We are still over a month away from the beginning of the new Gallagher Prem campaign, but pre-season fixtures are starting up again and an intriguing recruitment cycle is pretty much over – bar one or two late deals as Newcastle Red Bulls think on their feet.
We are still over a month away from the beginning of the new Gallagher Prem campaign, but pre-season fixtures are starting up again and an intriguing recruitment cycle is pretty much over – bar one or two late deals as Newcastle Red Bulls think on their feet.
The cold truth is that coaches very rarely have the chance to assemble their absolute best match-day 23. At any given point in the year, several squad members will be unavailable. Internationals from Argentina, Australia and South Africa are away at the Rugby Championship, for instance. Even so, it is tantalising to consider the line-ups that clubs could put together and how they might be thinking.
This exercise could also offer a window into the business end of the season, because players battling long-term injuries have been included. It is subjective, of course, so do not hesitate to leave your recommendations below the line. Browse through all 10 sides or go straight to your club using the links below:
- Bath
- Bristol Bears
- Exeter Chiefs
- Gloucester
- Harlequins
- Leicester Tigers
- Newcastle Red Bulls
- Northampton Saints
- Sale Sharks
- Saracens
Bath
Replacements
16. Dan Frost, 17. Francois van Wyk, 18. Will Stuart, 19. Josh Bayliss, 20. Guy Pepper, 21. Tom Carr-Smith, 22. Cameron Redpath, 23. Jaco Coetzee
As continually stressed by Johann van Graan, it is not about the best 15 or even the gun 23 for Bath. They pride themselves not only on having assembled a formidable roster, but spreading game-time around as they bring through youngsters. Van Graan is overseeing a virtuous circle, and a proper tilt at the Champions Cup this season seems viable.
Among those left out of the squad above are Tom de Glanville, Joe Cokanasiga, Will Butt, Ciaran Donoghue, Bernard van der Linde, Ross Molony and Alfie Barbeary as well as tyros such as Ewan Richards, Kepu Tuipulotu and Vilikesa Sela. All of them will be prominent at different times.
The rationale is that Arundell adds searing pace, with Carreras capable of covering fly-half. Hill covers lock, so I have loaded the bench with three back-rowers including the rampaging Coetzee (wearing 23 because Bath do it that way). Pepper, a magnificent player, could start ahead of, or in tandem with, Underhill. Van Graan will go for a seven-one split if he so desires.
Strengths: Yes, lots of them. The reigning champions have consolidated cleverly again. Frost, for instance, is a smart signing.
Weaknesses: Talk about good headaches. Keeping everyone happy over the course of the season could become a challenge, so expect more rotation.
Bristol Bears
Replacements
16. Harry Thacker, 17. Jake Woolmore, 18. Max Lahiff, 19. James Dun, 20. Joe Owen, 21. Santiago Grondona, 22. Kieran Marmion, 23. Rich Lane
Louis Rees-Zammit’s arrival was a significant coup, but Tom Jordan and Pedro Rubiolo – the latter’s switch from Newcastle having been brought forward because of injury – were already potentially transformative acquisitions. Even in a streamlined squad, backs such as James Williams, Benjamín Elizalde, Noah Heward and Jack Bates are unfortunate to miss out and will undoubtedly rack up appearances during the season. There are high hopes for Joe Jenkins too.
This line-up may need to wait until Rees-Zammit, who played his last game for Gloucester at full-back, has fully re-familiarised himself with rugby union. But Janse van Rensburg is probably at his best as a carving outside centre and, although Jordan has worn 15 for Scotland in a Test match, he will want to be closer to the ball. Kalaveti Ravouvou was on the wing for Fiji in July. Aged 35, AJ MacGinty remains an influential general and there are myriad possible combinations.
The back five of the pack is similarly flexible, though Rubiolo and Joe Batley represent a complementary duo. Steven Luatua is another important veteran. Ellis Genge enhanced his reputation with the British and Irish Lions, while Gabriel Oghre finally was finally awarded his England debut in the US.
Strengths: A blockbuster back line supplemented by mobile, dextrous forwards with Jordan’s versatility ideal for a six-two split.
Weaknesses: This squad features 13 only England-qualified players (EQPs) and would therefore require tinkering from Pat Lam to register an average of 15. Also, are they perhaps missing one front-row bruiser?
