Bonus points more vital than ever

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Monday 30 September 2024 5:51 am
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Sunday 29 September 2024 6:01 pm

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Each Premiership side has now played a match at home and one on the road, so what have we learned from the early rounds of domestic rugby?

Well Gloucester’s new attacking style started to reward them with results while Saracens and Bath remained the only unbeaten sides.

Here are five talking points from round two.

Bath dunk Tigers

An opening night thumping of the champions put Bath in good stead for a dogged tie against Michael Cheika’s Leicester Tigers on Sunday.

The away side came out 20-15 victors in the East Midlands to remain unbeaten and inflict a first defeat on the Tigers in this Premiership campaign.

Bath are favourites for the title this season and are up towards the top of the table with Saracens as the only unbeaten teams – albeit the Londoners have more try bonus points.

It was by no means a fluid performance by a side anchored by No9 Ben Spencer and No10 Finn Russell, but the gritty wins are often those that show what a team is really made of.

But Leicester had their chances and made crucial errors throughout the game to take themselves out of contention, and that’ll be infuriating for head coach Cheika.

These two rugby sides still look like they will be in the mix come the postseason, but Bath have wounded the Tigers in round two.

Lights, camera, Ashton (Gate)

Gloucester fans would have been forgiven for heading to Ashton Gate on Friday night with little hope of securing a victory – Bristol Bears won the same fixture last year 51-26 and Gloucester’s last away game, in May, ended in a 90-0 defeat.

But the Cherry and Whites, determined to embrace a new, more expansive style of play, and their hosts put on one of the best games in recent Premiership history.

Their 44-41 away win was their first of this new era of play for George Skivington’s men and showed what appeared to be a completely rejuvenated side – including hat-trick hero Christian Wade – from the team that lost to Saracens.

There’s a long way to go this Premiership season but the two sides on Friday will keep throwing the ball around, and that’s great, at least, for the neutrals.

Smooth rugby transition

Much was said in the off-season about whether Saracens could transition away from Owen Farrell, the Vunipola brothers and other departees.

But the Londoners, with their new breed of players, swatted a stubborn Sale Sharks aside by 45-26.

And to spoil the Northerners’ day further, talismanic No10 George Ford limped off and will now require scans.

Each Premiership side has now played a match at home and one on the road, so what have we learned from the early rounds of domestic rugby? Here are five talking points from round two.

Closing the gap

It has been 556 days since Newcastle Falcons won a Premiership match and morale could understandably be shot, but head coach Steve Diamond – and many onlookers – were somewhat impressed with the side in their 28-14 loss to Harlequins on Saturday.

They were in the fight and scored a promising pair of tries but Harlequins were the classier side throughout the 80 minutes.

Diamond insisted the corner is closer to being turned, and that’s clearly visible. But how far ahead others get before the Falcons start winning could be the difference between a clean survival and a messy Premiership relegation play-off.

A Premiership bonus

Bristol 2-5 Gloucester; Harlequins 5-0 Falcons; Saracens 5-0 Sale; Northampton 4-1 Exeter and Leicester 1-4 Bath. These aren’t football scores but the distribution of points tallies for each Premiership side depending on results and bonus points.

Last season the top two sides, Northampton and Bath, finished equal on 60 points, third and fourth were equal on 56 points and second had one win fewer than third.

The Premiership’s top four, and Champions Cup qualification spots, will be decided by bonus points and every one will count. Bristol got one more point than the other losing sides while Saints and Bath failed to claim the full five. It could make the difference.

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