Saints and Bath lead race for top four as Prem returns
The two sides have traded top spot every round since the third weekend of the competition, until Northampton opened up a slender two-point gap at the end of last year with a scintillating display to comprehensively beat Bath at the Recreation Ground. Saints' attack has been blistering and they have scored the most points of any club, averaging 39 a game - they put 66 points past Harlequins and scored 43 away at Sale in January alone. They will perhaps face the biggest hangover from the Six Nations, however - nine of their players were in England's squad, with scrum-half Alex Mitchell now out with an injured hamstring.
After their own all-conquering treble-winning 2024-25, expectations have been high on Bath to back it up. They still boast arguably the strongest squad in the division with the ability to rotate a team like no other, but a narrow loss away to Leicester , a second-half collapse against Exeter and the defeat by Northampton when they looked off-colour show Bath are far from unstoppable. Head of rugby, Johann van Graan, alluded after the Prem final last June that winning multiple titles is the goal though to create a real legacy - only Saracens and Leicester have won back-to-back Prem titles in the past 20 years.
They return with a home game against Saracens on Friday and then travel to Sale - two wins there and a top four spot will be very much in Bath's hands. Bristol scrum-half Harry Randall returned from injury in January after four months out The chasing pack of Bristol, Leicester, Exeter and Saracens will all fancy they can at the very least make the top four, if not push for a home semi-final. The Bears return to league action against the Tigers having won their past five Prem matches, and Pat Lam's side have been boosted by the return from injury of scrum-half Harry Randall and winger Gabriel Ibitoye.
Upcoming fixtures also look kind to Bristol - after their trip to Leicester this weekend they take on strugglers Harlequins, Gloucester and Newcastle in successive games. Bears will hope to maintain the spot in the play-offs they got last season, but can they go one step further and make a first-ever Prem final? Exeter have in many ways been the surprise package of the season after a disastrous 2024-25 campaign saw them finish second-from-bottom.
Twelve months ago, Exeter 2. 0 had crashed, but the Chiefs have more than switched the Sandy Park computer off and on again. Exeter 2.