Exeter Chiefs
Replacements
16. Joseph Dweba, 17. Will Goodrick-Clarke, 18. Bachuki Tchumbadze, 19. Christ Tshiunza, 20. Richard Capstick, 21. Ross Vintcent, 22. Tom Cairns, 23. Tamati Tua
The signings of Tom Hooper and Len Ikitau will have piqued your curiosity when they were officially announced, back in January and April respectively. Now, after a summer of fine displays from the Wallabies duo against the Lions and South Africa, they should have your attention.
Put it this way, Exeter will be seething if they fail to improve on the four Premiership wins they mustered across 2024-25. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, his shoulder fixed, will hope to be a far heavier contributor this time around. Christ Tshiunza has enjoyed a full pre-season programme and this team follows a familiar Rob Baxter template of cocooning a smaller, zippier No 8 – Greg Fisilau or Ross Vintcent – with bigger henchmen elsewhere in the back five.
Andrea Zambonin, the Italy international, has bolstered their second-row stocks. There will be scope for six-two splits, although Chiefs are another team that must keep an eye on EQP quotas and rotate accordingly. Players such as Max Norey, Lewis Pearson, Joe Bailey, Ben Coen, Will Rigg, Olly Woodburn and Zack Wimbush give them options.
Strengths: It is difficult to look past the two Wallabies as well as two explosive wings. Sources suggested, too, that Will Goodrick-Clarke is shaping up well.
Weaknesses: Baxter has changed things up at scrum-half but not at fly-half. The control of Exeter’s half-backs will be under the microscope again.
Gloucester
Replacements
16. Jack Singleton, 17. Ciaran Knight, 18. Afolabi Fasogbon, 19. Matías Alemanno, 20. James Venter, 21. Caolan Englefield, 22. Charlie Atkinson, 23. Will Joseph
George Skivington has committed to a fast-paced, ambitious style of play and this line-up reinforces as much. After the Wales livewire had his Lions tour derailed by a troublesome hamstring, Tomos Williams will be integral. Ben Redshaw, Ben Loader and Ross Byrne have come in and reshape the back line, with Will Joseph another recruit who should thrive at Kingsholm.
Byrne, replacing Gareth Anscombe as the playmaker, will be eager to assert himself after leaving Leinster. Seb Atkinson could secure a starting berth for England in November, if he sustains the form he has shown for Gloucester over the past two years to consolidate his displays against the Pumas in July.
Nepo Laulala bolsters the pack, giving Afolabi Fasogbon a mentor who can help him study tricks of the tighthead trade, while Jack Mann and James Venter have sources excited. Josh Basham, the ex-England U20 back-rower who spent a stint in Japan when London Irish went under, and Will Trenholm are two others worth tracking. Gloucester lost a swathe of senior figures over the summer, but have recruited extremely well. Fifth last season, just two points shy of the play-offs, they have had a sighter.
Strengths: This is a squad that will be attuned to its tactical approach, which is a major advantage, and full of verve.
Weaknesses: To pump the brakes just slightly on all the justifiable enthusiasm, they might need a season for new faces to settle.
Harlequins
Replacements
16. George Turner, 17. Boris Wenger, 18. Harry Williams, 19. Chandler Cunningham-South, 20. James Chisholm, 21. Stu Townsend, 22. Jarrod Evans, 23. Oscar Beard
The ins and outs at Harlequins over the past few months have amounted to a lock swap shop. They lost Irné Herbst, Dino Lamb, George Hammond and offered contract extensions to Stephan Lewies and Joe Launchbury while also bringing in Kierna Treadwell and Guido Petti. The acquisition of George Turner, an all-action hooker who was Scotland’s front-liner before moving to Japan, was a nifty piece of business as well.
Pedro Delgado and Harry Williams, an England international returning to these shores from Pau, beef up the tighthead options. Those two will rotate with Titi Lamositele and Simon Kerrod as Boris Wenger on the loosehead makes it a pair of Pumas props for scrum coach Adam Jones to tutor. Stu Townsend restores the scrum-half stocks after Danny Care’s retirement. Lucas Friday is another highly rated No 9 who could be fast-tracked when his knee is right. Launchbury and Lewies will play a great deal, particularly as the latter calls line-outs, but this team has Chandler Cunningham-South covering lock from the bench with the rambunctious James Chisholm also among the replacements.
It will be some time yet before Chisholm recovers from his ruptured Achilles tendon. Jack Kenningham is an outstanding jumper and Harlequins could plump for a six-two split quite easily, especially since Cadan Murley had a spell at centre for England in Argentina. Ben Waghorn and Luke Northmore, who seems more assured at 13, are paired together here. Oscar Beard will certainly have starting opportunities, though.
