Eddie Jones on South Africa, New Zealand and more

On Tuesday Mitsubishi Motors in the UK were unveiled as the Official Performance Partner to England Rugby. The announcement afforded an opportunity to take a look around England Rugby’s training centre and touch base with head coach Eddie Jones.

The partnership with Mitsubishi Motors will support the game from the grassroots level all the way up to England’s elite squad and builds on their longstanding association with rugby having sponsored Gloucester Rugby for 10 years and Edinburgh Rugby for three. 

England’s head coach was on good form, he himself has also become a brand ambassador for Mitsubishi, and during the course of the morning openly discussed a whole host of topics. In this Out On The Full article I’ll shed a bit of light on the 56-year-olds’ thoughts regarding South Africa, New Zealand and next year's British and Irish Lions tour. 

South Africa

So far England Rugby’s development under Eddie Jones has been marked and already a number of people are talking about England finishing the calendar year unbeaten. Naturally Mr Jones’ focus is on their performances and building on the Test series in Australia. Interestingly he shared that the more that he has reviewed the performances in Australia the more displeased he’s become about them. That in itself says a lot about his standards considering that he’s analysing a victorious, and historic, 3-0 series.

England lost 28 – 31 last November
at Twickenham Stadium

When it comes their next challenge, South Africa, the head coach knows from first hand experience that the Springboks prepare differently to face England than other sides. They will have a meeting ‘mentality’ when it comes to facing England and lean heavily on the history between the two nations.

On the field of play he’s expecting Allister Coetzee's side to be "relentlessly physical and relentless up-front". He believes that this is a contest that England will delight in as opposed to shy away from, as may have previously been the case. England will not be bullied by South Africa and instead will meet then head on.  Here he isn't paying lip service and saying what he should, we all know by now that Eddie Jones doesn’t do that. Instead the Australian believes England will confront South Africa head on and I agree with him. England haven’t been victorious since 2006 against the Springboks but under Eddie Jones history seems to change on a sixpence and arguably South Africa are a touch more vulnerable than they have been for a while right now. 

New Zealand

One of the most common discussions to have at the minute, be that in a pub, on social media or simply amongst friends is debating just how good are New Zealand? They have won their last 43 games at home, seamlessly avoided any form of ‘transition period’ and look odds on to win this year’s Rugby Championship. That's an impressive run of facts and yet in Eddie Jones’ opinion "they’re bloody good but they are beatable". 

As you’d expect England’s head coach kept his cards fairly close to his chest regarding how you approach beating the All Blacks but he believes that they do have "significant weaknesses" and that his England side will look to exploit them when it comes to the two sides meeting. 

New Zealand have pressed on
since their RWC2015 victory
(C Paler Images)

The hope is also that a number of his players will also have had experience against the back-to-back World Champions on the Lions tour and therefore can channel that knowledge when it comes to the English stage. Knowing your enemy is half of the battle because from knowledge comes power as players have the understanding of their opponents’ pressure points and can therefore exploit them. Yes we’re talking about the most 'complete' team in the world right now but Eddie Jones wouldn’t be in the top job if he didn’t have the knowledge, and experience, to unlock New Zealand. The next steps he demands from his players, in order to beat the World Champions, are clear; 

“We've got to get fitter, there's no doubt about that. We're going in the right direction there. We've got to be better on our own ball, whether it's structured ball or unstructured ball, and converting that to points. We weren't bad in that area in Australia, we converted a lot of our pressure into points. But we've got to be better at that, and we've got to be better at closing down the opposition.”

Lions 2017

This season everything that occurs on a rugby field in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales will have a Lions backdrop to it. If a player has a good run of form then automatically they will put themselves into Lions contention and any high profile injuries will immediately have a countdown clock to see if that individual can be fit to tour. 

One area that will be of great interest towards this end of this calendar year will be Warren Gatland’s coaching appointments and the announcement is scheduled for 7th December. As England have risen to prominence naturally Eddie Jones’ assistant coaches have too. Steve Borthwick’s meticulous attention to detail and Paul Gustard’s ability to hone teams into well oiled defensive machines and get them excited about defence will have been noticed by Warren Gatland. Given the limited coaching time available to him and his team the Lions Head Coach may opt for more familiar faces for the trip to New Zealand but both Gustard and Borthwick have been given Eddie Jones’ blessing to head on tour should they be asked.

