kane Palma-Newport, 19 David Sisi, 20 Tom Ellis, 21 Chris Cook, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Jeff Williams

The first thing that comes to mind when you look at the lineups is how strong Northampton’s bench is. The hosts have a number of absolute killers set to come in after 50 minutes or so and if they don`t get the better of Bath early, they are sure to put big pressure late on.

Northampton defeated Bath last season both home and away, though it was by a combined margin of just 3 points. I highly fancy the hosts to get another victory today over Bath. Depending on how Northampton starts it could be easy or hard, but in the end I fully expect their bench to make the difference in the last 20 minutes or so.

Both teams seem to be at least as strong as last season, but Northampton has home court advantage (which is important especially as Bath struggles away), they are the better team overall and have so much more depth. They are also stronger than Bath so this has all the makings of a physical struggle for the visitors (strength + bench). I fully expect Northampton to impose its rhythm and style of play at home, make this a physical game and wear Bath out until the subs come in and put the final nail in the coffin.

My tip will be Northampton to win, I will choose safety here and not bet the handicap. It`s the first round of the season and odds are juuust good enough on the home win to allow me to avoid an additional risk. Prediction: Northampton Saints – Bath 19 – 12.

Pick: Northampton Saints
Odds: 1.46 @ 1xBet
Stake: 9
Possible profit: 4.14
Event date: 3 September