Gallagher PREM Rugby returns after a two-week hiatus for the Investec Champions and EPCR Challenge Cups, with the 2024 champions Northampton Saints looking down from top spot.
Gallagher PREM Rugby returns after a two-week hiatus for the Investec Champions and EPCR Challenge Cups, with the 2024 champions Northampton Saints looking down from top spot.
There are a pack of three clubs chasing hard, and three more trying to force their way into the playoff places, while the three at the bottom are trying to find some form.
It will be interesting to see how the two weeks of Champions and Challenge Cup action affects the PREM teams. For some, they have maintained their PREM form, for others the two weeks marked an upturn in form that they will now hope to maintain now they are back to domestic action, while for others they will want to put the Champions and Challenge Cup memories behind them and try and find some form.
Here’s what ATR will be looking out for this weekend…
Gloucester v Bath – Friday 19.45 (All Times Local)
From the frying pan to the fire for Gloucester, as west country rivals and defending PREM champions make the hour journey north to Kingsholm. There, they are likely to find a side licking their wounds after a chastening time in the Investec Champions Cup after defeats to Edinburgh and Toulon left George Skivington’s side with a free weekend or two when the tournament resumes in April. It is now six straight losses for the Cherry and Whites.
Head coach Skivington has hinted that changes are afoot to his backroom team, changes that would allow him to focus more on coaxing performances out his team, a team that will be reinforced by Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake in the summer. He is also looking over his shoulder at Newcastle Red Bulls, who enjoyed their EPCR Challenge Cup experience to finish with three wins from four.
Bath ended their Champions Cup pool stage on a high by flogging Edinburgh to finish top of Pool 2. Johann van Graan will have a lot of international coaches’ eyes on his selection with the Guinness Men’s Six Nations a fortnight away, but while Bath chase top spot, don’t expect any of his key players to be given time off.
Exeter Chiefs v Bristol Bears – Saturday 15.00
Another match where the English, Scottish, Welsh and Italian coaches will be praying that no ill befalls any of their stars, but with Exeter in third and Bristol in fourth, don’t expect anyone to be putting their feet up. Bristol have won their previous three PREM clashes against the Chiefs, have won their three last away matches, but Exeter are unbeaten at home this season.
Exeter closed out their Challenge Cup run with a win over Cardiff that set up a Round of 16 home tie against Munster, and it came at an important time after consecutive defeats to Bath in the PREM and Stade Francais in the Challenge Cup. It feels like the Chiefs are being pushed like at no other time this season, and it is a big test how their relatively young squad reacts.
Bristol may have felt the full force of Bordeaux-Begles last weekend, but there were still some pretty impressive performances, not least Fitz Harding, Louis Rees-Zammit and Ellis Genge, who led carrying with 15, 14 and 12 apiece. They are the basics that Bristol’s form as been built on this season, and while Bordeaux-Begles would have tested them like no other, there is no reason to curtail that style now they are back in the PREM.
Saracens v Newcastle Red Bulls – Saturday 15.00
What a difference a week made for Saracens. One week you’re being hailed for defeating French champions Toulouse, but a week later you’re flogged by a rampant Glasgow Warriors side and leave Scotland with a single penalty to your name.
Just to rub salt into the wounds, Jamie George, your long-serving hooker, talisman, captain, and team heartbeat announces that he will be retiring after the 2026-27 season. It is a long way away, and it means that the side will need to extend that emotional energy for longer than they might have liked.
They are also facing a third home PREM defeat for the first time after losses to Bath and Exeter Chiefs, but Director of Rugby Mark McCall can’t fall back on a public tongue lashing as he did after the loss to Leicester Tiger, as that would suggest something is really wrong.
Newcastle’s loss to the Dragons in the Challenge Cup ended their unbeaten start of three matches in 2026, but with new signings being announced the feelgood factor continues to build at Kingston Park. If they are going to record a maiden victory away to Saracens away, now is the time.
Harlequins v Leicester Tigers – Saturday 15.05
Could this be most unlikely club romance, after Harlequins’ exploits against La Rochelle last weekend allowed Leicester Tigers to slip into the Champions Cup knockout rounds? Probably not, but you’re looking at two Jekyll and Hyde teams, which means this match could go either way.
Hosts Quins enjoyed a royally grand two weeks, first by sticking 61 points on The Stormers and then with their raid on La Rochelle that sent the 2022 and 2023 winners tumbling into the Challenge Cup. They were full of their usual running and handling wizardry, but they were something you don’t normally call Harlequins, obdurate, as their 100 percent scrum success rate at Stade Deflandre highlights.
Then there were the Tigers, who couldn’t quite keep hold of a losing bonus point against The Stormers, hence their need for a favour from Quins. Things are better in the PREM, where they have lost once in their last six, but have won only once in their last six away PREM fixtures. Oh yeah, they are unbeaten in their four most recent encounters with Harlequins. Geoff Parling is quietly making a difference, but which Tigers will arrive in southwest London? Oh, please don’t mention Adam Radwan’s injury.
Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints – Saturday 17.30
Sale Sharks fancied going better than last season when they reached the semifinals, but so far, they are 14 points behind Bristol Bears in the fourth and final playoff place. Yes, their second string shipped 77 points away to Toulouse, but seeing as they had already qualified the hope is that their big names will show their appreciation for the time off.
Sale Sharks have enjoyed a solitary victory in their last six PREM clashes, when they beat Harlequins over the festive period. They remain tough to beat at home, with only loss in Salford since January 2025. If Northampton Saints want a win, they will have to graft hard for it.
Saints are likely to again turn to Anthony Belleau at flyhalf, while Fin Smith works his way back from injury, but Fraser Dingwall is back and as well as providing a steady hand in the centre, is also helping Tommy Freeman adapt to his move off the wing to outside centre. That said, such is Sale’s use of the high balls to the wing, could the relatively diminutive Edoardo Todaro be targeted? Saints enjoyed an impressive 47-21 win over Sale earlier in the season, but a repeat is no guarantee if Sale can find a chink in Northampton’s armour to exploit.