When it comes to England's head coach's expectations regarding the number of England players that might be making the 11 thousand mile journey to New Zealand he hopes for "at least 15 players and a couple of coaches on top of that". The fact of the matter is that this Lions tour has the potential to take a tremendously strong touring squads. You only need to think about selecting a Test lock pairing from those that are currently playing at International level to realise the competition and quality. Think about it pick two from Itoje, Kruis, Wyn Jones, Charteris, Henderson, Toner and the Gray brothers, I could go on with others also proven at Test level but I won’t because you get my drift!! This Lions tour will be horrendously difficult but it should be exceptionally exciting as well and Eddie Jones knows that the England players that do go will benefit greatly from it. 

Overall England's head coach was in fine form ahead of the next challenge on his horizon, the Old Mutual Wealth autumn Internationals. Like all of us have done he described the start of the Premiership season as a 'mixed bag' and knows that it will improve over the coming weeks. He will announce a 45-man EPS squad on the 30th September and from that there will be 32 players that go into a three day camp at Brighton. It remains all systems go for Eddie Jones and personally I cannot wait to see his continued influence on the tremendous talent housed in the elite game in England. 

Mitsubishi Motors are the Official Performance Partner to England Rugby and have introduced England Rugby head coach, Eddie Jones as a brand ambassador. Both partnerships will build towards the 2019 Rugby World Cup and will support the game from grassroots level up to the elite squad.

Premiership Round 2 Review - Saracens' showcase & more

Round 2 gave us a second opportunity to take a look at our Aviva Premiership sides. Across the country some were able to atone for their Round 1 losses, some added a second victory to their tally and others compounded their opening round frustrations. From dramatic draws to rampaging victories we saw a little bit of everything in Round 2 and as always it’s time to run the rule over the weekend's action. 

Worcester 23 - 12 Gloucester Rugby

The weekend started with another dramatic Friday night encounter again involving Gloucester Rugby and right now being a Cherry and Whites fan must come with a health warning. This time they clawed back a nine point half-time deficit to take half of the spoils. Of course Alafoti Faoslivia’s red card was a turning point that took the wind out of Worcester’s sails. By the letter of the law it was probably a red, do we all agree that red was right? Probably not, but I do think Luke Pearce handed the whole incident well without having a screen of his own to see. It was tough on Faoslivia and his team mates but Worcester showed grit and endeavour with the emergence of Perry Humphreys being a great highlight. Gloucester will feel that this time they got out of jail and must address the coach killing penalties that were omnipresent.

Key Players: The two eights due to the leadership of Phil Dowson to keep Worcester together down to 14 and the work of Ben Morgan who was a busy man all evening. Morgan was the top carrier with 14 and added 13 tackles. 

Sale Sharks 19 - 10 Harlequins

At the AJ Bell Stadium Sale Sharks started their home season with a victory and will certainly be looking to replicate last season's impeccable form at home. Prior to kick off AJ MacGinty was deemed unfit to start so that left Dan Mugford to take the reins. The former Nottingham fly-half put aside his disappointment at not being able to secure the game against Falcons and stepped up. He slotted every opportunity at goal and looked assured around the park. Sale held their nerve in the face of a feisty Harlequins side and John Kingston's men lacked discipline. Sale’s pack worked well and overall Steve Diamond should be pleased with the way that they managed the game. For John Kingston and Harlequins there remains a spot to think about, they’ve got their full contingent of Internationals and yet aren’t firing and in Round 3 head to Sandy Park to face an Exeter Chiefs side that will mean business. 

Key Player: The aforementioned Dan Mumford showed oodles of character to step up and bounce back so strongly 

Bath Rugby 58 - 5 Newcastle Falcons

For once The Recreation Ground enjoyed a spot of good weather for a Bath Rugby match and the home side made good use of it. Dean Richards’ Newcastle Falcons enjoyed plenty of possession early on but didn’t make it count and after Mike Delany’s penalty attempt went wide the half, and indeed the match, belonged to Bath. Once again George Ford pulled all the strings from fly-half and in a productive back line Semesa Rokoduguni was the standout. The Falcons haven’t won away from home since February 2015 and if they continue in this manner than that won’t change. They dropped off tackles and when they had possession basic handling errors thwarted any endeavour. A try arrived with three minutes to go to ensure Falcons weren’t whitewashed but it meant little. For Bath it was the dream return to The Recreation Ground after such a challenging season last time out. Their relatively inexperienced pack surpassed all expectations and provided a great platform to work off and they looked comfortable and carefree.

Key Player: George Ford kicked superbly out of hand and managed the game with ease. He nailed his kicks at all and looked every inch the world class fly-half that he is. 