Strengths: Breakdown disruption, sparky attack and the confidence that Fin Baxter will have gleaned over his summer with England.
Weaknesses: Harlequins face a bit of a rebuild, with plenty of moving parts, in the tight five.
Leicester Tigers
Replacements
16. Charlie Clare, 17. Tarek Haffar, 18. Will Hurd, 19. Cameron Henderson, 20. Emeka Ilione, 21. Tom Whiteley, 22. Orlando Bailey, 23. Solomone Kata
Despite significant departures, not least in the top job where Geoff Parling replaces Michael Cheika, Tigers are in good shape. Jamie Blamire will want to hit the ground running as did Adam Radwan, his former Newcastle colleague, last term. Tarek Haffar, the explosive loosehead prop who has moved across the East Midlands from Northampton Saints, is a fascinating prospect on England’s radar. Tonga Kofe, a hulking United States tighthead, seems to be a wildcard.
Some of Orlando Bailey’s best moments for Bath last season came at full-back, emphasising his resourcefulness and allowing for a six-two bench because he has spent time as inside centre as well. Leicester fans will have been delighted to witness James O’Connor unpicking South Africa at Ellis Park and one of Cheika’s parting messages was that a bracket of players including Joe Woodward and Emeka Ilione were ready to kick on.
One could add Cameron Henderson and even Tom Manz and Finn Carnduff further down the pecking order to that cohort. Gabriel Hamer-Webb, an athletic wing, is a shrewd pick-up and Joaquín Moro, the Argentina back-rower, was trusted to face the Lions. Ilione has been used as an impact replacement but will surely see more starts in 2025-26 at either openside or blindside flanker.
Strengths: Enough continuity amid big changes, with a core embodied by Ollie Chessum and Joe Heyes that is still young and hungry.
Weaknesses: A new coach and new fly-halves, with O’Connor on international duty for a while yet, does bring a degree of uncertainty and remaining leaders will need to assert themselves after Dan Cole, Julián Montoya, Ben Youngs and Handré Pollard have gone.
Newcastle Red Bulls
Replacements
16. Ollie Fletcher, 17. Murray McCallum, 18. Luan de Bruin, 19. Freddie Lockwood, 20. Tom Gordon, 21. Joe Davis, 22. Max Clark, 23. Elliott Obatoyinbo
Quick, read this before they announce another signing. The Red Bull era is off to a fascinating start on Tyneside, mainly because of the timing of Newcastle’s cash injection. They would be silly to splurge while the market is limited. As a result, Steve Diamond is bobbing and weaving as he strives to assemble a competitive outfit for the upcoming campaign. Christian Wade and Darby Lancaster, the latter a one-cap Wallaby, would bring pace and power to the wings.
Bigger moves for 2026-27 and beyond, one suspects, will come over the course of the year. For now, foreshadowing a more drastic revamp, there are a lot of one-year contracts knocking about. Nonetheless, these Red Bulls will not roll over. George McGuigan has returned at hooker and Eduardo Bello’s knee is good to go. Sammy Arnold and Connor Doherty are two bristling centres and Boeta Chamberlain, coming in to challenge Brett Connon, seems to be an inventive fly-half.
Bringing flair and finesse to the 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 🎯✨#TrueNorthpic.twitter.com/zIQ0Dgb1CL
— Newcastle Falcons (@FalconsRugby) August 20, 2025
We know that Simón Benítez Cruz is a willing sniper, and Tom Christie is exactly the sort of individual – industrious, robust and from a winning environment at the Crusaders – who could make a profound impact for Newcastle.
Strengths: Combative and tough, especially in the back row and midfield, with a half-back pairing that will probe defences.
Weaknesses: Depth has been difficult to maintain with so much turnover, so hanging tough for 80 minutes and backing up performances – particularly if injuries bite – will not be easy.
Northampton Saints
Replacements
16. Robbie Smith, 17. Emmanuel Iyogun, 18. Elliot Millar Mills, 19. Tom Lockett, 20. Sam Graham, 21. Tom Pearson, 22. Archie McParland, 23. George Hendy
There will be no shortage of motivation on the domestic front as Saints bid to show that an eighth-place league finish in 2024-25 was an aberration. They have, however, lost heft over the summer in Tarek Haffar, Temo Mayanavanua, Juarno Augustus and Burger Odendaal.
