Last week’s post-Christmas block of fixtures took us beyond the halfway point in this season’s Gallagher Premiership and a number of the round nine results have certainly whetted the appetite as English ruby welcomes in the new year.
It was the French who caught the eye in round one with six of their eight teams winning, including Stade Rochelais and Toulon away from home.
This weekend’s return of the Gallagher Premiership following a five-week hibernation was given its banner headline on Wednesday when Joe Marler confirmed he will retire from playing with immediate effect following Friday night’s Harlequins match at home to Bristol.
Round six of the Gallagher Premiership promises to deliver another thrilling weekend of action, with teams looking to solidify their positions ahead of a break before the Test rugby returns in November.
With England versus New Zealand on the November 2 horizon and Steve Borthwick poised to name his Test squad on Wednesday for the four-game Autum Nations Series, a number of leading candidates have been pencilled in for some timely club action.
All 10 clubs have named their teams and numerous selections catch the eye. For instance, Beno Obano, whose red card was influential in tilting last June’s Twickenham showpiece result in favour of Northampton, has completed his suspension and is a Bath starter at The Rec.
Bath and Scotland centre Cameron Redpath has recovered from the “significant ankle ligament damage” suffered at the beginning of the month to take his place on the bench against Saracens on Friday in the Gallagher Premiership.
Let’s start with the players who are absent. Siya Kolisi, the most inspirational leader in world rugby and one of the most dynamic loose forwards from broken play. Handre Pollard, a World Cup winning fly-half who returned from injury and steered Leicester Tigers from eighth to third in the Premiership within three weeks.
We look at seven players that missed out on Jacques Nienaber's 41-man Springbok training squad ahead of the Rugby Championship.
South African franchise Cheetahs have recently been decimated and assistant Corniel van Zyl is the latest to leave, joining London Irish.