Leicester Tigers 22 - 34 Wasps

Wasps secured their first victory at Welford Road since 2008 and they did so in spite of falling asleep for 20 minutes in the second half. Welford Road is an intimidating place to travel to and yet Wasps handled themselves with ease and looked the calmer of the two sides when it came to the crunch. It has to be said that Guy Thompson and Sam Jones in their back row were both extremely impressive as they provided the tries and go forward Wasps needed. Again Jimmy Gopperth was a class act and as a whole Dai Young should be fairly be content with his side’s outing. Conversely the hosts haven't started the season as we would have expected them to and their errors in terms of ball retention and being outmuscled at the breakdown were present. The Tigers have shipped 31 and 34 points in the opening two rounds so need to shape up defensively and I’m sure that a few home truths will have been aired since the full time whistle. 

Key Player: Guy Thompson was outstanding, from deft off loads to rampaging runs it was a reminder of the back row forward’s talent. 

Bristol Rugby 10 - 32 Northampton Saints

In the sunshine at Ashton Gate Bristol had high hopes of a jovial return for Premiership Rugby but they were undone by a commanding opening half from their visitors. Saints raced to a 25-3 lead and dominated the possession, physicality and territory. For the opening forty Bristol didn’t have any answers and in their Director of Rugby's words they were 'schooled in Premiership rugby'. After the break Bristol turned up, they looked stronger in contract and in general more switched on. Their reward arrived in the form of a try from Ross McMillion but the damage was already done. Stephen Myler pushed Saints around the park well but in the second the visitors didn’t keep their foot on the gas as firmly as they would have wanted to and had to wait until less than five minutes from time to secure the bonus point. 

Key Players: Stephen Myler showed the superior experience that he has over Harry Mallinder at fly-half and Louis Picamoles highlighted the value that he’s going to add with a productive 80 minutes. 

Exeter Chiefs 13 - 34 Saracens

We all know that Sandy Park is an extremely challenging place to travel to and yet Saracens made it look simple. Much like we've seen the All Blacks do Mark McCall's side pushed themselves into another gear to take the game away from their hosts between half time and the 60 minute mark. Saracens suffocated Exeter and exposed their weaknesses and as a result extended their unbeaten run to 12 matches in all competitions. Henry Slade's showed a spot of his lack of experience at ten and across the board the Chiefs made errors they’ll be disappointed about. But, that’s what Saracens do they force sides off their stride and take full advantage as a result. 

Key Player: Jackson Wray was given the MOTM award but in my book Billy Vunipola had a huge day at the office. He made offloads galore and carried like a man possessed. 

Premiership Round 2 Preview - Second bite of the cherry

It's been a fairly busy week in the world of rugby from the announcement of Warren Gatland as the British and Irish Lions head coach to Stuart Lancaster's return to full time coaching and Wales confirming their senior player selection policy. Needless to say we haven't been short of news but now it's time to focus our attention on Round 2 of the Aviva Premiership. We're set for a compelling round as motivation will be high across the country to either right the wrongs of last weekend or press on from a positive opening. 

On Friday night Worcester and Gloucester will christen the new artificial pitch at Sixways and of course all home fans will be hoping that their team does so in style. Although both fell short in Round 1 my gut feeling is that Gloucester will have been hurt more by their loss. Worcester were out muscled by the European and Premiership Champions and that's understandable given the gulf between the sides  but we all saw how Gloucester slipped away at Kingsholm. The question is can Gloucester park such acute disappointment and move forwards quickly? Their starting XV remains unchanged and personally I’m intrigued to see how former Australia U20s prop Cameron Orr does off the bench. Donncha O’Callaghan returns for the home side but captain GJ van Velze misses out meaning Alafoti Faosiliva starts and the latter is a big physical presence. Worcester simply have to throw a few more shots in attack while Gloucester must find the groove they showcased in the first half at Kingsholm and not let up for the full 80 minutes. Two to watch: Both Matt Kvesic and Ben Te’o will know the importance of great individual performances under the watchful eye of Eddie Jones. 

The other Friday night match takes place in Manchester and it should also be an intriguing one because neither Sale Sharks nor Harlequins fulfilled their potential in Round 1. Both have approached selection differently - Harlequins have maintained their starting XV and only changed two on their bench whereas Sale have changed four. It appears that AJ MacGinty has recovered in time after pulling his hamstring last week and elsewhere in the Sale back line I’m eager to see Paolo Odogwu’s maiden Premiership outing as he flew in the Singha Sevens. Both sides need to sharpen up in all areas and ensure that they keep their discipline to provide themselves with the right platform to take the match. Two to watch: Keep your focus on both sets of half-backs and enjoy the tussle between Mike Phillips and Danny Care.