Raiding Stade Français for the hulking JJ van der Mescht, a bopping lock, goes some way towards mitigating that and adding Callum Chick seems smart for several reasons. With heavier hitters around him, Henry Pollock should cause more havoc. The jackalling, free-running Danilo Fischetti increases the fun factor. George Furbank can move to fly-half and Tommy Freeman covers outside centre, which encouraged a six-two split. Sam Graham, back from a horrible knee injury, will be like a new recruit.
Speaking of those, Zimbabwean tighthead Cleopas Kundiona has turned heads at training and academy centre Toby Thame has been tipped to emerge in style. James Ramm would be at home in the best 23, as would Chunya Munga, and Archie McParland over Tom James was a coin-flip won by the younger scrum-half.
Strengths: Stocking up on size means that this team, with its key protagonists emboldened by selection for the Lions tour, could have an even higher ceiling than they showed in last season’s Champions Cup.
Weaknesses: International commitments could compromise availability and work-load again.
Sale Sharks
Replacements
16. Nathan Jibulu, 17. Simon McIntyre, 18. WillGriff John, 19. Hyron Andrews, 20. Jacques Vermeulen, 21. Gus Warr, 22, Marius Louw, 23. Luke James
A squad with the quality to (theoretically) leave out Sam Dugdale, Sam Bedlow and Tom O’Flaherty should be strong enough to challenge for the play-offs again, even if any side would be worse for exit of Jean-Luc du Preez. The latter has gone to Bordeaux-Bègles and is certain to be popular among those supporters.
Jacques Vermeulen, consistently effective for Exeter since 2019, is a fine replacement. Nathan Jibulu is another excellent signing. Only 22, his dynamism and dominance in contact are serious weapons. Learn from Luke Cowan-Dickie and he could be a superstar. Raffi Quirke, Gus Warr, Tom Roebuck, Joe Carpenter and Arron Reed will keep developing together as well. All five are now capped and young forwards such as Asher Opoku-Fordjour and Ben Bamber are gathering know-how. It does seem unfair that Sale produce homegrown Scotland internationals, making it tougher to hit the EQP quota.
Watch out for Tom Burrow, the latest England Under-20 skipper, taking his first steps in the senior set-up. Meanwhile, in midfield, Rekeiti Ma’asi-White will aim to build on his breakthrough. Marius Louw, though, is a flinty centre who could start plenty of games.
Strengths: A rounded team that has experienced relatively little churn and still has the classy George Ford, fresh from captaining England, at the tiller.
Weaknesses: Jonny Hill is another to have left for France and elite set-piece teams may fancy their chances of turning the screw.
Saracens
Replacements
16. Theo Dan, 17. Eroni Mawi, 18. Marcus Street, 19. Theo McFarland, 20. Andy Onyeama-Christie, 21. Charlie Bracken, 22. Fergus Burke, 23. Lucio Cinti
Perhaps more than any other club except Bath, Saracens have the resources to alter their line-up according to the strengths of an opponent. Phil Brantingham and Nick Isiekwe, for example, may feature at loosehead and lock against rivals that prefer to move the ball rather than squeeze the set-piece exchanges. Tietie Tuimauga, the well-travelled Samoa tighthead, is on board for this season as well.
Mark McCall often used a six-two bench last season. This team has three backs on the bench, with prodigal Owen Farrell starting at fly-half and Furgus Burke and Lucio Cinti in reserve covering all eventualities. Tobias Elliott could well crack the best side after his emergence last season. Olly Hartley, Sam Spink and Angus Hall should all have opportunities over the opening rounds with Alex Lozowski injured and Cinti away with Argentina. Nick Tompkins and Lozowski form this midfield for now.
He's coming back. ❤️🖤 #YourSaracens💫 pic.twitter.com/hWl8CPbhos
— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) February 14, 2025
Max Malins, back from Bristol, is on the wing to ensure Elliot Daly can occupy full-back. The scuttling Rotimi Segun deserves a shot out wide. Burke’s selection for Scotland complicates the EQP tallies, though there are pretty easy fixes for McCall. In this team, for instance, he could hit the quota of 15 by bringing Isiekwe onto the bench for either Burke or Cinti.
Strengths: Know-how and an exceptional back row.
Weaknesses: They could be lacking just a touch of pace and punch in the back line unless one of the younger players is promoted.
Category: General Sports
