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Rugby Union tips

Saturday's Premiership & Pro14 betting preview, free tips and where to watch

Gloucester v Saracens | Munster v Ulster | Ospreys v Kings | Cardiff v Cheetahs

Gloucester wing Tom Marshall makes a break against Saracens at Kingsholm in February
Gloucester wing Tom Marshall makes a break against Saracens at Kingsholm in FebruaryCredit: Getty Images

Rugby union tips, best bets and predictions for Gloucester v Saracens in the Premiership and five Pro14 matches from 3pm on Saturday.

Where to watch

Gloucester v Saracens
BT Sport 2, 3pm Saturday

Pro14 matches
Premier Sports, FreeSports & S4C from 3pm Saturday

Best bets

Gloucester to win by one to 12 points
1pt 15-8 Betfair
Back this tip with Paddy Power

Munster -10 v Ulster
1pt 10-11 Betfred, SkyBet
Back this tip with bet365

Ospreys -16 v Southern Kings
1pt 10-11 general
Back this tip with William Hill

Cardiff to beat Cheetahs
1pt 6-5 Coral, Ladbrokes
Back this tip with Coral

Preview

It has been a tough week off the pitch for Saracens with the announcement on Tuesday that they have been found to be in breach of salary-cap regulations and Saturday's hosts Gloucester look worth a wager to add to the gloom by claiming a narrow victory.

The Cherry & Whites need to pick themselves up from a narrow 16-13 defeat at Leicester and Premiership and European champions Sarries - who have had their 35-point deduction and £5.36m fine suspended pending the outcome of their appeal - beat the Tigers 24-10 at Welford Road a fortnight ago.

However, Gloucester began their league campaign brightly with a 18-16 success at Sale and then delighted their home fans with a cosy 25-9 triumph over Wasps.

Saracens lost their Premiership opener at home to Northampton 27-25 and last Saturday they struggled to a 16-13 victory over London Irish at Allianz Park. The Exiles had been slammed 41-7 by Sale the previous weekend.

Last February, Gloucester beat Sarries 30-24 at Kingsholm, which was one of five away league defeats in six by a margin of between one and 12 points. At the time, they were either without their Six Nations stars or had prioritised progress in the Champions Cup, and most of Sarries' internationals are absent this week.

The Cherry & Whites are not back to full strength either, but head coach Johan Ackermann makes six changes, giving a first start to Scotland centre Chris Harris.

Their home league form - nine wins out of 11 - was the basis of last term's third-place finish and five of those successes were by fewer than 13 points.

In the Pro14, the best handicap bets are Munster against Ulster and Ospreys versus the Southern Kings, while Cardiff should beat the Cheetahs.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan brings back eight of the Ireland World Cup squad and has Conor Murray on the bench as they bid to make it five wins out of six for the season at Thomond Park. They have won their two previous home games against the Dragons and Ospreys 39-9 and 28-12.

Ulster are also going for five successes out of six but they lost 64-17 in Limerick last season and should be kept at arm's length again.

A tough early schedule means that the Ospreys have managed only one win this season, but they should comfortably see off the Southern Kings.

The Kings lost 50-0 in Glasgow last weekend and have conceded at least 30 points in their four other defeats.

Like the Ospreys, Cardiff are also looking for their second win of the season and they may claim it at home to the Cheetahs.

The Bloemfontein boys blasted out of the blocks with three big home wins over Glasgow, Ulster and Munster but they have been edged out at Connacht and the Scarlets since the departure of head coach Franco Smith.


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Max OramRacing Post Reporter

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