At The Recreation Ground Todd Blackadder and Tabai Mason will get their first taste of a home atmosphere when their side host the Newcastle Falcons. Bath’s opening victory was a solid base to work from but it has caused them issues injury wise and resulted in four personnel changes and one positional change in their pack. In contrast the Falcons have made just one change to their Round 1 squad and clearly will want to capitalise on such continuity. Bath’s victory last weekend was based on the work of their forward pack so it will be interesting to see if their younger players can step with plenty of focus on the back row trio of Charlie Ewels, David Sisi and Zach Mercer. For once it looks like it will be a dry afternoon at The Rec and as a result I expect to see a lot of attacking intent and flair. The home side will want to give their loyal fans a show but the Falcons aren’t there to make up numbers and have every intention of spoiling Bath’s home season opener. Two to watch: Luke Charteris’ competitive debut for Bath and the work rate of Falcons captain Will Welch.

Welford Road will open its doors for the first time this season with another chapter in the ‘new’ Midlands Derby. Wasps have the luxury of re-introducing Thomas Young into their back row after seven months on the sideline. Young developed so much under the tutelage of George Smith last season and I’m expecting him to continue on an upward trajectory over the forthcoming rounds. JP Pietersen, Luke Hamilton and George McGuigan are all in line to make their home debuts for Leicester and I’m expecting a fully focused Tigers outfit to click from the off. There’s so much to look out for in this clash from the prowess of the two sevens to the speedsters to the clash of the tens. The fact that Wasps haven’t won at Welford Road in Premiership Rugby since 2009 gives you an indication of the challenge ahead of Dai Young’s side but if they hit their straps from the off they could put themselves in a position to overturn that record. Two to watch: All eyes will be on Sam Harrison again to see if he can back up his MOTM outing in Round 1 and seeing what Joe Simpson will deliver from the get go. 

When the fixtures were announced back in July an early repeat of the 2016 Premiership Final caught all of our eyes. Back in that game Exeter took a little while to get the measure of the European Champions but once they did they looked dangerous and forced Saracens to find one more gear in order to secure the title. In Round 1 Exeter had a productive beginning but tailed off and this time out they need to showcase superior fitness levels in order to deliver for the full eighty. Saracens name an unchanged squad for the journey as Owen Farrell wasn’t risked being ‘touch and go’ injury wise but within that squad they have ample firepower! Exeter have never started an Aviva Premiership Rugby season with a pair of defeats but with an 11 game winning record in all competitions Saracens will be a tough nut to crack. Two to watch: Just two, that's an almost impossible task! If pushed then have a nosy at the the two hookers with Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jamie George going head-to-head under the watchful eye of Eddie Jones. 

The final game of the weekend sees Aviva Premiership rugby return to Ashton Gate as Andy Robinson’s side will host Northampton Saints. Bristol’s trip to Twickenham was a largely positive one and they should be returning home with the confidence that they can compete handsomely on the Premiership stage. Northampton Saints will need to have found a spot of confidence of their own this week after a disappointing opener on home soil. Jim Mallinder has handed the starting jersey to Stephen Myler and that should provide greater experience and superior game management with George North also returning to the starting XV out wide. Interestingly Northampton Saints have not lost both of their opening two encounters in Aviva Premiership Rugby sine the inaugural season of 1997/8. Bristol need to operate at the same levels of physicality that they did last week and embrace the benefits of having such passionate home support behind them. The fact that Gavin Henson hasn’t been able to recover from a dead leg in time is a shame but it’s a great opportunity for Ben Mosses to step up. Two to watch: Well actually here it’s three as the Pisi brothers face each other for the first time this Premiership season!

Lions 2017 - Gatland at the helm

Warren Gatland’s introduction today as the 2017 Lions’ head coach wasn’t a great surprise! Okay perhaps I'll rephrase that, it wasn't a surprise at all but it was confirmation that the right man has been appointed to take on an incredibly challenging role.

At this moment in time New Zealand are further in front of the rest of the world than they have been for a number of years and we all know that with another nine months of rugby under their belts they will improve again. Gatland’s recent rugby experiences back on home soil did nothing to dispel the fact that his job is a daunting one but in his words he’s been offered ‘the biggest job in world rugby’ and success would engrave him, and the 2017 Lions squad, into the history books forevermore. 

