Premiership club guide: Can Northampton defend their crown?
Reigning champions Northampton prepare to begin the new Premiership campaign after the 2025-26 season concluded 97 days earlier at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham. The English top flight will run across 18 rounds between now and early next June, with the Rugby World Cup just over 12 months away.
BBC Sport commentators and pundits from across England have produced a club-by-club guide ahead of the new campaign, and live commentary of every Premiership game will be available on BBC local radio, BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website. The previews examine summer recruitment, departures and coaching changes at each club and set out how sides start the season following last term's results.
Bath have recruited South African number eight Dan du Preez and Scotland prop Jamie Bhatti while losing heavy ball carriers Thomas du Toit and Alfie Barbeary; Finn Russell remains their Scotland fly-half and head of rugby Johann van Graan is credited in the guide with learning from poor outcomes. Scotland forward Josh Bayliss is highlighted as a powerful back-row option for Bath. Bristol, in Pat Lam's 10th season, aim to return to the top four and have added Ethan Staddon; their lack of tries last season is cited as a key reason they missed out, Louis Rees-Zammit prefers the wing, George Kloska earned an England debut this summer, and concerns remain over depth in the front five and at fly-half.
Exeter have kept almost the squad that reached last season's final and signed Dallas McLeod to replace Len Ikitau, with attacking options including Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Henry Slade and number eight Greg Fisilau and a pack featuring Dafydd Jenkins, Tom Hooper and Kane James. The club was taken over earlier this year by Black Knight, the owners of AFC Bournemouth, and injured winger Ridl is set to miss most of the season. Gloucester have restructured their management with Chris Boyd as technical director, Rob Burgess as general manager and George Skivington as head coach, added Brett Deacon and Joel Tomkins to the coaching team, and signed Wales internationals Jac Morgan and Dewi Lake alongside the return of Dan Robson and the recruitment of locks Joe Joyce and Jean Kleyn; Gloucester qualified for this season's European Champions Cup and a top-four Premiership finish is cited as the benchmark for progress.
Harlequins endured a turbulent campaign last year and issued a club statement that "performances and results in the men's team are not at the level we expect at Harlequins and are not considered acceptable by anyone within the club"; Robbie Deans has joined as performance director to work with head coach Jason Gilmore and Rob Hunter, Brad Cooper, Sean Long and Jordan Turner-Hall are also involved as part of a wide review. Dombrandt faces a long spell on the sidelines and Long and Turner-Hall have taken full-time roles at the club. Leicester have retained Geoff Parling as head coach, re-signed Billy Searle, assembled a new leadership group including Ollie Chessum, Freddie Steward and Jack van Poortvliet, and added Cam Henderson and Wales flanker Aaron Wainwright to the squad; Mako Vunipola has returned to the Tigers after having planned to retire before Leicester called, and George Martin and Hanro Liebenberg are noted absences from the pack.
Newcastle have recruited 23 players this summer following recent bottom-place finishes, bringing in internationals such as Franco Molina, Hoskins Sotutu, Elliot Millar Mills and George Turner alongside campaigners Rusi Tuima and Sam Graham and returnees Josh Hodge and Chris Harris; Dan McFarland is head coach with Stephen Jones in charge of attack and Calum MacRae as defence coach, and the club have adopted the strapline "A New Dawn." Northampton won their second Premiership title in three years last summer, have retained much of their squad on new contracts, lost captain George Furbank this summer with Fraser Dingwall taking over his role, and key contributors from last season include Tommy Freeman, Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell and Alex Coles; Henry Pollock has signed a new Northampton deal in excess of £400K.
Sale Sharks saw a sharp decline last season, finishing 27 points behind fourth place and exiting play-off contention by the January Six Nations break, and have recruited experienced forwards including Courtney Lawes, Tomas Francis, Nicky Smith and Christ Tshuinza plus centre Joe Marchant as the headline signing. Marchant returns from three years at Stade Français and the guide notes he has his heart set on making the England squad for next year's World Cup while filling the gap left by Rob du Preez; director of rugby Alex Sanderson retains the backing of the club hierarchy and Sale must address their losing record at CorpAcq Stadium. Saracens mark their 150th season with Jamie George confirming this will be his last campaign, Brendan Venter returning as director of rugby, the departure of Tom Willis and arrivals including George Martin, Alfie Barbeary and Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams, with young players such as Charlie Bracken, Tobias Elliott, Angus Hall, Toby Knight and Noah Caluori highlighted as continuing their progression.
The Premiership season comprises 18 rounds of fixtures running to early next June, and clubs must navigate that schedule with the World Cup little more than a year away.
