RUGBY UNION - ENGLISH LEAGUE AND CUP
2025/26 TO 2029/30
2025/26
Round 5 - Saracens (31) @ (43) Northampton Saints - #1 Northampton hosted #2 Saracens at Franklin Gardens and the game lived up to the billing, with the Saints scoring 7 tries to win the game. The Saints dominated the opening 20 minutes and ran out to a 17-0 lead before Saracens fought back to take a 19-17 lead in at the half. Northampton conceded again early in the 2nd half before reeling off 21 unanswered points to take control of the game and then held off Saracens to take the win. The Northampton tries came from George Hendy, Tom Pearson (2) and Tommy Freeman (4) with Finn Smith also kicking 8 points. The Saracens tries came from Fergus Burke, Jack Bracken, Juan Martin Gonzalez, Hugh Tizard and Max Malins with Owen Farrell kicking 6 points (9, No Post-Game, 2 Discs, TNT - Mullins/Kay/Ashton, PAL)
Round 16 - Bristol Bears (33) @ (94) Northampton Saints - League leaders Northampton seriously dented Bristol's playoff hopes with a record-setting 14-try demolition at Franklin's Gardens. The 127 points scored made the game the highest scoring game in the history of English top-flight rugby union. The Saints were on top straight from the start, and ran out to a 61-14 lead at the half. The 2nd half was no better for the Bears and the Saints piled on 5 more tries and ran out easy winners. The Northampton tries came from George Hendy (4), Rory Hutchinson (2), Callum Chick, Alex Coles, Archie McParland (2), George Furbank, Josh Kemeny, Henry Pollock and Sam Graham with Finn Smith kicking 22 points. The Bristol tries came from Harry Thacker, Louis Rees-Zammit, Harry Randall, Luka Ivanishvili and Noah Heward (9, 46 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, TNT - Eykyn/Flatman/O'Driscoll, PAL)
Round 17 - Sale Sharks (42) @ (45) Newcastle Red Bulls - In a sensational game at Kingston Park, bottom-of-the-league Newcastle scored on the final play of the game to win only their 2nd game of the season. The 1st half went to form as Sale raced out to a 35-10 lead at half-time, but in the 2nd half, Sale took their foot off the gas and allowed Newcastle to fight back. As the clock hit 80 minutes, Newcastle broke from their own 22 and went the length of the field to score an unexpected game-winner. The Newcastle tries came from Tom Christie (2), Amanaki Mafi, Alex Hearle (3) and Freddie Lockwood. The Sale tries came from Tom Roebuck, Seb Kelly, Tom O'Flaherty, Joe Carpenter, Alfie Longstaff and Arron Reed (9, 46 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, TNT - Byrnes/Kay/O'Driscoll, PAL)
Round 18 - Saracens (12) @ (32) Exeter Chiefs - A "winner takes all" game at Sandy Park ended in the home teams favour, as Exeter beat Saracens to claim the final semi-final spot. The 1st half was a tight affair, but the game turned in the Chiefs favour just before the break as Saracens had a player sin-binned and it allowed Exeter to score 25 unanswered points and pull away for the win. The Exeter tries came from Max Norey, Hnery Slade, Andrea Zambonin and Stephen Varney with Slade also kicking 12 points. The Saracens tries came from Tobias Elliott and Nick Isiekwe. The loss proved to be the final game as Director of Rugby at Saracens for Mark McCall after 17 years in charge (9, 2 Discs, ITV - Eykyn/O'Driscoll/Kay, PAL)
Semi-Final - Leicester Tigers (31) @ (45) Northampton Saints - #1 Northampton showed why they were Premiership favourites with a big win at Franklin's Gardens against their big rivals, #4 Leicester, and booked a place in their 2nd Final in 3 years. The Saints were at their free-flowing best, with Tom Litchfield scoring a 1st half hat-trick, and George Furbank scoring 2 tries in the 2nd half, in his final home game before a move to Harlequins. The Tigers fought hard to stay in the fight, scoring 5 tries of their own, but the Northampton fire-power proved too much in the end. The Northampton tries came from Tom Litchfield (3), Tommy Freeman, George Furbank (2) and Archie McParland. The Leicester tries came from Hanro Liebenberg, Freddie Steward, Ollie Hassell-Collins (2) and Orlando Bailey (9, 46 minutes hi-lites, 1 Disc, TNT - Eykyn/Flatman/Healey, PAL)
Semi-Final - Exeter Chiefs (27) @ (26) Bath - In a sensational game at the Recreation Ground in Bath, Exeter turned the game around in the 2nd half to beat the current Champions and book a place in the Premiership Final. Bath were missing their star half-back Finn Russell to injury, but it didn't hold Bath back as they ran out to a 26-10 lead with just 30 minutes to play. But the Chiefs suddenly found some Offense and scored 17 unanswered points to take the lead, then used a fantastic 40-phase try-line Defensive stand on the final play of the game to secure the win. The Exeter tries came from Christ Tshiunza, Ben Hammersley, Greg Fisilau and Ethan Burger. The Bath tries came from Ben Obano, Thomas Du Toit, Joe Cokanasiga, Henry Arundell with Santiago Carreras kicking 6 points (9, 2 Discs, TNT - Mullins/Kay/Ashton, PAL)
Final - Northampton Saints (26) v (17) Exeter Chiefs - #1 Northampton claimed their 2nd title in 3 years with a hard-fought win over #3 Exeter at a sunny Twickenham. The game was full of big hits and crucial injuries, with Exeter losing their starting hooker and Northampton losing their starting scrum half. Both teams were evenly matched throughout and the game turned on 2 yellow cards. The first, for Northampton, allowed Exeter to take a slim 1 point lead after 52 minutes. But when Exeter had a man sin-binned on 56 minutes, the Saints took full advantage, scoring 2 tries in 3 minutes to re-take the lead that they defended to the end. The man-of-the-match went to Northampton Flanker Henry Pollock, who had a huge game. The Northampton tries came from Tommy Freeman, Finn Smith and George Hendy (2) with Smith also kicking 6 points. The Exeter tries came from Campbell Ridl, Josh Iosefa-Scott and Dafydd Jenkins(9, 2 Discs, TNT - Mullins/Kay/Healey, PAL)