Preview - Gallagher PREM Round 9

We hit the halfway stage in the Gallagher PREM Rugby with the table taking shape with contenders for the top spot emerging, teams jostling for playoff places, and those towards the bottom aiming for an upturn in form.

The reigning champions again face a pretender to the throne, the league leaders take on a side desperate to find some good form, and the cellar dwellers have the chance to close the gap.

Here’s what ATR is keeping its eye on as the PREM moves into 2026…

Bristol Bears v Sale Sharks – Friday 19.45 (all times local)

Eleven points may separate these sides, but both will go into the match with confidence high. Bristol may have enjoyed the better run, but Sale’s win over Harlequins a week ago appeared to settle the nerves, in no small doubt aided by the return of George Ford and Tom Curry.

For Bristol, the injuries that threatened to derail their season have gone full circle. AJ MacGinty’s absence opened opportunities for Tom Jordan and Sam Worsley, and both have flourished. Likewise in the pack where Harry Thacker’s injury gave Gabriel Oghre a chance at hooker, and now Director of Rugby Pat Lam can look forward to the pair battling over the starting hooker berth.

Without the injuries Louis Rees-Zammit may not have had his chance at fullback, but now that he has, the question is who wouldn’t want him running from anywhere, rather than just one wing, as the 141 metres he carried for against Harlequins attest.

Curry’s return at number eight meant he combined with Jacques Vermeulen and Ernst van Rhyn to make a combined 22 tackles. That may be enough against a passive Harlequins, but against a rampant Bears they will need to increase those figures.

Newcastle Red Bulls v Gloucester – Friday 19.45

Halcyon days at Kingston Park where not long after they secured their first PREM point of the season, Newcastle announced that Josh Hodge will return home. The England A and Exeter Chiefs fullback started out in England’s northeast, before the chance to spread his wings took him to the southwest.

He has flourished at Sandy Park with his strong running and powerful boot, and his signing is a major coup for Alan Dicken’s side. It is another reflection that the Red Bulls revolution is taking time, and another reason for the Newcastle faithful – who are still filling Kingson Park – to keep the faith.

Gloucester will be wary of what they will face in what we are obliged to call a cold and breezy Kingson Park. On paper they have the tools to leave with the a win that would extend their lead (and perhaps reel in Harlequins two points above them), but their 22 missed tackles went a long way to losing to Saracens last weekend, and if George Skivington wants, it should be a controlled performance, rather than the helter-skelter of the last few weeks.

Bath v Exeter Chiefs – Saturday 15.05

Bath are finding out quickly that when you’re champions the tests come weekly. Last week, they hosted Northampton Saints – the team they succeeded as PREM winners – and were royally turned over. Now, they face 2020 champions Exeter Chiefs, who have roared back to form, who sit in second place, and who will be seeking to widen the gap between second and third place with victory at The Rec.

An obvious place for improvement can come from Bath’s outside backs. Tom de Glanville, Joe Cokanasiga, Ollie Lawrence, Max Ojomoh, and Henry Arundell made 23 carries between them, not fantastic, but not desperate, though among them only Arundell made any serious distance with a total of 67 metres from his 80 minutes.

De Glanville and Ojomoh played 56 and 31 minutes, which may explain their low metres made (seven and nine respectively), but for Lawrence and Cokanasiga to make only 13 metres between them over 80 minutes is poor, and a sign that Bath’s backs had no answer to Northampton’s defence.

Those number stand in contrast to the high-flying Exeter. All seven of their starting backs hit double figures for metres made, with wing Campbell Ridl leading the way with 63 metres. Also deserving of a mention was inside centre Will Rigg, who filled in for the injured Len Ikitau, and carried for 58 metres. He also stepped up in defence with 11 tackles, showing the Chiefs 12 jersey is in safe hands until the Australia international regains fitness.

Northampton Saints v Harlequins – Saturday 17.30

Saints fans will be licking their lips at the thought of their top of the table, in form team, taking on the dispirited and disorganised Harlequins, especially with rumours that the London outfit are planning to announce the signing of Northampton skipper George Furbank anytime soon. The cheek of it.

As they showed last week though, do they really need him? Especially as he is likely to command an increase in wages. In James Ramm, Ollie Sliehgtholme, Edoardo Todaro, and George Hendy, the back three is well covered, and that’s before you mentioned the next starlet from the academy.

For Harlequins, all that fans will want to see is a bit of fight. They lacked that in defeat to Sale Sharks in Round 8. A good starting point would be getting their missed tackles down. Forty one missed, and 109 made (to Sale’s 169) show the starting point for where their return to form should begin.

Leicester Tigers v Saracens – Sunday 15.00

Two teams that have been under par this season will want to start 2026 in a positive manner, as they chase places in the playoffs. In fairness, their positions reflect their inconsistent performances, something not helped by having glaring gaps in their teams.

For Tigers there is a point to prove after George Martin opted to head to Saracens, rather than extend his time at Mattioli Woods Welford Road. Along with flyhalf, it is another gap to fill in the Tigers’ line-up, and Tigers head coach Geoff Parling will want his pack to make its point.

Saracens too have had musical chairs. Tomos Williams announced signing, along with Martin’s, clears up why Tom Willis has been allowed to leave for Bordeaux-Begles. Clearly the need at scrumhalf and second row was more pressing than number eight, and finances only stretch so far.

Theo McFarland played well alongside Willis in the win over Gloucester last weekend with two tries from the flank. Carry on that way and the Samoan could well provide an in-house solution as to who fills Willis’ boots next season.