Exeter off to a flyer v Sarries
Lisowski binned for a swinging arm to the head too
NH under the posts. You'd think Bath would seriously struggle to come back from there but they've given a great show of themselves.
TMO having to remind Ref that he's playing Knock on advantage ???
Outside the remit of TMO ?
Good final & solid argument for not introducing a 20 min RC.
Northampton deserved Champions
JvG didnt think Obano Red card was foul play. Bizarre take
DeY TurK ooR fInAL aWAy !!
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jun/08/beno-obano-bath-northampton-premiership-final-rugby-union
MIchael cheika is Leicester coach
Cheika in the dock
Worcester Warriors could be back in the Premiership
It’s for the Championship, not the Premiership, and the request for expressions of interest went out to virtually every registered rugby club in England I understand, including university sides.
Excellent news for English rugby, for European Club rugby and hopefully too for Irish rugby players and community, both developing and mature.
The IRFU would do well to sit down early with the consortium, led by Jordan but also including Andrew Mehrtens of NZ and Bobby Skinstad of South Africa, to see what opportunities mutually exist with this investment. The Club will need everything, from operations staff to medical, S&C, coaches and a playing roster.
Newcastle Falcons are no more……. Arise Newcastle Red Bulls!
https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/articles/czdy67656yqo
I can't be certain what this will mean for the game, but I'm betting it won't be good....
TBH if it means financial stability for a team in a league where nearly all the others make a loss, it cant be a bad thing. They'll still have to operate within the cap. A shame they couldn't have kept the name though
Rees Zammit confirmed for Bristol
The thread probably needs a new thread or an edit on the title but Liam Williams has signed for Newcastle
Seeing how few posts there are in here since the thread opened I'll just rename it.
Liam Williams signs with The RedBulls
First game of this season's Premiership is Sale V Gloucester on THURSDAY evening at 19.45. It's live on TNT Sports 3.
I assume that Ross Byrne will be at 10 for Gloucester.
Quins V Bath is on Friday evening at 19.45. on TNT1 - convenient for Leinster watchers who need more rugby!
BP win for Sale 27-10
Ross Byrne sporting a Tricolour on the back of his jersey above his name.
I think Bath and Glocester put the flag of any international test players on their jersey. Not sure if any other clubs do it. I think it's a nice touch. Surprised it's the tricolour though. Shouldn't it be the IRFU flag?
After spotting it, I looked for any other Glaws players with similar but didn't see any. Maybe applies to capped internationals only ???
Yep, should have been IRFU badge (Glaws kit manager f*#k up)
Bath destroyed Quins last night in an entertaining game [7 tries to 5, 31-47]. Mind you, after the unadulterated shite that Leinster had produced earlier, I think that any match would have looked entertaining afterwards!
From what I saw of the other game, Sarries were far too good for the Newcastle Red Bulls [17-39, 5 tries to 2], despite losing a player to a 20 minute red card.
Looking forward to what should be a pair of decent games tomorrow (Sunday), when Saints host Exeter [13.00] then Bristol take on Leicester [15.30].
Well, well, well! At halftime Saints led Exeter 33-7 and the game looked over, so I went out for a walk. In the second half, Exeter scored 26 unanswerd points and ended up with an impressive draw! That'll teach me!
Well, Bristol did a right job on Leicester, winning 42 - 24. (5 tries to 4). But it was an expensive win for Pat Lam as they lost both Alan McGinty with what looked like a damaged achillles tendon and Harry Randall (hammy). They moved Tom Jordan to 10 where he had an excellent game, as had Marmion who replaced Randall. Their big signing Rees-Zammit scored a run-in try (from 60 meters!) at the death, which put the icing on the cake.
Tigers looked poor and, unusually for them, came second in the grunt game.
https://www.rugbypass.com/news/shock-change-at-the-top-imminent-as-newcastle-boss-gets-the-bullet/
Steve Diamond given his marching orders, surprising. Was on the rugby pod last week talking about the Red Bull take over, seemed very passionate / positive about the project
Bad news for Pat Lam:
Bristol Bears have been dealt a major blow with Harry Randall, AJ MacGinty and Gabriel Ibitoye all facing long spells on the sidelines and undergoing surgery for injuries this week.
The trio all went off in the Bears' win against Leicester last Sunday in their first outing of the new Prem season.
First choice fly-half MacGinty is facing nine months out with an Achilles injury and England scrum-half Randall is expected to be out until 2026 with a hamstring issue.
Winger Ibitoye - Bears' top try scorer of the past two seasons - also has a "complex" hamstring injury.
"I've probably never been in a game where I lose three starters, top players, to surgery in one game, but that's just the challenge we face," Lam said.
Yeah, it was fairly obvious watching the game that than none of them would be short term injuries.
Saints have confirmed that Lee Radford will be seconded to Scottish Rugby for this season’s international windows. He take up a permanent position with Scotland in the summer of 2026.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/rugby-union/2025/12/18/itv-ramp-up-rugby-coverage-with-new-prem-deal/
A bit more rugby on FTA TV.
What a run by Kata.
Hoskins Sotutu signs for Newcastle Red Bull.
Tomos Williams to Saracens in '26
