Prem 2025-26 predictions: Louis Rees-Zammit, Owen Farrell and Bath

How does the Prem work?

Same ten teams — although Newcastle are no longer Falcons but Red Bulls — same chance for a Championship promotion. Ealing Trailfinders may have won the Championship last term but they did not meet the minimum standards criteria (I think they used the wrong shade of white paint on their posts).

The team who finish bottom of the Premiership this year will face the Championship winners in a two-legged play-off, with the winner playing in the top flight next season. Obviously subject to RFU’s pernickety rules. But this year the Championship features 14 teams, rather than 12, with National League 1 winners Richmond joining the party, in addition to Worcester Warriors — remember them?

In the Prem, every team plays each other home and away in the regular season. When it gets to the play-offs, the top four will face off in two one-legged semi-finals (first will host fourth and second welcome third), from which the winners will advance to the Twickenham final on June 20.

What are the standout fixtures?

The rebranded league kicks off on a Thursday night (yes, Thursday Night Rugger) and will also head to Villa Park for the first time.

In order not to clash with the Women’s Rugby World Cup final on Saturday, Prem round one will feature two matches on Friday and two on Sunday. Sale Sharks open up at the Salford Community Stadium against Gloucester on Thursday.

The third round will be the derby weekend, while Harlequins’ Big Game 17 will take place at Twickenham on December 20.

What about Villa Park? Well the home of Aston Villa is part of a gargantuan showcase triple-header weekend on March 27-29 and hosts Gloucester v Leicester Tigers, in addition to Bristol Bears taking on Harlequins at the Principality Stadium and Saracens versus Northampton Saints at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

A reminder that we are unlikely to see any British & Irish Lions players before round three.

Are we entering a new era?

Times are changing in the top flight. It feels like a changing of the guard. The “Barclays men”, if you will, of the Premiership (does that make them Aviva men or Gallagher men?) have retired. This will be the first season without the likes of former England internationals Anthony Watson, Joe Marler, Danny Care, Dan Cole, Ben Youngs, Alex Goode, and Mike Brown. But what is old is also new in the case of Owen Farrell. The four-times Lions tourist is back from his brief jaunt to the basket case club that is Racing 92 and is ready to kick the leather off the ball and scream the ears of his team-mates to the ground as he bids to make Saracens great again. It’s spiffing to have Lil Faz back. Isn’t it?

Who are the Newcastle Red Bulls?

Speaking of new. The Newcastle Falcons (who, given they were falcons, surely already had wings?) woke up one morning to discover that Red Bull has given them wings — what kind of four-winged beast are they now? The Newcastle Butterflies? The Newcastle Grasshoppers? The Newcastle Microraptors? Anyway, Red Bull has swooped in, sprinkled some marketing energy dust, and bam: Introducing… Newcastle Red Bulls. They have a new club crest, new kits, some new players and a new name, but will really be hoping for a new league position. They have finished bottom in each of the past three seasons. It’s the start of a big journey for Newcastle Red Bulls.

Will Christian Wade become the GOAT?

Speaking of Newcastle and journeys, what a busy boy Christian Wade has been. The bloke buzzes about at lightning speed on the field and his past few years away from the pitch have not been too different. After leaving Wasps in 2018, the former England wing pursued his childhood dream of playing American football, signing with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills as a running back. Following his NFL stint, Wade returned to rugby union, joining Racing 92 in France. He later moved to Gloucester before announcing in April that he was going to try another new sport, this time rugby league. He is with Wigan Warriors at the moment but will cross codes again to link up with Newcastle in December as he attempts to become the Prem’s record tryscorer. He is eight tries short of Chris Ashton. Can the 34-year-old do it?

Predictions: each team assessed

Bath

Last season 1st (winners) Prediction for this season 1st

Losing attack coach Lee Blackett is a blow as he’s transformed Bath going forward, but adding the likes of Henry Arundell and especially Santiago Carreras to the player pool should help the league’s best team cope. They have only got stronger, and the big challenge will be trying to mount a serious attempt for the Champions Cup in tandem with defending their league crown, which they are solid favourites for. Finn Russell, Ted Hill and Thomas du Toit could probably get the club in the top four by themselves.

Bristol Bears

Last season 4th This season 3rd

Are they going to be pragmatic or completely barmy? When it’s the latter, Bristol are in business. They ran Bath close in the play-offs despite a really limp end to the campaign so will target going one step further this year and reaching a first Premiership final. Max Malins has gone back to Saracens, but the signing of Scotland’s Tom Jordan is a masterstroke and, of course, there is a certain Louis Rees-Zammit on the books now. At Ashton Gate, Bristol are almost unstoppable. Sort out their away form, and they could make the top two.

Exeter Chiefs

Last season 9th This season 8th

Chiefs fans could not wait for last term to finish — it was their worst in the top flight. Minging. Embarrassing at times. But there have been a few green shoots at Baxter University and that can be coupled with the fact that Rob Baxter, the director of rugby, has brought in some great signings. Len Ikitau, albeit on a one-year deal, is the standout, but his Wallaby team-mate Tom Hooper feels like a Chiefs-of-old signing. They have fixed their scrum-half issues by bringing in Italy No9 Stephen Varney and Gloucester’s Charlie Chapman, while you can’t go wrong with a South African hooker. Enter Joseph Dweba. It can’t be worse than last year?

