Gallagher PREM Review – Week 7

It is as you were as the Gallagher PREM Rugby returned after two weeks of the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, with Bath still on top and Newcastle Red Bulls no nearer securing their first win of the league season to stay rooted to the bottom.

Elsewhere, there were some crucial match ups that would go a long way to deciding the final top four for the playoffs, and while some teams found a return to form and others kept up their winning ways, one or two will be trying to work out ways to turn around a slump in form.

Here’s what caught ATR’s eye over the weekend…

Leicester Tigers 45-14 Gloucester

Make no mistake, Leicester Tigers needed this result. After defeats to La Rochelle and Leinster in the Investec Champions Cup, Geoff Parling’s outfit required a show of strength to demonstrate that they remain as fearsome as ever on their Mattioli Woods Welford Road home turf, and that’s what he got.

There was plenty for Parling to enjoy. Billy Searle and Orlando Bailey showed he shouldn’t worry too much is James O’Connor doesn’t extend his deal, Freddie Steward played like a man who looked like he was fed up of reading about George Furbank, and Ollie Chessum returned from injury with a try.

Gloucester had appeared to have turned a corner with wins in the PREM and Champions Cup, but their Barbarians style rugby played into Leicester’s hands with far too many mistakes made. Then there was their porous defence, which had trouble reorganising on the fly, as summed up by Searle’s try in which he waltzed through the Gloucester defence, with barely a hand grazing him.

Northampton Saints 47-21 Sale Sharks

The 2024 PREM champions showed again that they are determined to challenge of two fronts, and how can anyone argue after a dominant showing, and seven tries, against Sale Sharks, who again produced a lacklustre display.

George Furbank has been in the news this week, linked to a move to Harlequins. There is no question of what he offers, but at 29 is he worth the increased wages he would command? Saints don’t lack options in the back three, with George Hendy grabbing a brace, Edoardo Todaro continuing his development, Ollie Sleightholme on the bench, and James Ramm waiting in the wings. Could better value come from the market, or their academy?

What Sale Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson made of his team’s defence would be enlightening. Ultimately it was poor, with Saints players picking their way holes and shrugging off would-be defenders with ease. Yes, they are missing George Ford and Tom Curry, but this performance was way below what we’ve expected from the Sharks.

Saracens 24-30 Exeter Chiefs

Two teams that don’t really like each other that much, and it brought out the best of them both in a fast, furious, and passionate clash. Just watch Jamie George give it to Chiefs flyhalf Harvey Skinner after Noah Caluori’s second try. Yes, 35-year-old, married father, Jamie George. Who doesn’t love a bit of niggle?

Both teams played well, though it is a reflection of the closeness between them that both enjoyed periods of control. While Saracens threatened to run away with the match, Exeter’s second rows Daffyd Jenkins and Andrea Zambonin got through a ton of work, making 16 tackles each. Overall, 14 players made double figures for tackles. It was that sort of match.

Exeter’s late try to claim the win was a sign that Saracens aren’t quite as Saracensy as they once were. Having failed to close out the match, the players stood and watched as Henry Slade swooped on a loose ball and raced away. While the hosts waited for the whistle for a knock on, it gave Slade a crucial moment to open a gap away from Max Malins, Elliot Daly, and Caluori, and earn the Chiefs the spoils that at one point looked as though they were staying in north London.

Harlequins 14-40 Bristol Bears

The biggest stage for the two great entertainers, but only one showed up. Bristol Bears played Christmas party poopers at Allianz Stadium with a free-flowing, relentless performance that Harlequins fans would have looked on with a sense of longing.

At flyhalf Tom Jordan outplayed Marcus Smith. His passing range hit runners and put teammates into space, in a way that Smith was unable to do. That said, Jordan played behind a rampant pack. Harlequins’ forwards were passive at best. He also linked well with centres Benhard Janse van Rensburg and James Williams. It was a showing that will have made Scotland coach Gregor Townsend take notice.

Harlequins weren’t short on effort, and there was no lack of offers for carrying duties, but too often they were shoved backwards and then overpowered at the breakdown. In contrast, they had no answer to Bristol’s speed of attack that too often left them looking over their shoulders and flat-footed. This was supposed to be their Big Game, at the Big Stoop, but the big performance came from the Bears. It means Quins’ coaches have plenty to mull over during their Christmas dinner.

Newcastle Red Bulls 14-50 Bath

For a time, it looked like we could be in for a shock, a Christmas miracle in northeast England. After 27 minutes Red Bulls led 14-12, but then Bath stepped on the gas and that was that.

It wasn’t for a lack of effort, but if ever you want a show of strength, it came on the 54th minute when Bath head coach Johann van Graan turned to his bench and sent on all eight, an octet that included internationals Tom Dunn, Beno Obano, Thomas du Toit, Ted Hill, Sam Underhill, Ben Spencer and Cameron Redpath, as well as Alfie Barberry.

Newcastle will face few stronger teams this season, and they will feel slightly aggrieved that the reigning champions visited Kingston Park just as they managed to pick up two wins in the Challenge Cup. The locals are still enthusiastic, and it was another full house, a sign that they are happy to be patient. Even so, at times the defence was woeful, the attack blunt, and until reinforcements arrive there appears little hope of much improvement.