11 things we learned from the first weekend of Prem rugby ...Middle East

The new Prem Rugby season kicked off with a feeling that it had never been gone.

Northampton Saints are still excellent, Bath will push them hard, and despite all the optimism of off-season, Newcastle Red Bulls seem some way off.

But what questions do each team pose this campaign?

Northampton Saints’ defence is not sustainable

Northampton have a remarkable ability to find and effectively use talent in their back line. Tommy Freeman kicked off the new season with a hat-trick and, when he departed with just under 10 minutes to go, his teammate Ollie Sleightholme scored with his first touch of the ball.

Full-back James Pater, making just his third Premiership start, also bagged a hat-trick. Since the start of 2025, Saints have scored four tries or more in 24 of their 30 matches.

Tommy Freeman has his 2nd try of the night Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/VK01IUeUaD

Remarkably, their opponents have scored four tries or more in 23 of those matches. Entertaining though this approach is, surely it is not sustainable, especially if they have Europe on their mind.

Bath require a plan B

Last year Bath learnt that they need a plan when Finn Russell isn’t available.

Given the fly-half has just turned 34 and is still integral to Scotland’s plans, it has to be assumed that, at best, he will miss games this season when he is rested.

This Santi Carreras interception deserves your full attention Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/5ZUaS8o4oy

Santiago Carreras is the man most likely to step in, but when he was forced into the role at the end of last season, it felt like both the fly-half and full-back positions got weaker. Will things be different this year?

New faces, same results for Newcastle

Newcastle have brought in an almost entirely new squad this off-season.

However, starting from scratch is easier said than done and the Red Bulls have made a lot of solid but not spectacular signings. Head coach Dan McFarland is a great leader, but he will have to change the culture of an organisation which has grown so used to losing.

They have won just four matches in the last two seasons. Friday showed they have more firepower in attack, but it has been eight games since they last conceded fewer than 40 points.

Harlequins’ identity crisis

Harlequins started last season with a respectable four wins and four losses, then fumbled the final 10 matches to manage just two wins in that period.

The problem for Quins is that they lack a clear identity. You might imagine they are a free-flowing team a la Saints or Bristol Bears with players like Marcus Smith and Alex Dombrandt in their midst.

From one end to the other in seconds Chandler Cunningham-South finishes off a brilliant Harlequins move Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/565p5YsSuc

But they’re not. They haven’t finished in the top half of the table by tries scored since 2022-23. Their defensive frailties have been well documented, but arguably their lack of attack is the biggest problem.

Is this Gloucester’s year?

It is a new Welsh look for Gwlad-ster. Hooker Dewi Lake and flanker Jac Morgan, who have both captained Wales, replace scrum-half Tomos Williams. Based on what Gloucester need, that is a good swap and both were exceptional as they took apart last year’s runners-up, Exeter Chiefs, on Saturday.

Is this going to be Gloucester’s season? Probably not. It’s hard to see how anyone dislodges either Bath or Northampton.

Dewi Lake in the corner The @gloucesterrugby captain delivers the bonus point on the stroke of half-time Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/ruLcju57zT

But the other eight places are up for grabs and the early signs suggest Gloucester are going to be in the hunt for the play-off spots.

Which Chiefs will show up?

Rugby is a funny old game. The Chiefs had dreadful results two years ago, but their underlying stats suggested they should have been better than they were.

Last year they were much better, though their underlying stats suggested they were less good than their results. They scored fewer tries than all but three sides, yet earned as many try bonus points as Bath, who scored 26 tries more.

A dream moment on debut Louie Gulley secures @ExeterChiefs' bonus point Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/tgbnBCObMo

What is their true level? Based on Saturday’s opener against Gloucester, it suggests they won’t repeat last year’s heroics. To a certain extent, they’re a team out of their time, with a heavy focus on defensive stability in an era where it’s all about attack. They are very heavily reliant on Henry Slade who, when he eventually retires, will do so as one of the most underrated players of his generation.

Sale Sharks’ expensive rebuild

Tomas Francis and Courtney Lawes were signed by Provence and Brive respectively a few seasons ago with the intention that they would help secure promotion to the Top 14. That didn’t happen, but both forwards have a new role in the north-west.

They don’t need to worry about promotion, or relegation for that matter, but they need to bring respectability to a team that completely collapsed last year. Rock bottom happened in April when they lost 85-19 to Saracens.

Slick stuff from @SaleSharksRugby Tom O'Flaherty gives the hosts a dream start to the second half Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/lO04UB2t5l

Francis and Lawes are joined by Nicky Smith, who has had a late-career renaissance since he stopped playing his club rugby in Wales. Sale have the best front row in the league now and a new, more expansive attacking structure under Joe Ford’s tutelage. We saw a lot of their front row against Bristol in the opening round, but not much coherent attack.

It’s now or never for Bristol Bears

Since Pat Lam arrived in Bristol in 2017, he has been committed to a high-risk attacking game plan. Loads of offloads, limited kicking and lots of tries have been the positive results.

The negatives are that they are defensively fragile. Their attacking game plan puts pressure on their defence because it forces them to defend a lot of turnover ball.

Is that the try that seals it Tomas Gwilliam with a crucial score for @BristolBears with less than 10 minutes to play Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZqilx pic.twitter.com/lYCRkUysQa

The way Bears play has rightly won a lot of admirers, including me, but it hasn’t won a title. Meanwhile, a little further north, Saints have taken the blueprint and have won two in the last three years.

There are some signs that their approach is shifting. They played Sale Sharks in the fourth game of the weekend and were the first team to even attempt a penalty kick at goal.

Venter needs to show he has moved on

Brendan Venter returns as director of rugby for Sarries this year. His first stint featured a lot of meme-able drama, if memes existed back then, but beneath that he was a genuinely brilliant and inventive coach who transformed the game and with it the fortunes of the north London club.

A thriller in the midlands as Leicester and Saracens played out a 78-point opener pic.twitter.com/jgHWqH2Ucj

Now, everyone does the kind of analysis Venter was doing by himself back then. Can he still find opportunities to bring in new ideas in a sport so heavily analysed and considered?

Tigers have found another diamond in the rough

The Tigers have been brilliant at recruiting from unexpected sources. A couple of years ago it was the arrival of Will Wand from Coventry in the Champ and last year Billy Searle from Agen in Pro D2.

Leicester have suddenly come alive at Welford Road Gabriel Hamer-Webb brings Leicester right back into this game. Stream TNT Sports on HBO Max t.co/WyCGBZpKvZ pic.twitter.com/YVm2kXvHLE

Both are regulars at Welford Road and might be joined by young hooker Jack Doorey-Palmer who comes in from a fairly wretched Cambridge side, relegated from the Champ last year. Despite the team’s lack of success, Doorey-Palmer was a bright spark and could be another find for this exceptional recruiting team.

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