Category: Premiership Rugby

• England consent to Chiefs fielding winger at Twickenham

• Ethan Roots also set to return against Northampton

Manny Feyi-Waboso has been declared fit to return for Exeter in this weekend’s Prem final at Twickenham. England’s star winger underwent facial surgery barely two weeks ago but, in a major boost for the Chiefs, is available for his side’s showdown with Northampton and, potentially, England’s Test against South Africa on 4 July.

Rob Baxter, Exeter’s director of rugby, said the decision was ultimately taken by Feyi-Waboso himself after England’s medical team indicated they had no objections to him playing. The 23-year-old had a plate inserted in his jaw this month but is now free to bolster the Chiefs’ efforts to secure a first Prem title since 2020.

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• Scrum-half could play in Saturday’s final against Exeter

• England preparing to name Nations Championship squad

The England scrum-half Alex Mitchell is in line for an unexpected return to Northampton’s matchday squad for this weekend’s Prem final against Exeter. A hamstring injury had threatened to rule Mitchell out of the rest of the domestic season but the Saints are now hopeful he will be available for Saturday’s finale at Allianz Stadium.

A fit Mitchell would be positive news for club and country after the 29-year-old tore a hamstring during an England training camp in Bagshot last month. At the time his club director of rugby, Phil Dowson, publicly expressed his frustration about Mitchell’s injury and suggested he would struggle to feature again this season.

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Top-level rugby is fast becoming a different sport and finalists illustrate the domestic talent Borthwick needs to harness

For anyone who hasn’t yet watched them, the weekend’s two English Prem semi-finals were brilliant adverts for the sport. The game between Northampton and Leicester fizzed with speed and quality passing. The following day’s encounter between Bath and Exeter involved one of the best fightbacks and tautest finishes imaginable.

The upshot is a Northampton v Exeter final this Saturday, a showpiece with the potential to be just as absorbing. Henry Pollock v Greg Fisilau, Tommy Freeman v Henry Slade, Fin Smith v Harvey Skinner … not to mention two intelligent English coaching teams led, respectively, by Phil Dowson and Sam Vesty, and Rob Baxter and Dave Walder. If the Rugby Football Union is pondering future homegrown alternatives to Steve Borthwick there are some increasingly strong candidates.

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Two clubs have emerged from the doldrums to reach the grand final in epic fashion thanks to remaining positive

It is not every day that two teams who finished second and third bottom of the Prem table only 12 months ago make it to a grand final. Regardless of this Saturday’s outcome Northampton and Exeter have shown every club in the league what is doable, with one big caveat. Squad depth and recruitment matter but not as much as the collective desire to stay positive no matter what.

Exeter needed every ounce of grit and resilience at Bath on Saturday as they held out for 41 phases to clinch a sensational 27-26 victory, having trailed 26-10 at half-time. Northampton, similarly, never lost the courage of their convictions against Leicester on Friday night, transcending the occasion to put seven tries past excellent opposition in another thrilling contest.

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The Prem’s top points scorer has been rejuvenated this year as the Chiefs look to overturn their fancied hosts Bath in Saturday’s semi-final

It is early afternoon in Exeter and Henry Slade is reflecting on his day so far. As a type 1 diabetic he has already injected himself “four or five times” and a training schedule change has left him playing catchup with his insulin levels. “I had a bit of a stinker today. I had to bang some carbohydrate down me before training but didn’t quite get it right. I was a bit on the low side and didn’t feel very good. I guess it was my fault for not reading the schedule properly.”

Later there will be further injections and more monitoring, none of it stress free for someone who wrestles with obsessive compulsive disorder. Plus, there are the demands of having three daughters under six back at home; the youngest, Delphine, is not yet three months old. After an intensely physical match even changing a nappy can be challenging. “With the last two I’ve spent hours on the floor changing nappies. It’s a nightmare getting up again. We’ve now got nappy-changing tables which are an absolute gamechanger.”

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The league has been a launchpad for players such as Noah Caluori while showcasing the best English rugby has to offer

The final round of the regular Prem season is nigh, with the playoffs yet to come. Here is the Guardian’s 2025-26 team of the season with players needing to have appeared in at least nine league fixtures to get the nod.

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Quiet architect of Saracens’ modern dynasty prepares for emotional farewell as his side battle for a playoff spot in penultimate match of the season

The quietest man in the stadium will be the most brilliantly lit when the spotlight falls on him come the end of the match. Mark McCall will hope that his last home fixture in charge of Saracens will have ended with his team back in the top four, just when it matters most, with one round to play.

A win against Harlequins on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd would move Saracens above Exeter into fourth, with the Chiefs due to visit Leicester on Sunday. Saracens are 20-point favourites to beat Quins; Leicester 11-point favourites to beat Exeter. Unless both underdogs rear up to bite their hosts (an outcome the bookies rate as a one-in-50 chance), we are due a straight shootout for that fourth playoff spot on the final weekend of the regular season at Sandy Park, where Exeter will host Saracens.

