Bath fell short of their lofty aspirations, free-scoring Exeter have racked up record points, Leicester never cease to amaze and Bristol go down with regretsOn and off the field this has been another uneven season for a Bath squad with loftier aspirations. Injuries have been savage at times – the club have had to pick six different starting hookers – but, despite European qualification, there is still a sense all is not entirely right. Further repercussions of the squad’s evening of high jinks at the Rec last month are anticipated this week – some players streaked across the pitch, a fire extinguisher was let off and a kicking clinic for children was heckled – and England’s George Ford is off...
Aviva Premiership campaign, which has seen try-scoring records tumble, reaches play-off stage with Wasps hosting Leicester and Saracens travelling to ExeterA record-breaking 2016-17 Aviva Premiership season is looking set for an equally fast and furious finish as the four title rivals enter the final stretch. Already the two leading sides, Wasps and Exeter, have surged past the longstanding record for team tries scored in a season, previously held by Newcastle in 1997-98, and the play-offs this month are a good bet to produce more high-speed entertainment.Only once before, in 1999-2000 when defences were much less organised, have more tries been scored overall during a 22-match regular season than the tally of 725 this year and more thrills and spills appear...
Premiership officials may wince when they see the team-sheets but with European finals looming and domestic scheduling not ideal, Mick McCall and David Humphreys are making entirely understandable decisionsEven those officials who long ago opted to end the Premiership campaign with a grand sudden-death Twickenham finale will have winced when they saw the team-sheets for the last weekend of the regular season. What should be a climactic Saturday afternoon is in danger of proving little with both Saracens and Gloucester deciding not to pick their strongest XVs in an effort to keep key players fresh for European finals next week. Related: Premiership 2016-17 team of the season: Wasps and Saracens dominate Continue reading...
As the campaign draws to a close, Saracens and their England contingent dominate the Guardian rugby union correspondent’s team of the 2016-17 Premiership seasonInjury had threatened to wreck the Australian’s big-money move to England but, once fully fit again, he displayed fizzing class virtually every time he touched the ball. Could have made the team of the year at No12 or No15 and will be missed when he returns to Australia after only one season. Bristol’s Jason Woodward also deserves a mention. Related: Who are the five best overseas players to grace the Premiership? | Robert Kitson Related: How about a play-off between top two in Premiership and Pro 12? | The Breakdown Continue reading...
The argument that foreign talent has stunted home growth falls flat when you think of some of the players who have graced these shores in the past 20 yearsImagine if the last 20 years of English club rugby had passed without a single player from overseas – let alone the rest of Britain and Ireland – featuring in the Premiership. How immeasurably greyer our sporting lives would have been.The thought occurred over the weekend, as Nick Evans bear-hugged his Harlequins director of rugby, John Kingston, and Kelly Brown treated Saracens’ fans to his best post-match Bon Jovi impression, that the finest imports are not measured purely by on-field deeds. Better, perhaps, to gauge their contribution by the size of the...