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News: Crunch time in race for play-offs

Matches: Bath Rugby 33 - 18 Saracens | Harlequins 31 - 12 Newcastle Falcons | Leicester Tigers 73 - 3 Bristol Bears | Sale Sharks 24 - 18 Northampton Saints | Wasps 34 - 3 Gloucester Rugby | Worcester Warriors 15 - 32 London Irish

Players/Officials: Steve Borthwick | Butch James

Tournaments/Tours: Guinness Premiership

The race for the Guinness Premiership play-offs is set to come to a dramatic conclusion on Saturday with the final round of the regular season.

All the games will kick-off simultaneously at 3pm as the top six sides look to secure one of the four semi-final spots while another four vie for Heineken Cup qualification.

Steve Borthwick returns to the Saracens starting line-up to face his former club Bath at The Rec.

Borthwick is one of eight changes made by Head Coach Richard Graham which sees Adam Powell, Andy Farrell, Noah Cato, Alex Walker, Cencus Johnston and Ben Skirving all come into the starting line-up while Andy Saull returns after missing the past two months with a fractured hand. Graham is wary of the threat posed by a Bath team who desperately need a victory.

"Bath are a very good side and very well balanced," explained Graham. "We played them only a few weeks ago and got a very good win and we're looking for the same result on Saturday. On a sunny day, Bath is one of the most beautiful places in the world to watch rugby and both teams have plenty to play for so it should be a cracking game.

"If you look at the top of the table as it stands, Bath do need a win and we expect them to come out strongly. That's something they have been doing all season and our task is to nullify that."

Bath come off the back of a good win over Newcastle last week, coming down from 14-0 to win 15-14 knowing that nothing less than a win over Saracens keeps their playoff hopes alive. Head Coach Steve Meehan is confident that his team will deliver.

"We will of course be chasing the win," admitted Meehan. "It is worth going for the home draw, but sometimes sides make that error of setting out their stall and saying they are going for a four-try bonus, but because they are so anxious to do that, they end up blowing opportunities."

Bath will be missing fly-half Butch James who is out of the rest of the season after suffering a torn cruciate ligament last week. [Teams]

A bonus-point win against the Newcastle Falcons will guarantee Harlequins a home semi-final, the first time they would have achieved that since 1999. The Falcons travel down to London to play against Quins with Northampton-bound, Phil Dowson skippering the side in his final outing for the club

There's just one change to the side that lost 14-15 to Bath last week as Matt Thompson comes in for Rob Vickers at hooker. The backline remains unchanged as Micky Young has recovered from the arm injury he picked up last week.

Director of rugby, Steve Bates, said ahead of the game, "There were a number of positives from our first-half performance last week which we look to build on, and also a number of areas identified for improvement. Micky Young had an excellent game and has recovered from a knock to his arm, which is a real boost for us with the way he really drove the pace."

A win for Quins would seal a play-off spot for the London club and Saturday's line-up sees six changes from that which started at Edgeley Park against Sale last week.

Fullback Mike Brown and British and Irish Lions squad member, Ugo Monye return and Tommy Williams will move to the wing to partner Monye, in place of the injured David Strettle. In the centre, Jordan Turner-Hall teams up with Gonzalo Tiesi, and Danny Care once again returns to the no 9 spot to team up with Waisea Luveniyali

In the only front row change, Tani Fuga comes in at hooker for the injured Gary Botha. Chris Brooker provides cover on the bench. [Teams]

Lewis Moody, Toby Flood and Matt Smith return from injury to make the Leicester side to play Bristol at the Walkers Stadium. Moody plays his first game since suffering an ankle injury in the build-up to the Six Nations, while Smith has recovered from an ankle problem picked up at Bristol last month and Flood has missed the last two games with a thigh injury.

Julien Dupuy returns at scrum-half after missing the win at Saracens last Sunday, Sam Vesty moves to inside centre as Aaron Mauger is ruled out by injury and Geordan Murphy continues as captain. Head coach Richard Cockerill also makes changes in the front row where Boris Stankovich, Benjamin Kayser and Julian White all start.

The Tigers are already guaranteed home advantage in the Guinness Premiership semi-final and will claim top spot with a point from Saturday's match. Cockerill said, "We have put ourselves into the position to finish top of the Guinness Premiership and we want to take that. But there is still a game to play on Saturday and we will stay focused on that."

David Lemi, Shaun Perry and Dan Ward-Smith will make their final appearance in a Bristol shirt against the Tigers. James Phillips is selected to start in the back row, whilst Mark Regan is named on the bench for what will be his last game for the club.

