Rugby union may be focused on the World Cup, which doesn’t come to a conclusion until next month. But the domestic game in the UK steps up a gear this week with the start of the Gallagher Premiership.
It’s all about finishing in the top four in the Regular Season to earn a place in the play-off semi-finals next spring but the top clubs may have to face being without their best players for a few weeks more if the home nations progress beyond this weekend’s World Cup quarter-finals.
Teams have already had some involvement in the Premiership Rugby Cup – Sale Sharks being particularly impressive – but this is now when the real competition begins.
Gallagher Premiership Winner Odds
(Odds correct at 3.15pm October 16)
| Team |  |
 |
 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saracens | 5/6 | 5/6 | 8/11 |
| Exeter | 5/2 | 12/5 | 5/2 |
| Gloucester | 16/1 | 16/1 | 14/1 |
| Northampton | 16/1 | 22/1 | 18/1 |
| Sale | 22/1 | 33/1 | 20/1 |
| Harlequins | 25/1 | 33/1 | 25/1 |
| Wasps | 25/1 | 40/1 | 33/1 |
| Leicester | 25/1 | 33/1 | 25/1 |
| Bath | 33/1 | 40/1 | 33/1 |
| Bristol | 50/1 | 66/1 | 50/1 |
There are 12 teams in the Gallagher Premiership and they play each other home and away over the course of the season. Defending champion SARACENS are odds-on with most firms to emerge triumphant from the Grand Final in 2020. While Sarries’ fans will want their players to do well in Japan, Mark McCall’s team has been hit harder than most by the demands of the Rugby World Cup and it will be a few weeks before that are back to full strength. But they will still feel confident of a place in the top four and a place in the final for the fifth time in six years. Elliott Daly is a keynote signing from Wasps but the World Cup has certainly opened a door for others.
EXETER CHIEFS felt hard done by their defeat in last year’s final. Their pack is probably the best in the country right now and it would be no surprise to see Rob Baxter’s men build up early momentum. With Scotland’s early elimination in Japan, Stuart Hogg will be in action quicker than anticipated and the Chiefs look good value at the general 5/2 to give Saracens more than a run for their money again come the end of the season. The Chiefs could be a terrific bet to top the table at the end of the Regular Season.
It could be a case of perming two from half-a-dozen with regards to which other sides will be in the play-off semi-finals. GLOUCESTER RUGBY and NORTHAMPTON SAINTS were the beaten semi-finalists last season. The Saints, in particular, will expect to at least replicate that achievement in the coming season. The club has a crop of young talent coming through but this is a hard league and they can’t all be expected to progress at the same rate. Northampton are 22/1 with Betway to be crowned Gallagher Premiership champions with Gloucester a best 16/1.
Behind last season’s top four, only five points separated the next five teams. Of those, perhaps BATH (40/1 with Betway) have the most scope for improvement this season. They have shown that they can beat the big boys, especially at the Recreation Ground, but a lack of consistency has generally been their downfall. However, with Stuart Hooper now the director of rugby, there should be progress in that area. Six-times champions WASPS are 40/1 with Betway while the aforementioned SALE SHARKS are a best 33/1 to capitalise on early success in the Premiership Rugby Cup, in which they have already beaten Saracens.