This summer New Zealand ruthlessly put Gatland’s Wales to the sword with a series whitewash when they were supposed to be at their weakest and 'rebuilding'. While the opening two tests were largely competitive the All Blacks still never looked like losing the series. At the media announcement confirming his role the Kiwi openly admitted that one of the areas in which Wales fell short this summer was that they lacked a spot of pace in certain areas. Also they took their eye off the ball in the opening two Tests and allowed New Zealand to pounce, the third was just one Test too many.  Neither of these elements will be replicated by the Lions, lessons will have been learned by all with regard to a relentless pursuit of victory and with the players available for selection pace is not something the Lions will be short of.

As of today Gatland removed his Welsh hat and replaced it with a Lions one and one of his first conclusions as Lions Head Coach is that the re-emergence of English Rugby under Eddie Jones is a huge positive; 

“The best thing at the moment about the Lions, and purely with my Lions hat on, is the improvement in England over the last 12 months. Given the strength in depth of English rugby, they should always be in the top two of three in the world and for the Celtic nations, they should be the benchmark with the others chasing them. But, that hasn’t happened for the last seven… eight… ten years. It’s pleasing that England’s players are playing well and with confidence and that’s going to be good for the Lions.”

This statement was followed by a warning to those housed within England’s ranks that they will need to continue performing strongly this season and cannot take their eye off the ball. It’s a warning that no home nations player will need to be reminded of as there isn’t a great honour than representing the Lions. When it comes to selection Gatland also made it clear that form will count greatly towards players’ involvement with the words ‘the bottom line is that it’s about your form, you’ve got to be playing well to be selected.’ As intuitive as that sounds it was good to hear that players won't warrant spots based on prior experience alone, of course it may be a consideration factor on 50/50 calls for example but current form will be king. 

Now, there’s absolutely no hiding away from the fact  that most people believe that it is the impossible Lions tour. Yet Gatland is clear, if there are members of the Lions party behind the scenes or players that believe that the Lions won’t win the series then they should make themselves known now and not get on the plane. He hasn’t any room for individuals that will cast doubt on proceedings. Yes, the challenge is large but with the talent housed in the home nations the 2017 Lions have the potential and ability to deliver in the toughest rugby environment on earth. 

Gatland brings so much experience to the party including his intricate knowledge of rugby in New Zealand and the lessons that he will have taken from the last two Lions tours that he was involved in. On Wednesday the New Zealander gets on a plane Auckland and will formally start his preparations for the tour. From then on the next official step on the road to New Zealand will be the announcement of his assistant coaches and that will take place on 7th December. 

The countdown to Lions 2017 is very much on and between now and the opening mid week match we’ll spend plenty of time pondering on potential tourists and debating the merits of different Test XVs. Personally I can't wait for all of the discussion but at the end of the day it will be up to the man that directed a series victory in 2013 to make the final decisions. 

Premiership Round 1 Talking Points

It's fair to say that the opening weekend of Premiership Rugby contained a spot of rust across the country but overall it was still great to have the competition back in our lives. 

As a new feature this Premiership season I’ll be talking a look at some of the weekend’s talking points before we start to turn our attentions to the next round. If you spot some talking points during the weekend then do share them with me on Twitter @EmmaThurston23 because they might just feature in the round's round up!

Positive debuts across the board

The opening rounds of a new Premiership season always afford us the chance to look at the new faces in action and it's safe to say that those newly arrived into the Premiership are going to add greatly to it. One of the positives from Kingsholm was the debut of Matt Scott while at Twickenham Stadium Alex Lozowski's first Premiership start for Saracens also turned heads. Lozowski's team mate Schalk Burger did what we expected him to do which is work himself into the ground and add plenty of physicality and there were glimpses of how effective Louis Picamoles will be at Franklin's Gardens. Bristol's Tusi Pisi made more metres than any fly-half has in the competition since 2014 and looked right at home in the competition while Ben Te'o, like Picamoles, showed us positive glimpses. Of course there are others that didn't managed to fly for example Taulupe Faletau sustaining an injury after 14 minutes was a great shame at Franklin's Gardens. But, overall those arriving delivered strong accounts of themselves in Round 1. 

Bristol open with intent

I'll admit that prior to the start of the season I wondered whether Bristol would get to Twickenham Stadium and find themselves overpowered by a Harlequins side that were desperate to have a season to remember. The jump from the Championship to the Premiership is marked but over the course of the 80 minutes Andy Robinson's side showed themselves ready to handle the challenge. Physically they fronted up and if they had taken the victory there would have been few complaints from neutrals. Bristol's fans are passionate about their rugby and without a doubt the competition will be better for the club’s presence. Round 1 was a positive platform to launch from but the question that they'll need to answer is whether or not they can deliver that type of performance 12 or 13 rounds in when injuries hit? If they can then Andy Robinson's side should be just fine. 

