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.
The 30-year-old, who is out of contract at the Gallagher Premiership outfit at the end of this season, suffered a serious knee injury last January versus La Rochelle in an Investec Champions Cup pool match in Manchester.
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.
There are just four weeks to go before the All Blacks arrive at Allianz Stadium on November 2, so players will be vying to impress.
Flanker Sam Dugdale will start for Sale Sharks on Friday night against Gloucester after being cleared for the red card he received in the Gallagher Premiership loss to Saracens.
The Gallagher Premiership table after round one highlighted how you can get strange quirks in this game, defending champions Northampton finding themselves at the bottom 16 weeks after they lifted the trophy at Twickenham.
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.
Arron Reed celebrated a century of appearances with a double as an entertaining Sale side outwitted Harlequins to win a 10-try thriller 37-31.
After sustaining a hamstring injury in their round one victory over Leicester Tigers in October, fly-half AJ MacGinty will make his return when Bristol Bears face Sale Sharks on Friday night.