So .... rest of the season

[Doghashadhisday]

The Premiership as it stands now:
1 Exeter 57 points
2 Sarries 53
3 Wasps 50
4 Newcastle 46
5 Bath 45
6 Glos 44
7 Tigers 42
8 Sale 38

This weekend's fixtures + predictions
Quins v Bath - Quins win no bp + lbp for Bath
Exeter v Sarries - Exeter win no bp + lbp Sarries
Glos v Newcastle - Glos win no bp
Saints v Sale - Sale win +bp
Wasps v Irish - Wasps win +bp
Worcs v Tigers - Tigers won no bp

So Newcastle, Bath and Tigers could all be on 46 points on Sunday evening. That 4th place is indeed a possibility so the games against Bath and Newcastle will be crucial.
However, I still believe that 4th is being optimistic, and as I wrote earlier in this thread, if Tigers finish 6th and play top flight European rugby next season, then that ain't bad.

If I were you I would give up in predictions you only got the Saints v Sale one right

[Grimlish]

Just looked at all remaining fixtures and I have it as 3 teams tied on 61pts (us, Glaws and Falcons) with Bath on 57pts.

Think we would be ahead of Falcons +Glaws on head to head?

4th Tigers
5th Falcons
6th Glaws
7th Bath

If points are equal, it goes down to games won, then points difference.

Newcastle currently have won a game more than us, but by the end of the weekend Gloucester Newcastle and Tigers could all have 10 wins/17. Our PD is actually better than both of theirs currently, surprisingly Newcastle -31 and Glos -29. Tigers +6

Is it stands this evening Newcastle have one more win, one less bonus point and 3 league points more than us. They are in 4th place we are in 5th. Demonstrates for me that bonus points rarely matter except when wins are equal. And no I'm not saying bonus points dont matter. We will have the chance to put the wins equation right when Newcastle come calling. Increasingly it looks like its in own hands.

[Rugbyflanker]

Can 4/5 get us fourth? I'd be happy with top 6 after our dreadful run and imagine what Bakewell can do with a full preseason! Beat Wasps and a home semi could be on,that's a massive game but Newcastle and Bath are more important.

[ourla]

I think results this season have shown predictions are futile.

What we do know is that Tigers are back on form, with due cause for some optimism and that no one's heard from Roly this week.

Time for a break and prep for the run in. It's gonna be a hell of a ride.

[chewbacca]

Potentially one of the most nail biting finishes to the regular season for many a year. Recent performances and results rightly give cause for optimism and the players and coaches should be congratulated for the improvement long may it continue. A few weeks back it looked like Europe was slipping out of reach now a playoff place is almost within our grasp. The who knows what can happen.

[Robespierre]

The Premiership as it stands now:
1 Exeter 57 points
2 Sarries 53
3 Wasps 50
4 Newcastle 46
5 Bath 45
6 Glos 44
7 Tigers 42
8 Sale 38

This weekend's fixtures + predictions
Quins v Bath - Quins win no bp + lbp for Bath
Exeter v Sarries - Exeter win no bp + lbp Sarries
Glos v Newcastle - Glos win no bp
Saints v Sale - Sale win +bp
Wasps v Irish - Wasps win +bp
Worcs v Tigers - Tigers won no bp

So Newcastle, Bath and Tigers could all be on 46 points on Sunday evening. That 4th place is indeed a possibility so the games against Bath and Newcastle will be crucial.
However, I still believe that 4th is being optimistic, and as I wrote earlier in this thread, if Tigers finish 6th and play top flight European rugby next season, then that ain't bad.

If I were you I would give up in predictions you only got the Saints v Sale one right

True, I've never been too hot on match predictions but this time the only match I got completely wrong was Glos v Newcastle!!

[wellstiger]

Hmmmm! The race for 4th is warming up nicely, innit?

I put my hands up - I thought on this seasons earlier performance, a win against Wuss was unlikely and a top 6 finish was all but done.
I will eat humble pie, my hat and relish it.
Me thinks a turn around in performance and confidence should see us reach playoffs. Providing injuries - god forbid - do not impact.

So back to the happy Munching on my hat....................

