Cool-headed Exeter shone without setting hearts racing, as Saracens and Wasps slipped while injuries dominatedFinal league position: 1st Related: Premiership team of the season: from Henry Trinder to Donncha O’Callaghan | Robert Kitson Related: Saracens turn focus on recapturing Premiership title from Exeter | Robert Kitson Continue reading...
This year there will be no distractions as the European champions attempt to regain the domestic crown from last season’s surprise packageThis time last year Wasps and Munster had just finished ahead of the rest of the Premiership and Pro 12 respectively and had every reason to believe they could translate that success into silverware. Three weeks later they watched Exeter and Scarlets lift the two trophies instead, a harsh reminder of the sizeable difference between the marathon regular season and the play‑off sprint.That crucially important lesson will not be lost on this year’s table toppers – Exeter, Glasgow and Leinster – all of whom appreciate that nine months of relentless toil can quite easily be undermined in the sunshine of May....
As the Premiership regular season draws to a close, Wasps, Worcester and Exeter provide three players apieceTwenty-one try assists in 19 games, as well as four tries, reflect the South African’s influence on Wasps’ attacking game. The Springboks are reportedly keen to have him back for the 2019 World Cup andas with Kurtley Beale, Le Roux’s pace and eye for a gap will be conspicuously missed when he is gone. Jason Woodward and Telusa Veainu also make the podium. Related: Premiership 2016-17 team of the season: Wasps and Saracens dominate Continue reading...
Bath are facing catastrophe, Ellis Genge offers grounds for English optimism and Josh McNally makes a poignant returnAnother home defeat in the Premiership for Bath, whose season is now in grave danger of unravelling. It may have taken a late Joe Simmonds penalty for Exeter but after a bright start to the campaign Bath’s inconsistency has been their downfall and they occupy eighth place in the table. They will most likely have to win all four of their remaining matches to reach the play-offs and failure to qualify for the Champions Cup would be an unmitigated disaster. Bath have not been helped by injuries but there have been times this season when Todd Blackadder’s frustration at his players’ inability to...
Saracens became the only Premiership club to gain a European Champions Cup quarter-final place, Scarlets were the comeback kids and injuries made grim viewing for GatlandWasps must be kicking themselves for their late capitulation at Harlequins the previous weekend for there can be little doubt it was at the Stoop where their hopes of reaching the knockout stages disappeared. To their credit they produced perhaps their best performance of their campaign to eliminate Ulster, securing an emphatic bonus point win only to come up just short as they and Exeter finished as the two runners-up who failed to qualify. In doing so they may have also answered a few critics who could suggest they are a fairweather team – scoring...