"I'm not very sentimental, but I'm pleased Mark Regan and Matt Salter has been given the opportunity to come into the 22," said coach Paul Hull. "We always expect a physical game against Leicester, so we've reflected that in our split on the bench.

"I'm actually looking forward to the game so we can draw a line under the season and officially prepare for next year. Obviously there's been a lot of work behind the scenes but now we can really get our teeth into what we'll face next year in the Championship, pre-season, and everything that comes with that." [Teams]

Mark Van Gisbergen is ruled out for Wasps against Gloucester which sees Lachlan Mitchell comes in at fullback. Mitchell will be joined by Tom Voyce who makes his last appearance for Wasps on the wing, in place of the injured Paul Sackey.

In the front row Phil Vickery returns for the game against his former side, back from injury and is named in place of Pat Barnard. The final change is seen in the back row where John Hart will start at no 8, with Joe Worsley moving to no 6 and Serge Betsen to no 7, with Tom Rees ruled out after sustaining a shoulder injury at the Memorial Stadium last weekend.

Serge Betsen will lead Wasps in what will also be the final appearance in a Wasps jersey for Josh Lewsey.

Director of Rugby Ian McGeechan looking ahead to the game said, "We will be looking to build on the momentum we have seen in recent weeks and know that we will need a strong performance against a highly motivated Gloucester side. We have everything to play for and on home turf in front of our supporters we will be looking for a big display to ensure we finish the season on a high. There's a lot at stake for both sides and marking the last game for a player of Josh Lewsey's calibre, it is set to be a great afternoon of rugby."

Dean Ryan has made seven changes to his Gloucester side from the side that lost to Worcester on Tuesday night. Injuries to Olivier Azam and James Simpson-Daniel see them ruled out this weekend in addition to longer term absentees such as Mike Tindall and Iain Balshaw.

The squad therefore features several players from the Gloucester Academy including the likes of Charlie Sharples, Henry Trinder, Dan Williams and Dave Lewis who were all named in the England U20 Junior World Cup squad this week. Internationals Greg Somerville, Marco Bortolami, Apo Satala, Rory Lawson and Anthony Allen all return to the starting line up though to bolster Ryan's side.

Gloucester Rugby have to win, ideally with a try bonus point, to give themselves any chance of making the last four for a third year in a row. However, that will not be enough if Harlequins, Bath Rugby and London Irish all get a minimum of two points. [Teams]

Sale Sharks wing Mark Cueto returns from suspension to face Northampton Saints at home. The Sharks need a bonus point win to have any chance of making the end of season play-offs and have named a strong lineup, captained by Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe. Director of Rugby Kinglsey Jones is expecting a big performance from his team.

"This is going to be a massive team effort and everyone will play a part in the game. Northampton are a good side and we need to respect them but we also need to aim to get maximum points and then see what happens. Several players are playing their last game at Edgeley Park and want to sign off with a win."

The Saints travel to Sale Sharks looking to secure seventh place in their first season back in the Guinness Premiership with Mallinder looking for the team to continue their recent run of positive results.

"Over the past few weeks we have played well and I want this to continue tomorrow afternoon," Mallinder said today. "While we have made changes everyone has earned their selection with strong performances either for the first team or for the Wanderers, who have also been playing well over the past few weeks." [Teams]

Bob Casey leads London Irish against the Worcester Warriors at Sixways Stadium on Saturday. Casey has returned earlier than expected from the arm injury and is a boost with Irish needing just two points to secure a spot in the top four.

Casey slots in next to Nick Kennedy and in other changes to the pack Danie Coetzee come in for the injured David Paice at hooker while David Danaher comes onto the blind side in place of Richard Thorpe who drops to the bench. In the backs Delon Armitage moves to fullback with Peter Richards coming in at outside centre.

Matt Powell, who has announced he will retire at the end of the season and join the coaching staff at the Warriors, will captain the side in his final match.

Ryan Powell (toe), Willie Walker (calf), Dale Rasmussen (hip) and Marcel Garvey (hand) miss the game and so a reshuffle in the back division sees Rico Gear move to outside centre with Miles Benjamin and Charlie Fellows coming onto the wings.

Chris Fortey starts at hooker in the pack, Will Bowley returns with Greg Rawlinson (back) left out of the squad and James Collins starts in the back row with Pat Sanderson (calf) also given time to recover ahead of the European Challenge Cup semi-final with Bourgoin next weekend.

Matthew Jones (foot) is replaced by Joe Carlisle and Ruddock has tipped his young fly-half to take the chance to shine in the final league game of the season. [Teams]