Gloucester

Last season 5th This season 9th

After a terrible 2023-24, last season was a whirlwind for Gloucester that ultimately ended in disappointment for head coach George Skivington. Gloucester had one of the best attacks in the league. Unfortunately for them, they also had one of the leakiest defences, which proved costly. In short, Gloucester are so inconsistent and therefore so unpredictable. They have signed Ben Loader, Will Joseph, Ross Byrne and Nepo Laulala, among others, but losing Santiago Carreras, Gareth Anscombe, Christian Wade and Freddie Clarke is massive — and not in a good way. It could be a tough season in Shed City. They need more Tomos Williams miracles.

Harlequins

Last season 7th This season 7th

It was far from a vintage campaign for Quins — their amazing away kit deserved so much better. It felt like it never really got off the ground and that so much pressure was put on Marcus Smith to produce magic, with tries, crazily for Quins, not as easy to come by. Danny Care has retired, while Nathan Jibulu, Will Joseph, Irne Herbst, Dino Lamb and Lennox Anyanwu have all left Twickenham Stoop. Argentina lock/flanker Guido Petti is a nice pick-up from Bordeaux, while fellow Argentine newbie Boris Wenger may have the league’s best name. Getting a play-off spot will represent success for the quarters crew. File Quins under: “Don’t expect much but also a bit nuts.”

Leicester Tigers

Last season 2nd (runners-up) This season 6th

The beaten finalists were so close to a huge upset in June and it has been a busy summer, with former Tiger great Geoff Parling moving from Australia to take charge at Welford Road — and he’s brought James O’Connor with him. Julian Montoya is a huge loss in the pack but Tigers, who have added Jamie Blamire, have witnessed the blossoming of tight-head Joe Heyes, and if they can keep George Martin and Ollie Chessum fit they will be fine up front. They can match Bath and Sale for snarl. The back line is more concerning, with double World Cup-winning fly half Handré Pollard’s exit. There is a huge dip in quality to his replacements, and they need the right chefs to serve up for in-form flyers Ollie Hassell-Collins and Adam Radwan. Tigers will be in the hunt for the play-offs.

Newcastle Red Bulls

Last season 10th This season 10th

This is a new era for Newcastle but it has only just started, so don’t expect much yet. It will be a good season for them if they can be more competitive and start to build the foundations for global domination. They have made some decent signings: bringing George McGuigan back goes some way to filling the hero hole left by favourites Callum Chick, Jamie Blamire and Adam Radwan, while lock Freddie Clarke is one of the best deals of the summer. They’ve also brought in the former Saracens and Lions full back Liam Williams. This season is a bit of a free hit for a “watch this space” club, but not finishing bottom for the first time since 2022 would be nice.

Northampton Saints

Last season 8th This season 5th

The beaten Champions Cup finalists were box office in Europe but that came at the expense of their league form after a summer of much change. Having lost Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam, among others, the previous year’s champions finished third from bottom in the league, but the likes of Henry Pollock announced themselves on the European stage in stunning fashion. They have a young group who should improve this term. Losing young England prop Tarek Haffar to Tigers is a blow, but they have added some forward beef. Newcastle’s Callum Chick and Italy’s Danilo Fischetti are both in. As is JJ van der Mescht, a 6ft 7in, 22st 12lb South African lock. Basically a small planet.

Sale Sharks

Last season 3rd This season 2nd

Beatdown Boulevard was a horrid place to go last term and it felt for the longest time that only Sale could challenge Bath when it came to being a team of giant monsters with a lust for maiming the opposition. Alas they shot themselves in the foot, with a loss at Welford Road meaning a return there for the semis… and then lost again. But Sale’s squad is superb. When you have George Ford pulling the strings and the likes of the Curry twins and Luke-Cowan Dickie obliterating people up front, you can never be far from glory. But they have to start earning bonus points in defeat (zero losing bonus points from six losses last term). Is this finally their year?

Saracens

Last season 6th This season 4th

While they were in a tight mix for the play-offs, a sixth-placed finish for Saracens was shocking last term. It’s almost unheard of for them to be that close to the basement; they’re a penthouse club. Owen Farrell, back on a two-year deal, during which he’ll also do a bit of official coaching, will not stand for a repeat of that. Sarries’ standards will be driven through the roof and they hope that getting the band back together (Malins is back too) will help them challenge at the top again. Mark McCall, the director of rugby, was right last season when citing that Sarries let too many games pass them by. Sort that consistency and their set piece out, and they’ll be grand.

Finally, goodbye from me

After several years of bringing you a weird and wonderful look at the best rugby league in the world, this piece shall be my last as I embark on a new adventure. It’s been an absolute slobberknocker, and thank you to everyone for coming back every week. The Prem Guide is not dead, however. No. The wonderful Will Rogan shall be replacing me from next week. But, for me, this is “see you later”. In the end, the true reward was the friends we made along the way.

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