[wellstiger]

Potentially one of the most nail biting finishes to the regular season for many a year. Recent performances and results rightly give cause for optimism and the players and coaches should be congratulated for the improvement long may it continue. A few weeks back it looked like Europe was slipping out of reach now a playoff place is almost within our grasp. The who knows what can happen.

+1

[voice of the crumbie]

Potentially one of the most nail biting finishes to the regular season for many a year. Recent performances and results rightly give cause for optimism and the players and coaches should be congratulated for the improvement long may it continue. A few weeks back it looked like Europe was slipping out of reach now a playoff place is almost within our grasp. The who knows what can happen.

+1

+2

This has been achieved without our England contingent and Ellis Genge and Dom Barrow. Factor them back in and my optimism increases. The 2 week break is a mixed blessing. On the plus side it gives time for our injured from yesterday to recover and further rehab time for Dom and Ellis. Also more time for our new forwards coach to build on what he has achieved so far as there is still much to work on. On the minus side the impetus from the last 3 games becomes a little diluted. More plusses than minuses though imho. Let's hope the break will mean our invigorated pack are chomping at the bit and ready to tear into Wasps in 2 weeks time.

[chewbacca]

Hmmmm! The race for 4th is warming up nicely, innit?

I put my hands up - I thought on this seasons earlier performance, a win against Wuss was unlikely and a top 6 finish was all but done.
I will eat humble pie, my hat and relish it.
Me thinks a turn around in performance and confidence should see us reach playoffs. Providing injuries - god forbid - do not impact.

So back to the happy Munching on my hat....................

+1

[Spicer]

We have a chance of getting 4th now, a good comeback if we manage it. But we shouldn't get carried away, we beat an under powered Sarries and Worcester (who lost to London Irish last week) after all.

[johnthegriff]

On a more positive note we beat an underpowered Saracens who were missing their England players with an underpowered Tigers who were missing their England players and followed it by beating Worcester at Sixways, a team who had beaten Exeter, We have won three games on the trot, two of them away on synthetic pitches and secured 14 points. We have home games against Newcastle and Wasps to come, win those and we could even think of a home semi. Unfortunately I think Saracens returning England players will be enough to secure them second place but I would not bet against us winning against whoever away and anything can happen in a final.

[Soggypitch]

On a more positive note we beat an underpowered Saracens who were missing their England players with an underpowered Tigers who were missing their England players and followed it by beating Worcester at Sixways, a team who had beaten Exeter, We have won three games on the trot, two of them away on synthetic pitches and secured 14 points. We have home games against Newcastle and Wasps to come, win those and we could even think of a home semi. Unfortunately I think Saracens returning England players will be enough to secure them second place but I would not bet against us winning against whoever away and anything can happen in a final.

I love your optimism John and I too am very hopeful now of a top 4 finish. We have some really tough games to play however starting with Wasps who will be formidable with Daly back, plus Haskell, Launchbury and Hughes in the pack.
I'm very confident of beating Newcastle and Saints at home, but Bath at Twickers and Sale away will be tough.
It's an exciting finish to the season!

[Tiglon]

On a more positive note we beat an underpowered Saracens who were missing their England players with an underpowered Tigers who were missing their England players and followed it by beating Worcester at Sixways, a team who had beaten Exeter, We have won three games on the trot, two of them away on synthetic pitches and secured 14 points. We have home games against Newcastle and Wasps to come, win those and we could even think of a home semi. Unfortunately I think Saracens returning England players will be enough to secure them second place but I would not bet against us winning against whoever away and anything can happen in a final.

I love your optimism John and I too am very hopeful now of a top 4 finish. We have some really tough games to play however starting with Wasps who will be formidable with Daly back, plus Haskell, Launchbury and Hughes in the pack.
I'm very confident of beating Newcastle and Saints at home, but Bath at Twickers and Sale away will be tough.
It's an exciting finish to the season!

Add to that the fact that Newcastle's remaining fixtures are not the toughest - even if we beat them they could certainly win all their other matches and we would then need to do the same (bonus points aside). One more defeat might see us miss out on top 4, but this season you never really know.

Playoffs are a realistic possibility now, but there are still a lot of very big performances needed.

[Noddy555]

As the saying goes the only way is up and am I being too optimistic to believe that we can still finish 2nd?