Preview - Gallagher PREM Round 6

England’s Gallagher PREM Rugby returns after a month off for the Quilter Nations Series, with 2024 champions Northampton Saints leading the way, two points ahead of reigning champions Bath.

Newcastle Red Bulls are one of four teams in action when the league returns on Friday evening, and they will be aiming to claim their first points of the season.

Players will return from international action with their reputations boosted, while others will have a point to prove. Others, though will be watching on from the sidelines after picking up an injury, and what new tactics will the PREM’s leading brain trust have gleaned from November’s action?

Here is what ATR thinks you should keep a look out for.

Newcastle Red Bulls v Leicester Tigers, Friday 19.45 (local time)

It hasn’t been the new season that Newcastle fans were hoping for after Red Bull flew into town over the summer, leaving all in northeast circles giddy with excitement of what was to come. Sadly, it hasn’t quite played out as they hoped with Red Bulls rooted to bottom of the table, with zero points. Plus, ca change, eh.

Ex-Lions and Wales Stephen Jones will be joining the training team soon, and Christian Wade will be joining the squad now his holiday is over. It will provide some hope, but in practice not much which means the current bunch need to rouse themselves.

Hooker and captain George McGuigan and number eight Amanaki Mafi are two that have impressed and they will need to drag their teammates with them as they go. The only issue is they face Leicester Tigers, who will feature Freddie Steward and Joe Heyes fresh from four wins with England over the autumn, and players such as Jack van Poortvliet and Adam Radwan, who missed out and will want to show that they should be included when the Guinness Men’s Six Nations roles around.

There will be no easy points for the Red Bulls, but they should know that by now.

Sale Sharks v Exeter Chiefs, Friday 19:45

Two teams that will have players coming back from the autumn internationals in good heart but also missing others who picked up bumps and bruises during their time away. For Exeter, it will be a test of their credentials with the Chiefs sitting in third place, while the Sharks will try and spark a rise up the table from seventh.

George Ford is in raging hot form after securing England’s first choice flyhalf spot, Tom Curry confirmed his quality, and Luke Cowan-Dickie has been his abrasive best as England’s starting hooker with two tries. The will be doubts over Tom Roebuck’s fitness after he missed England’s match against Argentina, but Tom O’Flaherty and Joe Carpenter pose their own threats in the back three.

For Exeter, Stephen Varney and Andrea Zambonin will return with a swagger after they were leading lights as Italy enjoyed their best autumn with victories over Australia and Chile, and an impressive display against South Africa. Unfortunately, they will be without their third Italian, Ross Vintcent, who is out with a shoulder injury.

Gloucester v Harlequins, Saturday 15.00

Two sides who will feel that they could have done better in the opening five rounds of the season, not least Gloucester, who have only taken three bonus points from five defeats.

Gloucester’s main threat has come from centre Will Joseph, who has scored four tries in five appearances and been a threat every time he gets the ball in his hands. The problem has come inside him where Max Llewelyn hasn’t always been the strongest foil, and while Ross Byrnes is an experienced flyhalf, he lacks a little dynamism.

Harlequins sit one place, and seven points above Gloucester, but at least they can look back on two victories in the opening matches, including their 52-14 win over Newcastle Red Bulls before the international break.

Their internationals endured a mixed bag, and while Fin Baxter established himself as competition at loosehead prop to Ellis Genge, Marcus Smith and Chandler Cunningham-South will want to play in their favoured positions, while Argentinians Guido Petti and Rodrigo Isgro will feel they have points to prove after not getting the job done against England last Sunday.

Bristol Bears v Northampton Saints, Saturday 17:45

Bristol Bears’ medical department will have been busy over the international period doing their best to turn around an injury crisis that at one stage featured 29 first team squad players. No doubt there were probably times when Pat Lam felt like daubing some lamb’s blood on the door to keep the bad vibes at bay.

Ellis Genge, Louis Rees-Zammit, Joe Batley, Fitz Harding, Bill Mata, Kalaveti Ravouvou, Santi Grondona, Matias Maroni, Tom Jordan, and Benjamin Elizalde will be back in contention to help kick on a league campaign that has returned three wins and two defeats, despite injuries to the likes of Gabriel Ibitoye, AJ MacGinty, and Harry Randall.

The one silver line to an enormous cloud was Sam Worsley’s emergence as a PREM-level flyhalf. Opposite him will be Fin Smith, a man with underwent a deflating November series. Having established himself as England’s flyhalf in the Six Nations, he now finds himself behind George Ford, but unlikely to feature on the bench due to Marcus Smith’s versatility. With Anthony Belleau in good form, might we see Fin Smith feature in the centre from time to time, to show England coach Steve Borthwick that he too can be versatile?

Saracens v Bath, Sunday, 15.00

What to make of Saracens so far this season? Three wins and two defeats leave them in fourth place, with memories of losses to Harlequins and Northampton Saints providing caveats on their season so far.

Owen Farrell’s return was the story during those first five matches, but now that he has had a relatively quiet four weeks, the eye should be drawn to the man who is keeping him out of the flyhalf shirt, Fergus Burke. The Kiwi-born Burke won his third Scotland cap against Tonga and landed five conversions. So far Burke has paired well with Farrell, often working around him and attacking with his pace. There are areas Mark McCall needs to work on, but the midfield axis isn’t it.

Bath haven’t quite hit their form of spring 2025, but they don’t need to yet and are simmering away in second place. Max Ojomoh is the latest player to make his mark with England, and now Johann van Graan has the enviable job of where to put him. Expect to see him in the centres, either as cover for Ollie Lawrence if he doesn’t recover from the injury that kept him out of the win over Argentina, or inside centre alongside Lawrence in an intriguing look at what England’s future centre pairing could be.