Exclusive: Saracens 'team to beat', Bath a 'different proposition' - Lawrence Dallaglio's Gallagher Premiership preview
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Updated 12/10/2023 at 07:12 GMT
Five-time Premiership winner and TNT Sports expert Lawrence Dallaglio says that champions Saracens remain "the team to beat" going into the 2023/24 season. The new campaign kicks off on Friday night when Bristol Bears host Leicester Tigers, live on TNT Sports. Dallaglio believes Bath will be a "different proposition" and fancies Sale Sharks to make their presence felt once again in the year ahead.
Monye exclusive: The Premiership is 'so competitive' but Saracens are favourites
Champions Saracens are the "team to beat” in the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season, says Lawrence Dallaglio, but bolstered Bath could be a “different proposition” this year.
The new campaign kicks off on Friday night when Bristol Bears host Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate, .
Sarries are the bookies’ favourites to retain the title they won last year by beating Sale Sharks 35-25 in a thrilling Twickenham final.
But five-time Premiership winner and TNT Sports expert Dallaglio believes there is little to separate a league that has seen four champions in the last four years.
“If you look at the teams that dominated last season, I think all those teams are going to be back in contention,” Dallaglio said in an exclusive interview for TNT Sports.
“Saracens ended up winning the title and I think they will remain, even shorn of so many players [at the Rugby World Cup], the team to beat.
“They have got all that experience of coping with and without their international players. It is something they have become used to.
“I think Sale will be very strong again, they look to have a really strong squad. They may well have learned a lot from their campaign last year.”
Beyond the top two from last season, Dallaglio picked out Bath as a potential contender after they signed Scotland star Finn Russell in a bid to improve on last season’s eighth-place finish.
“Bath, who really struggled over the last couple of years, have made significant recruitment in their coaching and playing squad,” Dallaglio said.
“They will certainly have the look and feel of a very different proposition this year.”
On Russell, he added; “There is always going to be a lot of excitement and some stardust around any team that he’s involved in.”
The Premiership has been reduced to a 10-team league this season following the collapse of London Irish, Wasps, and Worcester Warriors.
And Dallaglio believes the battle for a top-four finish to guarantee a playoff spot will be a tight one.
“I see the likes of Leicester, Exeter, Sale and Saracens being the contenders,” Dallaglio said.
“But Gloucester had so many injuries last season that they could never really get a real gauge of where they are at.
“When they are at full strength, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with.
“There are opportunities for the likes of Bath and Northampton, who finished fourth [last season], to really mount a serious challenge.”
The new season kicks off on the same weekend as the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, meaning many Premiership sides will have to make do without their international stars through the early weeks of the campaign.
But Dallaglio called the clash "an opportunity” ahead of an action-packed opening weekend where all 10 clubs will fancy their chances of making a fast start.
“We’ve always known that the Premiership is a marathon, not a sprint,” said the World Cup-winning former England No. 8.
“It’s 20 rounds of matches and I guess the slightly bizarre nature of the structure of the season is such that you know you’re going to have your international players for only half of those matches.
“When I was playing, I looked at it in blocks. The first block until Europe starts, the next until Christmas. Then the Six Nations kicks off, and you have another block when the international players are away.
“It’s really about trying to accumulate as many points as you can early in the season. The clubs will be excited to get things underway.”
The opening game of the Premiership season between Bristol Bears and Leicester Tigers will be shown live on TNT Sports 1 on Friday, October 13 at 19:45.
Exeter’s clash with Saracens on Saturday will be live on TNT Sports on Saturday, October 14 at 13:30, as will Sale Sharks v Northampton Saints on Sunday, October 15 at 13:30.
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