Premiership rugby season preview, tips, predictions and odds

Free rugby tips, predictions and odds for the new Premiership rugby season.

Best bets

Exeter Chiefs to win regular season
4pts 6-4 Betfred
Sale Sharks to finish in top four
2pts 2-1 BoyleSports
Harlequins to finish in top four
2pts 5-2 BoyleSports

Season preview

A new Premiership rugby season kicks off on Friday and although 12 clubs make up the top flight, the battle for glory is expected to come down to just two teams. Again.

Between them Saracens and Exeter have won the last five Premiership grand finals, going head to head at the showpiece on three of those occasions.

Between them they have topped the regular-season table five times in the last seven campaigns, and it’s 14-1 that anyone bar these two sits top of the table come May and 16-1 that anyone else lifts the trophy at Twickenham.

Exeter started last season with eight consecutive victories, Sarries went one better with nine, and only two other clubs could manage more than three in a row. The big two are a cut above, and while eight different clubs demonstrated last season they can claim a victory over one of them, none could mount a sustained challenge against them.

Premiership rugby teams ranked

Another close and fierce battle looks set to play out over the coming months, but this is how they could finish up.

1 Exeter Chiefs

The Chiefs have finished top of the regular-season table in the last two seasons and a hat-trick could be on the cards.

The brightest attack in the Premiership last season is bolstered by the arrival of Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg, although continuity and cohesion have been the basis for Exeter’s success.

Head coach Rob Baxter has built a strong culture and developed a well drilled unit who put in remarkably consistent performances even with the number of changes to the line-up week to week that have become the norm in the top flight.

The strength of their set-piece, their kicking game and the cutting edge of their back three make them so hard to beat and the look the side best placed to rack up the tally 16 or 17 wins required to finish top.

2 Saracens

Hearing players talk at the Premiership launch at Twickenham last month, all the chat was of how teams could match Saracens, and the champions are held up everywhere as the benchmark.

The disruption of the World Cup this year means they may be slower into their stride this season, while they have also been handed an incredibly difficult pool in the European Champions Cup. Munster, Racing 92 and Ospreys are the opposition Sarries face in defence of their continental crown.

But Sarries always have faith in their ability to come good at the end of the season and they too have a settled squad. Elliot Daly is the star signing from Wasps, while hooker Jack Singleton and Welsh prop Rhys Carre bolster a strong set-piece.

And despite their many international stars, the champions can rely on experienced playmakers such as Alex Goode and Alex Lozowski to take the reins when needed.

3 Sale Sharks

The Sharks recovered from a shaky start last season after losing four of their first five matches, but never found any consistency despite a talented squad.

But a big influx of power up front, a lot of it from South Africa, could give Sale a huge opportunity to break into the top four.

Springbok lock Lood de Jager is a heavyweight signing, and his presence in the pack will be reinforced by the signing of prop Jake Cooper-Woolley from Wasps and the loan signing of England number eight Mark Wilson from Newcastle.

Sale won nine of their 11 home games last season but struggled on the road. But with more bite in their forwards and the strong coaching nous of Steve Diamond, they can take a big step forward.

4 Harlequins

Quins were looking good for a playoff place last season but won just one of their last seven matches and ended up level with fourth-placed Northampton on 56 points but having won one game fewer.

The decisive blow was a 20-19 home defeat to the Saints in April, when they shipped the winning try just three minutes from the end.

Head coach Paul Gustard had only taken over in the August before the start of the season in September last year but has had a full season to get his structures in place and has the benefit of experienced England men Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown and Danny Care to shape the team around.

Interesting additions to their backline include Italy centre Michele Campagnaro and evergreen Fijian Vereniki Goneva.

5 Gloucester

The Cherry & Whites retain the core of their team from last season, adding Joe Simpson as experienced scrum-half back-up for Willi Heinz, who is now part of the England set-up.

Gloucester won seven of their last ten matches last season to take third spot and should put in another solid showing.

But they only once managed to get a run of more than two consecutive wins under their belts and with a return to the Champions Cup this season, there may be more of a distraction from their domestic commitments.

6 Northampton Saints

The Saints are another side who have made few sweeping changes to their squad bar the arrival of All Blacks prop Owen Franks.

They squeezed into the playoffs after winning just half of their matches and finishing level on points with the two sides below them, Quins and Bath.

Among the results in their up-and-down campaign was a defeat to bottom side Newcastle and a victory over high-flying Exeter, and it’s hard to see where the improvement is going to come from to push them up the ladder.

7 Wasps

Wasps are another team who had a disappointing campaign but they finished top of the table just three years ago - going on to lose the grand final in extra time.

Some big names have left, including Daly, Simpson, powerful ball-carrying number eight Nathan Hughes and South Africa full-back Willie le Roux. But there are some big names coming in, including former All Black Malakai Fekitoa and eye-catching Italy full-back Matteo Minozzi.

But they will want to get Jimmy Gopperth, who missed the whole of last season through injury and suffered another setback in pre-season, back on the pitch alongside fellow Kiwi Liam Sopoaga.

8 Bristol Bears

Relegation favourites last season the Bears defied the odds under the strong leadership of Pat Lam and they have recruited well to strengthen their pack.

Lock Dave Attwood and number eight Nathan Hughes have England credentials while Samoan prop Jordan Lay is also back at Ashton Gate.

As they did last season, Bristol will no doubt target games but they finished strongly, unbeaten in their last four, and under Lam’s guidance they can go from strength to strength.

9 Bath

Last season ended in disappointment at the Rec as head coach Todd Blackadder announced his departure unexpectedly and Stuart Hooper steps up to the role.

It’s been a quiet summer for recruitment with most of the new faces in the first-team squad stepping up from the academy while they have lost the experience of Dave Attwood and the retired Luke Charteris from their pack.

There’s a lot of international stardust in their backline in the shape of Anthony Watson, Joe Cokanasiga, Jonathan Joseph and Ruaridh McConnochie, but all are now frontline players in Eddie Jones’s England squad.

10 Leicester Tigers

The Tigers endured their most disappointing season last term, finishing 11th, and things may not get much better despite the famous names in the Leicester ranks.

There has been a high turnover of players but the big problem last season appeared to be at the top. Geordan Murphy stepped up to the head coach’s role after the sudden departure of Matt O’Connor and is yet to find his feet, having managed ten victories in 34 matches.

The fear factor surrounding the Tigers and their Welford Road home has gone and it could be a long, slow road back to the top.

11 London Irish

Promoted London Irish aren’t favourites to go straight back down again, probably down to the strength of their recruitment.

All Black winger Waisake Naholo is the star name but Scotland prop Alan Dell, former Ireland fly-half Paddy Jackson, powerhouse Leinster flanker Sean O’Brien and Wallaby forwards Sekope Kepu and Adam Coleman all add international experience.

They may take time to gel and get up to Premiership speed but can certainly avoid a swift return to the Championship.

12 Worcester Warriors

The favourites for bottom spot have lost some key players, particularly to their backline. Bryce Heem, Josh Adams and Ben Te’o are all gone and the Warriors, who managed only nine wins last season, could struggle for tries.

Worcester managed back-to-back wins just once last season, and although they finished with a victory over champions Saracens, that was against a second string just a week after Sarries’ European Champions Cup final success.

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