10 things you need to know ahead of the Gallagher Premiership restart
The long-awaited 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership restart finally takes place this Friday when Harlequins host Sale at The Stoop nearly 23 weeks after the last match in the tournament, the March 8 Ashton Gate encounter between Bristol and Quins.
Nine rounds of fixtures along with the playoffs – a total of 57 matches – will be played between Friday and the planned October 24 final. Below is a list of ten stats to remind everyone of what is at stake in the weeks and months ahead.
1. It has been 159 days since the last Gallagher Premiership Rugby game, the longest hiatus ever between Premiership matches. The previous record was 139 days between the 2015 final and the start of the 2015/16 season, and exactly the same four years later.
2. All to play for: Exeter obtained 43 of a possible 45 league points on offer from the last nine rounds in the 2016/17 season, while in 2008/09 Leicester climbed from sixth spot in the league table after round 13 to top place by round 22.
3. There is a five-way tie for the most Premiership tries this season with seven tries each being run in by Ben Earl, Ollie Hassell-Collins, Zach Kibirige, Luke Morahan and Louis Rees-Zammit.
The high stakes restart…https://t.co/KMFLikRQCQ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 12, 2020
4. Worcester’s Perry Humphreys has scored five tries, while his teammates have scored just 13 more between them, the highest individual contribution of any one player in the Premiership this season.
5. Four players have amassed over a century of points this campaign: Marcus Smith leads the way with 126 followed by Callum Sheedy (122), Robert du Preez (116) and Rhys Priestland (111). The latter has scored almost half of Bath’s total points tally this season.
6. Exeter’s Gareth Steenson has missed just one kick at goal in 30 attempts this season – a 31st-minute conversion against Sale on 25 January. It’s his only miss in the Gallagher Premiership in his last 35 shots since March 2019.
7. Things could have been so different for Bristol and Worcester. The two clubs have each been involved in eight close encounters where the result was either a draw or the losing side obtained a losing bonus point. However, Bristol lost just two such matches while Worcester won only two of their eight.
8. Don’t let Saracens get ahead of you. Sarries have not lost any of the eight Premiership matches that they have been leading at the half-time break.
9. 69 per cent of all Gloucester’s points this season have been scored by the way of tries, by far the best contribution in the Gallagher Premiership.
10. There have been only three dropped goals kicked so far in 2019/20 – by Robert du Preez, James Grayson and Dan Robson. Grayson followed his father Paul in becoming the first father and son pair to have both dropped a goal in Premiership history, while Robson became only the eighth scrum-half to drop a goal.
'As a black player, you get pigeon-holed. You’re either an athlete and you’ll get stuck on the wing or he’s big, let’s stick him in the second row' @Harlequins wing @natenate174 talks about gaining coaches' trust, his ACL, BLM & more, with @heagneyl ???https://t.co/qxaJxTQeXM
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 2, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments