Bath capable of pulling the plug on Saints title defence

Eight or nine clubs could contend for the Premiership playoffs, Harry Latham-Coyle predicts in his club-by-club guide

- Harry Latham-Coyle

The Premiership returns this evening with 10 clubs again vying for domestic success and the English top-flight looking as competitive as ever.

Headline names like Owen Farrell and Courtney Lawes were among those to depart in a summer of high-profile outgoings,leaving an uncertain landscape ahead of the start of the season.

Slimmed-down squads and a quieter offseason of incomings will make player management crucial in a campaign culminating in a British & Irish Lions tour to Australia.

Will Northampton Saints go back-to-back? Could Bath or Sale take the next step? And, after a big-name coaching hire, can Leicester rebound to return to the play-offs?

Here’s our club-by-club guide to the new season, in the order in which they finished the last campaign:

Northampton Saints

Director of rugby: Phil Dowson

Champions for the first time in a decade, everything came together magnificently for Saints in 2023-24. A triumphant send-off for Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam was richly deserved, yet it was the blossoming of a young core to take the club forward that will have most pleased the excellent Phil Dowson. Laden with developing talent in key areas, Northampton look well put together once more.

Key figure: George Furbank. Having effectively performed the duties on an interim basis last season, Furbank has been upgraded to club captain after Ludlam’s exit to Toulon. The fullback looked a natural in the role last year, seizing an England shirt again after a couple of years in the international wilderness and linking so wonderfully with the rest of this brilliant backline. Alex Mitchell, Fin Smith, Fraser Dingwall, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme and George Hendy should also fancy their chances of featuring in England squads – a mark of Northampton’s strength and depth.

Youngster to watch: Henry Pollock, flanker