Forwards? Backwards? Forwards?

By now I think that you all know that I’m not one to go overboard when it comes to commenting or discussing about officiating. However there's one area that I feel that I need to include in this week's round reflections and that's the issue of the forward pass. It's a clear talking point from the opening weekend and one that didn't arise from just one match. The new stipulation when it comes to forward passes is to give the 'benefit of the doubt' to the attacking team but my concern with that is that it adds more, not less, subjectivity to decisions. In Round 1 there were a number of separate incidents that all could have been decided upon differently by different officials and that's my concern. Consistency is king when it comes to officiating and it will be interesting to see how this matter pans out over the coming weeks because I think that we'd all prefer not to be discussing this area and instead be focusing on the rugby at hand. 

Premiership Round 1 Review - Comebacks, near misses and more

Welcome to the first Premiership Rugby review of the new season. As always this is a round up of the weekend's action and will be followed now by a set of ‘Round Reflections’. From unfathomable comebacks to historic wins Round 1 gave us a little bit of everything so let’s dive straight into the first six matches of the 2016-17 season. 

Gloucester 31 - 38 Leicester Tigers

(C) Paler Images

There's nothing like starting the new season with a bang is there?! Match one and we were treated to 69 points, 9 tries and a truly astounding comeback from Leicester. It was the ultimate game of two halves and one that even the Directors of Rugby struggled to truly explain afterwards. Gloucester started so well and showed us what they can do if they hit their straps but then capitulated on all fronts. Cool decision making was one of the points that I made in their season preview and choosing to head to the corner in the 73rd minute is exactly the type of decision I was talking about. I would not want to have been in Leicester’s changing room at half-time because I expect Richard Cockerill went apoplectic with rage. As the tables turned Gloucester’s bench weren’t able to press on and Leicester grew in confidence. Sam Harrison’s performance was outstanding seamlessly shifting from 9 to 10 and he’ll be a huge asset this season if he continues in that manner. Without question the Tigers used one of their 'Get Out Of Jail Free Cards' with this match and their fans will hope they won't need to use too many more over the coming 22 rounds! 

Key Player: Sam Harrison. By far the pick of a very good second-half from Leicester Tigers. 

Newcastle Falcons 19-17 Sale Sharks

At Kingston Park the Sale Sharks had the opportunity to steal the result from their hosts but Dan Mungford couldn't quite nail the three points and the Newcastle Falcons held on. The hosts hadn’t won an opening round fixture for eight seasons but on the whole did deserve to take this one. They didn’t take all of the chances and the word in the dressing room after was that if they had stuck to their shapes and strengths then they could have won by more. The Sharks’ discipline was a key area that Steve Diamond will want to sharpen up ahead of their return to the AJ Bell Stadium and of course ensuring AJ MacGinty is fully fit to start. On an injury front losing Rob Webber to a broken arm is a big blow and we all wish him a speedy recovery.  

Key Duo: 182 metres made and 26 carries for Sinoti Sinoti and Vereniki Goneva combined - a solid start!

Saracens 35 - 3 Worcester Warriors

If you haven't seen the opening match of the London Double Header then do yourself a favour and start the game at half-time. After the drama of Friday night Twickenham fell a little for 40 minutes, although credit must go to Worcester's defence to containing Saracens so well. Alas they couldn't continue their pressure and four second half tries provided the Champions with their bonus point. The pick was a sensational solo effort from Ben Spencer, although Schalk Brits' offload out of contact to Schalk Burger was pretty special too! Worcester missed the sparks that Chris Pennell and Francois Hougaard provide in attack but were determined and dogged defensively and will be targeting the wounded Gloucester side arriving at Sixways on Friday night. 

Key Player: 23 carries and 77 metres made for Billy Vunipola. One notable fumble of a high ball but overall a productive afternoon for England's current number 8. 

Northampton Saints 14 - 18 Bath Rugby

At Franklin's Gardens Bath recorded their first victory there since 2000 thanks to the commanding performance of the pack and the quality of George Ford. The fly-half delivered all 18 of their points and showed much greater experience and game management skills than his opposite number. It was a physical contest but the hosts simply couldn't convert their opening half possession and territory into points. Bath dominated two usual areas of Saints strength; the scrum and lineout and continued to do so when their replacement front row arrived. Nic Groom's late brace, in the final six minutes, took the edge of the scoreboard and tested Bath's belief but a four point margin slightly flattered the hosts. Saints that fired far too late in the match and need to deliver from the outset when they travel to Ashton Gate next weekend. 

