Sale show their class
Sale 25-7 Saracens
On Friday night, Sale and Saracens met in a battle of Premiership heavyweights and Sale came out on top. It was a tight game with the separation being Sale's physicality and some individual brilliance from Aaron Reed who pretty much ran the length of the pitch to score for the home side. This win continues Sale's impressive run of form which looks to be setting them up in good position for a home playoff game if they can squeeze past Leicester. Saracens, meanwhile, are still firmly in the hunt but will have to regather themselves after a significant knock-back.
Bath's youngsters showed up
Bath 55 - 19 Newcastle
Bath rotated heavily, particularly in the backs, against Newcastle but didn't suffer any consequences. Hennessy. Carr-Smith and Donoghue all got on the score-sheet with Austin Emens crossing twice. Amongst all the impressive performers, it was the debut fly-half who stood out most. It didn't take long for Donoghue to score a superb individual try by carving through the middle of the Falcons defence to score on his first opportunity. He will be in the minds of Bath coaches going into next season with Orlando Bailey looking set to depart, even if Santi Carreras is joining at the same time. Newcastle losing massively on the road is no shock so this won't ruffle any northern feathers. What might do that is the news of Callum Chick potentially joining Northampton next season with the boyhood Falcon and club captain currently out of contract at the end of this season.
Harlequins lose badly once again
Leicester 40 - 7 Harlequins
This is becoming a recurring nightmare for Harlequins; a faltering attack combined with a lacklustre defence is a fatal combination to any playoff push and has killed off the Londoners chances in 2025. What will also worry Harlequins is the ankle injury to Marcus Smith who seemed unable to run at all with strapping over his right ankle meaning that Harlequins' attack became completely impotent rather than just depressingly average. There was also a scary injury to young winger, Cameron Anderson, who had the unfortunate fate of receiving a second yellow, and subsequent red, card whilst unconscious. Thankfully, he was awake soon after being stretchered off and is not too seriously injured. For Leicester, this was a huge win which puts them in second and puts them in prime position to say goodbye to the retiring Ben Youngs with a Premiership trophy.
Bristol's slide continues
Northampton 48 - 31 Bristol
The Bears seem to have hit a wall since the Six Nations finished in 2025 and things don't look to be getting much better. AJ MacGinty is still re-finding his form but in the mean time, Bristol's expansive brand of rugby is not going well with teams being able to counter it more effectively. Northampton's season is pretty much over domestically but they've still clearly got the ability to wreck things for other teams.
Chiefs humiliated
Gloucester 79 - 17 Exeter
Gloucester were in charge from the first minute, jumping to a 22-point advantage. Things did not improve for the visitors with the eventual score-line being 79-17 - an utter humiliation. Rob Baxter seems to be swinging the axe over his coaching staff now and making big changes to his squad but there needs to be some significant improvement next season for him to not be on the chopping block also - despite everything he has achieved at the club.
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