We are another weekend into the Gallagher Premiership season, and round seven generated an exciting instillment of action in the English top flight.
The league is back in full flow, with plenty of England hopefuls starring for their clubs, and looking for a call-up into Steve Borthwick’s squad.
The 2024 Six Nations continue to creep in over the horizon, with England beginning their campaign with a trip to Italy on February 3rd. Borthwick will be keeping an eye on the Premiership’s top performers, with the league brimming with England hopefuls that are eager for their time in the senior squad spotlight. Once again, we were treated to two matches under the Friday night lights, with Northampton and Sale Sharks recording wins to kick off the weekend’s action.
Northampton battled against a resilient Harlequins side, in an yo-yoing match that ended 36-33 to the Saints. Sale and Bath had a polarising match, as the low scoring contest was one for the purists, and saw Sale clinch an 11-9 win thanks to the boot of George Ford. Saturday’s action saw Leicester Tigers get some key points on the table, as they begin to claw their way back up the league in their 38-20 win against Gloucester. Bristol Bears then took Saracens to their very limit, yet the Londoners came away victorious at the Stone X in a 39-31 classic.
Sunday’s action saw Exeter Chiefs make the almighty trek up North to face Newcastle Falcons. The men from Devon secured their first away win of the Premiership season, with New Zealand prop Josh Iosefa-Scott’s late winning try, handing the hard-fought points to the visitors. Here is a run-down of our picks, for the top five England hopefuls who impressed this past weekend in the Premiership.
1. Ollie Slightholme – Northampton Saints
Making his first Northampton start of the 2023/24 Premiership season, Ollie Slightholme marked the occasion by grabbing a brace of tries in the win over Harlequins. This end-to-end contest saw 10 tries go over at Franklin’s Gardens, with the Saints claiming a narrow 36-33 win over their London visitors. Sleightholme was excellent in this one, and wasted no time in his return to the starting line-up, as he crashed over for an eighth minute response, to Cadan Murley’s early Quins opener.
The move began with a well worked set-piece, as Tom Pearson claimed the arial ball and popped it away from the line-out. Hooker Sam Matavesi then looped around the back of the pack, and charged up-field with Sleightholme in support. The Harlequins defence were taken aback by the Saints dummy line, with Matavesi finding Sleightholme in the pocket. The powerful winger then bulldozed his way through Marcus Smith’s chop tackle attempt, and muscled his way over to score.
Sleightholme’s second try came in the matches’ latter stages, with Northampton’s final try establishing enough daylight to see out the victory. Harlequins did respond with a final roll of the dice, yet it proved to be a consolation score, with the deficit too far in favour of the Saints. Sleightholme was screaming for the ball out on the right touchline, and the accurate distribution of George Hendy found the winger. Sleightholme brushed off Tyrone Green’s covering tackle, and dotted down for a match-winning try in the corner. A stunning effort for the England U20’s star, Sleightholme is on the right track for a senior side debut after previous training squad call-ups under Eddie Jones.