Saracens, Exeter and Leicester who will miss out

As we make our way into the final weekend of games in the Aviva Premiership a lot of things have already been confirmed. London Welsh face relegation after failing to win a game all season. Northampton Saints and Bath have already secured home semi-finals. The top six is also confirmed albeit if results go Sale’s way on Saturday they could sneak into the final Champions Cup spot. However if people are thinking that it is going to be a boring final day, they are wrong as we are expecting plenty of twists and turns over the course of the afternoon as Saracens, Leicester Tigers and Exeter Chiefs look to secure a play-off place with one of the sides set to miss out.

With all the Premiership games kicking off at the same time the coaching staff and fans of each side will keep an eye on the other games with teams dropping in and out of the play-off spots over the course of the day. As of now it is Leicester Tigers who are in the driving seat. Their crucial win against Wasps last weekend leaves them in third a point ahead of Exeter Chiefs and Saracens. However they face the most difficult of challenges out of the three sides as they host Northampton Saints at Welford Road. The Saints have already been guaranteed a home semi-final and they may look to rest some players for the semi-final but Jim Mallinder will have his side set up as if they playing a must-win game themselves. Whatever Saints side Leicester face, they know that a play-off place is in their own hands and a win on Saturday will secure them a semi-final next weekend.

Exeter knew that a win was a must at Allianz Park last weekend if they were going to keep alive their hopes of a first ever top four finish and they did just that. They will start the final round of games in the fourth and final play-off spot and entertain Sale Sharks at Sandy Park, while Saracens have the luxury of playing their final game of the season away to London Welsh. As things stand both sides are level on points and level on the same amount of wins for the season. Exeter are ahead of Saracens due to points difference. However it is a slender lead of only 3 points. With London Welsh conceding 78 at Allianz Park earlier on in the season and conceding an average of 45 in their 21 matches in the top flight, Exeter might need to secure maximum points against Sale and record a comprehensive win. Exeter are the second highest scorers in the league but they are playing a  Sale side who have the slimmest of chances of qualifying for next years Champions Cup as they would need maximum points against the Chiefs and for Wasps to secure zero points against London Irish. Despite Mark McCall questioning Sale Sharks motivation for the game, Steve Diamond has insisted his players are going to give it a good crack on Saturday. With Saracens attacking threat you would feel that Exeter might not  score enough points against Sale to secure a play-off. Unless London Welsh can frustrate Saracens and produce a decent performance, The Chiefs most likely progression to the play-offs will be if Northampton Saints can defeat Leicester Tigers at Welford Road. Saturday can’t come any sooner and fans from all three clubs will be on the edge of their seat for just under two hours as they hope for another weekend of Rugby to look forward to.