Key Player: George Ford. The fly-half not only managed a huge amount of traffic down his channel but showed his impeccable feel for the game with quality kicking out of hand and played the conditions with ease. 

Harlequins 21 - 19 Bristol Rugby

Bristol's return to Premiership Rugby could have been a true fairytale story alas Harlequins pulled themselves together just in time to spoil the ending. John Kingston's side had to wait until the 65th minute to start to feel as if they may take control but all in honesty it wasn't ever truly comfortable and that's testament to the attitude and application of Andy Robinson's Bristol. Throughout the newly promoted squad we saw players embrace the Twickenham stage with Ryan Edwards being a prime example of that. It was a match that had plenty to discuss adjudication wise and personally I'm not fully on board with this new style of officiating for forward passes. But, let's park that to one side for now and conclude that it was an enjoyable 80 minutes to observe. Bristol know that it’s only round one but they’ll take plenty of confidence back to a packed Ashton Gate and Harlequins must pull their socks up on the road at the AJ Bell Stadium. 

Key Player: Handed this one to Tusi Pisi with 13 carries, 137 metres made and a try. According to Opta that's the most  metres made by Premiership Rugby fly-half since April 2014. 

Wasps 25 - 20 Exeter Chiefs

The final game of the weekend took place at the Ricoh Arena and as is always the case between Wasps and Exeter there were plenty of points scored and it went down to the wire. Exeter started the stronger of the two; they took their chances in the forty and showed a dominant set piece. Chasing a nine point deficit at half-time Dai Young reminded his players about the work rate and tempo that he expected from them and clearly his words were taken to heart as the hosts pressed on in the second and wrestled the game back. Tommy Taylor had a storming debut for his new side, Joe Launchbury led their physicality and throughout Jimmy Gopperth oozed class being instrumental in almost all of their points. Exeter’s opening half was filled with positives but Rob Baxter’s focus this week will be to fathom why they couldn’t answer Wasps’ rise in intensity during the second. Tiredness? A little rusty mentally? I'm sure they'll get to the bottom of it before a repeat of last season's Premiership final in just a few days time. 

Key Player: Jimmy Gopperth - plenty of eyes were on Danny Cipriani on his return but the Kiwi was the man in control. Notable mention to Dan Robson for his all around dynamism. 

Stuart Farmer's Premiership Rugby Round Facts

Stuart Farmer is the man in the know at Premiership Rugby when it comes to statistics. He's the official statistician for the competitoin and here are some of his pearls of wisdom about Round 1;

• The best Premiership Rugby season starter is Tom Varndell who has scored 8 opening weekend tries since his debut in 2005.
• Phil Dowson has been in a starting lineout on 13 separate opening Premiership Rugby weekend
• It was the first time in Leicester Tigers’ 136 year history that they’ve overturned a 24 point deficit to win a match
• Matt Scott’s two tries on his Premiership Rugby debut makes him only the 5th Gloucester Rugby player to a achieve such a feet. 

Premiership Round 1 Preview - Premiership Rugby is back!

Finally it's the weekend that we've all been waiting for since the Aviva Premiership departed from our lives back in May. Internationally England had an outstanding summer and with the autumn tests not actually that far away and the small matter of there being a Lions tour at the end of this season the 2016-17 Aviva Premiership term promises to be electric. 

During July and August our domestic players were put through hell and back by their strength and conditioning coaches and now all are itching to get their club campaigns underway. Many of the signings that we spent months discussing will be taking to the field and personally I can’t wait to see how the next 22 rounds pan out. 

Leicester Tigers are known for their opening round victories having won their past four round one matches in succession but they've only recorded one victory in their last seven away games. That said Richard Cockerill and Aaron Mauger have the luxury of unleashing some fairly considerable firepower on the road this time out. Peter Betham and Telusa Veainu were two of last season's standout performers and with a fit and firing Manu in the mix Gloucester’s new centre partnership of Billy Twelvetrees and Matt Scott will have plenty to contend with down their channel. Gloucester have looked to really sharpen up their output over the pre-season and focused on their decision making and skill sets and these have to come to the fore from minute one. Equally their pack must deliver a full throttle eighty minute performance and Billy Burns needs to embrace his starting opportunity and handle the pressure that comes with facing his brother! Two to watch: JP Pietersen’s and Matt Scott’s maiden Premiership outings.  

