Hello and welcome back to The Times’ guide to the Gallagher Prem. This midwinter is looking far from bleak as domestic rugby returns from the European break to top up the sporting smorgasbord. With only seven points separating the top six, these next few weeks will be crucial in shaping the race for the play-offs and European spots.
For the final time before Christmas . . . shall we?
The Mad Friday before Christmas is one of the busiest nights of the year for boozers up and down these fair isles, nowhere more so than the locals around Welford Road for this clash between the sides fourth and ninth in the table.
Leicester Tigers squandered an excellent start against a Leinster side stacked with international talent last Friday night as they lost 23-15 at home, conceding 17 unanswered points in the second half to add to a 39-20 loss to Stade Rochelais in the first round. But their head coach, Geoff Parling, wasn’t entirely unhappy with what he saw.
Leicester managed to expose the Leinster scrum, and Adam Radwan reminded England head coach Steve Borthwick of his attributes with sort of pacey and smart footwork that perhaps only he and Henry Arundell are capable of in this league.
Radwan, right, impressed in last week’s face-off with Leinster, despite his side’s defeat at Welford Road
DAVID ROGERS/GETTY
Despite the chastening defeat, Parling’s team can take confidence into Friday night’s game against Gloucester, who were roundly beaten 31-3 by Munster in their European encounter after a strong 34-14 win over Castres the weekend before.
Moods in that part of the West Country may be boosted by the news that the Wales captain, Jac Morgan, is set to join Gloucester from Ospreys at the end of the season, alongside his international team-mate, hooker Dewi Lake.
Gloucester have won two of the past three Prem meetings between these teams, but they have all been close affairs with no more than seven points separating the teams at the final whistle. Gloucester have only won once at Welford Road in the past 17 years, however — a 27-25 corker in March last year.
This one should at least be a more dignified spectacle than Anthony Joshua’s bout with Jake Paul a few hours later. Only proper sport on my pub screens, please.
Northampton Saints v Sale Sharks
Saturday, 3pm
Discovery+
Third welcomes seventh on Saturday afternoon as the high-flying Northampton Saints host Sale Sharks, who are having a mixed year with only two wins from their first six league games.
Northampton passed both of their European tests with flying colours, beating Pau 35-27 on December 7 before demolishing a (second-string) Pretoria Bulls side by 50 points to a measly five on Sunday. Perhaps only the England cricket team can empathise with travelling halfway round the world to be given such a kicking .
Hendy will be aiming to build on his eye-catching hat-trick against the Bulls as the Saints host Sale
DAVID ROGERS/GETTY
George Hendy was the standout in Sunday’s game, scoring a hat-trick as the frustrated Bulls chased after the Saints as if they were Midlands matadors. Hendy, who looks like a beefed-up Chuckie from Rugrats, is in the unenviable position of being a promising England wing prospect in a time of extraordinary riches, but he can only keep working and delivering performances like these to keep himself in the running.
Despite a topsy-turvy domestic campaign so far, in which they’ve made their worst start after six games since 2021-22, Sale delivered arguably their performance of the season in the Champions Cup last weekend. They dispatched Clermont Auvergne 35-14 at home to take a bonus-point win after losing to Glasgow in their first game.
The past four Prem meetings between Saints and Sharks have seen two wins apiece, but Sale haven’t won at Franklin’s Gardens since February 2022, when they triumphed 22-21.
Saracens v Exeter Chiefs
Saturday, 3pm
Discovery+
Saracens will be aiming to bounce back from last weekend’s bruising defeat by the Sharks in Durban
STEVE HAAG SPORTS/DARREN STEWART/INHPO
Exeter Chiefs could arrive in London on Saturday afternoon having dropped to third, should Leicester get anything from their game against Gloucester on Friday night.
The Chiefs go from one fashionable capital to another, having conceded an 83rd-minute try to draw 31-31 against Racing 92 in their Challenge Cup encounter in Paris. They had led 28-12 at half-time but managed to fluff their lines, though did beat the Cheetahs handsomely, 42-12, in their previous game.
Saracens, meanwhile, were left licking their wounds after a tough wrestle with the Sharks, losing 28-23. They made several changes in Durban, with Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and Jamie George all left out, and ultimately came away with a bonus point for their excellent effort. They did give Clermont a good kicking the week before, winning 47-10.
The home side will begin the day in sixth, having won three and lost three. With 19 points (seven courtesy of bonuses), they are two points off the top four at the start of the weekend.
History is certainly against the visiting team in this one — the Chiefs last tasted victory at the StoneX in November 2017, edging their way home in a 20-18 win.
The Chiefs only have a 16.7 win percentage at the StoneX, the lowest of any stadium at which they have played a minimum of two games. They’ve played 12, won two, drawn one and lost the rest. A far from happy hunting ground.
Harlequins v Bristol Bears
Saturday, 6pm
TNT Sports 1/ITV4
Harlequins begin this weekend on a lowly ten points following a hot and cold start to the season. Having walloped Bayonne 68-14, they welcome Bristol Bears, who could have slipped into sixth by kick-off depending on the Saracens result.
Marcus Smith ran riot against the much-changed Bayonne, swaggering as only he knows how to leave the Basques chasing shadows. Say what you like about the quality of opposition, a confident Smith can be extremely dangerous. Bristol should be wary.
The Bears had two contrasting wins in their Champions Cup encounters. Louis Rees-Zammit returned from international duty with a try that proved the difference in a 17-16 win against the Scarlets in west Wales, before they pummelled Pau 61-12 back in the West Country.
Bristol’s recent record against Quins is excellent — they have won their past three fixtures, all by handsome margins, and have triumphed on their previous three league visits to the Stoop.
Regardless of the result, the travelling Bristol support surely won’t have as much fun as the Bayonne brigade, who ran a conga line around the pitch as their much-changed team conceded ten tries.
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Sunday, 3pm
TNT Sports 1
Rather than returning from the Côte d’Azur with a suntan, the Prem champions and league leaders Bath came back from Toulon with a few bruises. The nine-try ding-dong with Toulon became a bit of a reality check for Johann van Graan’s team as the French side, led from the front by the former England forwards Kyle Sinckler and Lewis Ludlam, gave Bath’s physical attributes a full and thorough examination in a 45-34 victory.
Bath’s bonus point means they have six points from their first two games after beating Munster 40-14. Pool two, by the way, is shaping up very nicely, with each of Bath, Castres, Munster, Toulon, Gloucester and Edinburgh having won one and lost one. Bath are only top, on six points, thanks to an extra bonus point, with the rest on five.
In the northeast, Newcastle fans of an oval-ball persuasion have only seen their team win at home nine times in the Prem since the pandemic, the most recent of which was a 17-12 success over Saracens 13 months ago.
Their European form has been a little better, though. They beat Lyon 23-14 away from home and defeated the Lions from Johannesburg 14-10 back at Kingston Park a week later with a last-minute converted try sealing the deal.
Newcastle last beat Bath in September 2021, a 20-13 victory at the Rec, and they have only come within seven points on two occasions since then. An uphill task awaits.