Premiership final day: Five takeaways as Sale Sharks show ‘champion mindset’ with ‘master craftsman’ George Ford leading the way while Leicester and Bristol book play-off spots
Dan Cole and Ben Youngs applauding the crowd during Leicester's game against Newcastle
Following a dramatic final day in the regular Gallagher Premiership season, here are our five key takeaways from across the league.
The top line
With only one side officially booked in for the semi-finals and just five points separating second-placed Leicester Tigers and sixth-placed Saracens, every game this weekend had something riding on it.
Leicester, Sale and Bristol came into the final day with their futures firmly in their control, but the top four could easily have had a different look to it come 17:00.
In the end, though, it remained the exact same as it began, as those three all came away with good wins.
Leicester booked a home semi-final with an emphatic win over Newcastle Falcons, Sale edged a gruelling encounter against Exeter Chiefs and Bristol came out on top in a try-athon to book their first play-off berth since 2021.
Elsewhere, Gloucester beat Northampton in a really entertaining game at Kingsholm, while Saracens beat a much-changed Bath.
These results now leave us with two gripping semi-finals, with Bath facing Bristol and the Rec and Leicester welcoming Sale to Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Real deal
Sale Sharks were put under the cosh for large parts against Exeter, who again stepped up, but when Sale got going, they looked the real deal.
The front-row unit of Bevan Rodd, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Asher Opoku-Fordjour yet again put on a scrummaging clinic against what has been a pretty sturdy Chiefs unit of late and got plenty of change out of them. In the carry too, that trio alongside Jean-Luc and Dan du Preez were unrelenting.
Around that, the master conductor George Ford yet again led his backline orchestra playing the perfect tune in attack, too. He has always had this ability to play two or even three phases ahead, but that came to the fore today as he directed his side around to create holes in exactly the area he wanted.
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Take Bevan Rodd’s try late in the first-half as the perfect example. Cowan-Dickie’s turnover handed them the ball in great territory, but Ford didn’t jump at the chance; he waited patiently to manipulate the defence and create the hole for Arron Reid to run through, and the Scotland international put it on a plate for Rodd.
What’s even more impressive is their ability to balance them all in tandem. If one area of their game wasn’t working, they’d revert to their other style and still get the upper hand. That is seriously impressive.
Today also showed their champion mindset. The second-half was a proper slog as Exeter gave them a real nervy ride, but they kept their cool and claimed the win.
Let me entertain you
This game probably summed up Gloucester’s season to an absolute T; it was non-stop entertainment.
George Skivington’s side played with a real intent to move the ball into space and express themselves in attack, and that resulted in their six tries.
It wasn’t just in the quantity, but the quality too. Seb Atkinson’s score in the second-half was the perfect example of what Gloucester have become this season. It was instinctive and off-the-cuff, as a strong carry from Jack Clement created time to find Santi Carreras and then space for Christian Wade to slice through and throw an offload to Atkinson on his inside.
Rather fittingly too, the last moment of their season was to run in an absolute worldy from 80 metres out in a perfect counter attack.
Gloucester deserve a lot of praise for the way they completely rebranded themselves this season. They could easily have stripped everything back to basics and opted for a simple game plan, but they did the complete opposite approach and went for balls-to-the-wall attack. It helps that Tomos Williams, Gareth Anscombe and Wade all arrived at the exact time they went to change their style, but the whole squad has executed this wonderfully well too.
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It was too little too late in the end to make the top four, but nonetheless today was a reminder of what they offer to this league. Long may it continue from the Cherry and Whites.
Unwanted first
Aside from the year they were relegated, Saracens have failed to make the play-offs for the first time since 2009. To put that into context, they have since won six Premierships, three Champions Cups and a Championship title in that time.
This was always going to be a tough year for Mark McCall’s side after a summer of upheaval, and it’s proved just that. Saracens have blown very hot and cold this year, and that was fully encompassed in their final block of fixtures. Just a month ago, it seemed they were hitting form at the exact right time, comfortably beating Gloucester and later thumping Newcastle, but yet they fell short against Northampton Saints and lost their footing in the play-off race.
That’s been the tale of their season, really; they’ve been incredibly inconsistent throughout this campaign, and it’s eventually taken its toll.
Saracens can certainly take a lot from this campaign, though, given it’s a pretty fresh-faced squad, but they will still be thinking what could have been.
The last dance continues
Leicester Tigers are in the midst of their ‘Last Dance’, but it’s not ending just yet as they booked a home semi-final. Leicester have been impeccable all season, returning to that DNA that made them a great team in the past. They’ve built a really simple plan, but have executed it to absolute perfection.
Today was also a great sign of how far they’ve come this season. This time last year, they could easily have lost this game, but they stuck through the frustrating periods and eventually ran away with a big score.
Little things like the two back-to-back chalked off scores could easily have spiralled into much bigger things as well if it was the Leicester of 2023/24, but this is Michael Cheika’s Tigers.
It was also the perfect tribute to Dan Cole, Ben Youngs and the rest of the departing cohort.