WEEKLY PREVIEWS – National One

Champions Northampton Saints entertain third placed Nottingham at Franklin’s Garden a week after seeing off second placed Exeter Chiefs to clinch the title.

The Saints have taken 20 try bonus points in their 26 wins this season.   

In 13 matches at Franklin’s Gardens the Saints have 13 wins and have not given up a losing bonus point.

Nottingham have won their last six matches since losing 22-10 at Doncaster and have won 12 of their last 13 matches.

On the road they have won nine and lost three of their 12 matches and won their last three.

They have collected 16 try bonus points which is second only to Northampton and they have five losing bonus points in their six defeats.

When the sides met earlier in the season at Meadow Lane the Saints came through 16-10.

Second placed Exeter Chiefs are home to 10^th placed Esher at Sandy Park looking to return to winning ways. 

Second placed Exeter Chiefs have lost two of their last four matches and have been caught by Nottingham with both sides on 101 points.

At home this season they have an excellent record with 12 wins in 13 matches and only Champions Northampton Saints have left with a win. In the 12 wins they have only given up three losing bonus points.  

Esher have won two of their last three matches and five of their last 11 as they look to try and catch ninth placed London Welsh who they trail by two points.

In 13 matches on the road this season they have five wins and eight defeats including their last two away days.

When the sides met at Esher earlier in the season the Chiefs ran out comfortable winners 47-13

Fourth placed Cornish Pirates are away at 11^th placed Rotherham Titans looking to consolidate fourth place after their win over Doncaster last Sunday in a high scoring match

The Titans have won two of their last three matches with the loss against relegation threatened Pertemps Bees at Clifton Lane. They have a poor record at Clifton Lane this season with just four wins in their 12 matches and have lost five of their last six at home.

The Pirates are looking to make it three in a row and five wins in six matches at the try and make fourth place theirs.

On the road they have played 13 times and with nine wins and four defeats but have lost three of their last five away from Cornwall.

The Pirates were 28-18 winners at home to the Titans back in November.

Fifth placed Doncaster are at home to sixth placed Bedford Blues looking to get back to winning ways after their defeat last Sunday in Cornwall.

Doncaster have slipped down the table last Sunday after their defeat at Cornish Pirates which ended a three match winning run.  At home they have won their last two since losing to the Champions 36-10 and overall at home have 10 wins and just three defeats.

Bedford Blues are looking to make it four wins in a row and they have won six of their last seven matches.

They have collected just six try bonus points but they have got six losing bonus points form their 10 defeats.

On the road the Blues have won their last four matches since losing at Franklin’s Gardens at the end of January. Overall they have nine wins in 13 matches on the road.

Doncaster are looking to do the double over the Blues having won 16-14 at Goldington Road earlier in the season.

Seventh placed Coventry are at home to second bottom Pertemps Bees who can still avoid the drop but could really do with a win at the Butts Arena on Saturday with games running out.

After their draw at Newbury last Saturday Coventry are four unbeaten as their three match winning run came to an end.

They have picked up 16 bonus points this season which is the fourth most in the division this season after the top three.

In 12 games the Butts Arena they have six wins and six defeats as they going looking for a hat trick of wins.

The Bees are now within five points of Sedgley Park as the y battle to get out of the bottom two with game running out. They have only won four matches but have collected 10 points from losing bonus points which is the most in the division one more than Coventry.   

The Bees were narrow 21-20 winners when the sides met earlier in the season in November as they go looking for the double.

Eighth placed Plymouth Albion are at home to 12^th placed Moseley looking to try and close the two point gap on Coventry above them in the table.

Plymouth saw their seven match losing run come to an end last Saturday with a 25-19 win over Sedgley Park at Brickfields and have just two wins in their last 12 matches.  

Albion have one of the meanest defences in the division with 466 points conceded the fourth best record in the division.   

At Brickfields this season Albion have seven wins in 13 matches and six defeats, three of which have been in the last six weeks.

Moseley have lost their last three matches after putting together their best run of the season in the previous three games

They have collected just two four try bonus points which is the joint lowest number in the division along with Cornish All Blacks 

On the road done really well with seven wins in 13 matches including four of their last six matches.

Albion were 29-10 away day winners when the sides met earlier in the season.

Ninth placed London Welsh travel to third bottom Sedgley Park with the home side needing the win to put some daylight between themselves and Pertemps Bees who are just five points behind them in the table.

Sedgley Park are just five points from the drop zone and will see this as a must win match to give them some breathing space and with a game against Pertemps bees in four weeks it could all come down to that game at Sharmans Cross.

They have lost their last eight matches since winning 6-3 against the Cornish All Blacks at the end of December.

At Park Lane this season they have lost their last three matches and have just three wins in 12 matches.

The Welsh have lost their last two after a run of six wins in eight matches which lifted them up the table.

They are a win away from a place in the top half of the table some five points behind Plymouth Albion.  

Of all the sides to have lost more than 10 games the Welsh have just three losing bonus points the joint lowest in the division.

On the road

In 13 matches on the road this season they have picked up five wins and in the eight defeats they have picked up just one losing bonus point.

In went down to the wire when the sides met at Old Deer Park back in November. With the Welsh, 23-21 victors

13^th placed Newbury are away at bottom of the table Cornish All Blacks who will see this as a game they can win to have an outside chance of avoiding the drop.

The Cornish All Blacks are four points behind Pertemps bees and nine behind Sedgley Park with five games remaining one more than their nearest rivals.

They have just two try bonus points all season which is the joint lowest figure in the league along with Moseley.

After a three match winning run which gave them hope of getting out of the relegation zone the CAB have slipped to five successive defeats failing to pick up any kind of bonus points in these defeats.

Newbury saw a three match losing run come to an end last Saturday when they drew 7 all with Coventry at Monks Lane and have just one win in their last seven matches.  

On the road they have lost their last five since winning 22-15 at Coventry in November and overall won three in 12 matches away from home.

They are fourth bottom but some nine points clear of Sedgley Park.

They have conceded 599 points which is the lowest of any side in the bottom half of the table.

Newbury were narrow one point winners when the sides met at Monks Lane earlier in the season, 24-23

PREDICTIONS