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The 35-year-old will break the Bears’ top-flight appearance record against Northampton – and still hasn’t scored a try

Bristol’s Jake Woolmore has been pursuing a couple of personal goals for a while. Beneath the Friday night lights in Northampton he is about to tick off one of them by breaking the Bears’ top-flight appearance record. If he is also able to mark this special occasion by surrendering his status as the least likely person in the league to score a try, so much the better.

With fifth-placed Bristol seeking a win over the league leaders to bolster their playoff hopes, the 35-year-old prop is quick to stress the team’s interests come first. That said, if he makes it over the try‑line for the first time on his 142nd league appearance for the club (and 184th in all competitions), the celebrations will be even mightier. As he puts it: “I can’t imagine there are many people who’ve played over 180 games for one club without scoring.”

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Northampton and Bath were well beaten over the weekend: will Leicester or Exeter force themselves into the top two?

There are small but significant moments in every league campaign. Until the weekend it was widely assumed that Northampton and Bath, the two frontrunners in the English Prem, were all but nailed on for home semi-finals and, by extension, would almost certainly meet in the grand final at Allianz Stadium in Twickenham on 20 June.

That could still happen but, suddenly, others are entering the chat. Not only did Saints and Bath lose at the weekend but both were well beaten, 41-17 by Leicester and 35-12 by Exeter respectively. Bath, including their Champions Cup semi-final in Bordeaux, have lost three games on the trot. Northampton were not so much batted aside by the Tigers as unceremoniously flattened.

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• Leicester 41-17 Northampton

• Freddie Steward caps six-try victory for hosts

You can play all the classy rugby you want, you can be leading the table with a few matches to play, but certain elemental truths still apply. One of them is that if you find yourself overpowered up front away from home in a sold-out East Midlands derby, you will be blown away.

Northampton could have secured themselves a place in the playoffs here if they had won with a bonus point, but – how to put this – they did not. In a ferocious atmosphere, records tumbled as Leicester claimed that bonus-point win to move third, within one point of Bath, who play Exeter on Sunday, and five shy of Saints. They scored more points than they ever have in this fixture; there were more cards than there have ever been in this fixture. Maybe not more aggro than ever, but there was plenty of that too.

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Recent European quarter-final was a classic and champions’ Prem trip to the Midlands will likely produce similar

Was this the greatest game ever played, people were asking in the aftermath of that quarter-final of the Champions Cup a fortnight ago in Bath. Victory by the odd try in 11; home team roared on to successful comeback victory with that 11th try in the last five minutes; Northampton, the away team, 28-7 up after barely 20 minutes, playing rugby of the gods.

A personal opinion is that it certainly was the greatest game ever played … this month. Without wanting to prick any bubbles of enthusiasm that may have swelled in the moments after the latest epic, yes, the match was incredible – and if it had happened in the amateur era would have been consecrated as legend long ago – but have we already forgotten France v England not even a month earlier? What about Scotland v France a week before that? We could go on.

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As West Country club join rugby’s modern-day gold rush, their chair looks forward to some US razzmatazz and a possible Prem expansion into Wales

Tony Rowe has not yet had time to ensure Exeter’s proposed new American owners feel fully at home in the west. On a damp morning at Sandy Park no one is wearing a Stetson hat and there is not even a horse tied up outside reception. Maybe that will be part of the handover package assuming the Chiefs’ 700-odd members vote in favour next month of proceeding with the sale of their 155-year-old club.

The winds of change, though, are kicking up the local dust. For the past 33 years Rowe has been integral to one of British team sport’s most romantic Cinderella stories. But romance doesn’t pay the bills in modern pro rugby and times are a-changing. At 77 years old, it is easy to understand why Rowe fancies handing over the reins to a smartly dressed stranger from out of town.

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• Northampton struggle to meet offer

• Smith and Mitchell fit for Saints quarter-final

Underperforming Harlequins have confirmed the signing of England’s full-back George Furbank as they seek to rebuild their squad for next season.

The 29-year-old Furbank has been an influential figure at Northampton, the league leaders, but a lucrative contract offer has persuaded him to try his luck in south-west London.

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Sarries need to bounce back from Bath hammering to stay in touch with the top when they face the Prem leaders

Prestigious Prem matches are scattered across the country on Saturday but none is more significant in the title race than Saracens’ date with Northampton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

By the time Sarries and Saints run out for their evening kick-off in north London, Gloucester will have played Leicester at Villa Park, before Bristol meet Harlequins at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.

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• Bath 62-15 Saracens

• Finn Russell kicks 17 points and Arundell scores twice

Champions Bath left no doubt about their appetite for another title as they swept Saracens aside 62-15 at the Rec to regain top spot. The Londoners started brightly and did not lack effort but Bath’s killer instinct earned them nine tries in front of another capacity crowd.

Scotland’s Finn Russell kicked 17 points from seven conversions and a penalty. Russell and the club captain, Ben Spencer, were straight back into action after ultimately frustrating Six Nations campaigns with their respective countries.

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