Premiership players to watch XV: Who's been the best signing?!
Aviva PremiershipMonday, 24 July 2017 at 16:37
A lot of new players have come to the Aviva Premiership this summer with some teams recovering from disastrous seasons.
Some are looking to replace club legends and others are looking to compete for the crown.
Our 15 players to watch this season are:
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Fullback: Liam Williams (Saracens)
The 25-year-old showed he can play full-back or wing during the Lions tour to New Zealand and has 38 caps for Wales, as well as 100 Scarlets appearances.
Wing: Napolioni Nalaga (London Irish)
The Exiles have announced a raft of major new signings for next season - led by Fijian flyer Napolioni Nalaga.
The 31-year-old scored 105 tries in 165 games for French heavyweights Clermont Auvergne, playing in the 2013 European Cup final against Toulon, before joining Lyon last season.
Centre: Piers Francis (Northampton Saints)
He made his England debut during their two-match tour of Argentina, showing a lot of promise.
Francis is an exciting rugby player, both in attack and defence.
The 26-year-old moved to New Zealand in 2009 after three years in Saracens' development academy.
Centre: Francis Saili (Harlequins)
Quins made one of the biggest signings of the summer with the former All Black centre moving to The Stoop.
The 26-year-old joins from Pro12 side Munster, having spent two seasons in Ireland after three years playing for the Blues in Super Rugby.
Saili has been capped twice by the All Blacks and was also part of the victorious New Zealand side that won the 2011 U20s Junior World Championship.
Wing: DTH van der Merwe (Newcastle Falcons)
The 30-year-old qualified fire-fighter has dotted down 23 tries in his 42 international matches, and has been similarly prolific at club level.
A Pro 12 title winner with Glasgow in 2015, Van der Merwe has plundered 45 tries in his 98 outings in the competition as well as a further 12 in 30 European Champions Cup games.
Fly-half: George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
The England playmaker will rejoin Leicester from Bath next season - with Freddie Burns heading in the opposite direction.
Ford moved to Bath in 2013, when his father Mike was head coach, and helped the club reach the 2014 European Challenge Cup final and Aviva Premiership showpiece a year later.
Scrum-half: Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks)
The 25-year-old Springbok has signed a three-year deal and is the replacement for the departing international No 9s Mike Phillips and Peter Stringer.
FORWARDS ON PAGE TWO
Prop: Jamal Ford Robinson (Northampton)
Prop Ford-Robinson, who was born in Bristol but moved to Cornwall as a child, returned to the city in 2015 when he joined Bristol from Cornish Pirates.
He became a cult hero at Ashton Gate, often posing for selfies with supporters after games, and even giving away his boots and several bags of kit
Hooker: Saia Fainga'a (London Irish)
The 36-times capped Aussie hooker, who is one of 10 new recruits joining the Exiles revolution, is set to move to the ‘big smoke’ with his wife and two children next week.
A Super Rugby title-winner with Queensland Reds in 2011 as well as becoming a prominent figure in the Wallabies front row, Fainga’a’s desire to win at the highest level makes him a standour signing.
Prop: Alexandru Ţăruş (Sale Sharks)
Steve Diamond has bolstered their front-row options ahead of next season with the signing of Romanian international Alexandru Tarus on a two-year deal.
Tarus, who has 16 Romania caps, can play on either side of the scrum.
Lock: Will Skelton (Saracens)
Skelton made eight eye-catching appearances for the Men in Black in an impressive two-month stay during the 2016/17 season.
He then put pen to paper on a two-year deal to return at the end of the Super Rugby season.
Lock: Filo Paulo (London Irish)
The Samoa lock forward or flanker will bring absolute power to the London Irish pack.
Flanker: Josh Strauss (Sale Sharks)
The Scotland back-rower is a world class forward.
Strauss has been performing well for both Glasgow and Scotland over the past five years and will compliment the squad in the ball carrying department.
He is a leader and a very powerful athlete.
Flanker: Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
The up-and-coming powerhouse is already a good player.
He is one of those that is going to develop into an international player under Eddie Jones, so it will be great to see him making an impact in the Premiership.
Number 8: David Denton (Worcester Warriors)
The 27-year-old will make the switch to Sixways from Bath this summer after 23 appearances for their Aviva Premiership rivals over two seasons.
Zimbabwe-born Denton, who can also play at lock, qualified for Scotland through his mother and has played 35 times for his adopted country with his last appearance in June 2016.
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- Jordie Barrett over Damian de Allende is far from being correct. The hype around Dupont is also overreaching, he's probably 4th in the world and has been since the 2023 WC. He also avoids certain matchups which is strange. The rest of the list is pretty good apart from minor subjective biases.JasonMarlow16-09-2026
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