By Prof
February 10 2006

One beauty of being in the position we're in this season is we can look at the relegation zone of the Guinness Premiership and not have to worry about it at all, and what a nice feeling it is.

There are some big games this weekend and teams who win could start to pull away from the dreaded drop

Leeds host Bristol tonight (Friday) which could be one of the biggest games to decide who is relegated, if Leeds lose then they are in even more trouble, if they win they close up on Bath and Bristol are dragged further down into the mix. Bristol have pulled off some very big wins against the run of things and they have come close in a lot of other games but I think Leeds are difficult to beat at home and could get a home win.

London Irish host Newcastle with 'wor Jonny' on the bench for the northerners, it looks like it could be a tricky trip for Newcastle so they will probably remain in the mix.

Saracens v Bath is the other big game, Saracens have just sacked Diamond and they still don't have Farrell playing yet and Bath will be without a lot of their forwards who are on England duty, I think Saracens could stop their plummeting ways and pull this one off if they respond well to Mike Ford who'll be in charge for the game.

Wasps v Northampton is the final game Wasps are without 11 regular first team players (shame) while Northampton are without Lamont, Thompson and Cohen on senior international duty and Hartrey playing for the U21s. The inexperience of the Wasps academy scrum half - James Honeyben could be the deciding matter. I think this will be a rare away win for Saints.

At the end of this weekend I'd expect to see:

But one thing is certain, it's so nice not having to worry about it.