Harlequins began their Gallagher Premiership title defence with a 26-20 bonus-point win against Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park.
Quins local rivals Saracens began life back in the top flight with a 26-9 win against Bristol Bears on Friday night while Leicester beat Exeter Chiefs 34-19 and Sale Sharks edged past Bath 20-19 at the AJ Bell Stadium
A new-look Worcester Warriors started the new season with a 36-24 win against London Irish at Sixways.
Finally, Northampton Saints started their season in style at Franklin's Gardens with a 34-20 win against Gloucester.
Check out our team of the week below.
BACK-THREE:
- 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
- 14. Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons)
- 11. Louis Lynagh (Harlequins)
Leicester Mercury on Steward: The talented full-back picked up where he left off last season with a superb opening-day display. He started with an assured highball then went on to be the focal point of everything Tigers did well on an opening day to remember.
CENTRES:
- 13. Sam Hutchinson (Northampton Saints)
- 12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
HALFBACKS:
- 10. George Ford (Leicester Tigers)
- 9. Raffi Quirke (Sale Sharks)
RUCK on Quirke: "Sale fielded the young 20-year-old at scrum-half and he made the difference in a dominant first half for the hosts. Having exploited a gap in the Bath defence, he offloaded to send McGuigan through for Sale's second score of the game. He looks different class"
FRONT-ROW:
- 1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers)
- 2. Harry Thacker (Bristol Bears)
- 3. Nick Schonert (Sale Sharks)
Bristol Live on Thacker: "It is great to see the red scrum cap of Harry Thacker back bursting through gaps at Ashton Gate after missing most of last season through injury as he recovered from surgery on his neck. The hooker broke the line on a couple of occasions to make 45m in attack, the second-highest total of any player on the pitch."
SECOND-ROW:
- 4. George Martin (Leicester Tigers)
- 5. Nick Isiekwe (Saracens)
BACK-ROW:
- 6. Ted Hill (Worcester Warriors)
- 7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby)
- 8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens)
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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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