Newcastle Falcons have not won on the opening weekend of a new Aviva Premiership season since Sale visited Kingston Park in 2007 and they’d dearly like to change that record on Friday night. Interestingly the Sharks’ Round 1 record isn’t as strong as you might expect it to be as they’ve only won one of their last five openers. Steve Diamond’s side are travelling with a number of new faces as he fields six starting debutants. Of course the spotlight will be on Mike Phillips and AJ MacGinty to see how they orchestrate the match and out wide it will be interesting to see how Nev Edwards contends with Vereniki Goneva. The Falcons need their crowd to get behind them and they need to ensure that they maintain good discipline from the outset to put them in a positive position to work from. Two to watch: Sinoti Sinoti and keep an eye out for Sam James’ influence in the match

Saracens finished last season with a run of ten successive victories in all competitions and are heading back to Twickenham Stadium to look to add to that impressive run of form. There are debuts for Schalk Burger, Alex Lozowski and Sean Maitland and a couple of personal appearance milestones as Chris Ashton makes his 100th outing and captain Jamie George his 150th. Worcester are missing some of their key weapons with Chris Pennell and Francois Hougaard both missing and in all honestly they look a little undercooked compared to the current Premiership and European Champions. It’s a case of going for broke for Worcester but I believe that we’ll see Saracens absolutely fly on the Twickenham turf. Two to watch: The work-rate of Phil Dowson for the Warriors and the Saracens debut of Alex Lozowski. 

By my reckoning Franklin's Gardens is set for a humdinger between two sides that are desperate to start their respective seasons in style. There's class, and belting head-to-heads, all over the field with the clashes between Louis Picamoles and Taulupe Faletau set to make the foundations rock. Bath’s only defeat on the opening weekend since 2006 came at back in 2009 but they haven’t been victorious at Franklin’s Gardens for the last 15 years. Harry Mallinder will be the man in Saints' 10 jersey and it will be interesting to see his afternoon as I personally still prefer him in the centres. I'm sure Kahn Fotuali'i will be given a warm welcome back and he'll be instrumental in whipping out quick ball for Bath's back line. Two to watch: Aside from those already mentioned Courtney Lawes and Dave Attwood's second-row contest should be spicy. 

The second part of the London Double Header will see Bristol return to Premiership action. Bristol’s final pre-season outing was against Wasps and certainly gave the indication that they’re as ready as they’ll ever be for the 22 round challenge that’s in front of them. Harlequins are calling upon plenty of experience like Jamie Roberts, Chris Robshaw and Nick Evans but will be missing Mike Brown as he’s currently suffering from illness. In theory Harlequins’ experience should shut down Bristol from early doors but I’m expecting Andy Robinson’s side to come out firing and for us to see plenty of creativity from Tusi Pisi and Gavin Henson. Two to watch: Joe Marchant - a young man with oodles of talent but hasn’t really cut his cloth in the Premiership yet. Soane Tonga’uiha - it’s vital that he gets the measure of Kyle Sinckler and provides Bristol with a solid set piece. 

Finally we'll be heading to the Ricoh Arena to enjoy another chapter in the Wasps and Exeter Chiefs classic novel. Matches between these two sides are always outstanding encounters and Sunday should follow suit. There are plenty of eyes on the 10 and 12 selections as Dai Young has chosen to field both Danny Cipriani and Jimmy Gopperth while Rob Baxter hands the fly-half jersey to Henry Slade and hands Ollie Devoto the largest of debuts. Both back rows are physical trios and each have experience and firepower to bring off their respective benches. Interestingly history shows that neither side start the season particularly strongly; Wasps have been defeated in their opening game for the past four years and Exeter have only won once in the past three seasons. Two to watch: Picking just two from these two squads is extremely tough, I've already mentioned quite a few to watch so let's also throw in the two hookers Tommy Taylor and Luke Cowan-Dickie. Both like a fast and loose game and should be able to show what they've got on Sunday afternoon. 

Round 1 Schedule

Fri 2 Sept - Gloucester v Leicester [7.45pm] BT Sport

Fri 2 Sept - Newcastle Falcons v Sale Sharks [8pm] 

Sat 3 Sept - Saracens v Worcester Warriors [2pm] BT Sport

Sat 3 Sept - Northampton Saints v Bath Rugby [3.30pm] 

Sat 3 Sept - Harlequins v Bristol Rugby [4.30pm] BT Sport

Sun 4 Sept - Wasps v Exeter Chiefs [3pm] BT Sport 

View the full set of team news for Round 1 here