Category: Rugby

• Northampton 17-25 Gloucester
• Santi Carreras confounds Saints’ comeback hopes

We were denied the consummation of another comeback from the dead, but we were treated to the usual entertainment all the same. Northampton’s struggles continue, here surrendering a 17-match unbeaten run at home. Gloucester, though, after an exhilarating opening 40 minutes move ever closer to the playoff zone with a win high on charisma and grit.

Rory Hutchinson missed a late penalty for the Saints, which would have earned them a bonus point, but the champions could not recover from the boundless energy with which Gloucester ran them ragged in the first half. Both sides chucked the ball around with abandon, often to their own players, but quite often to the opposition. It just added to the breathlessness.

Despite likely record ticket sales over Christmas, financial and physical health of clubs and players still a concern

With the timing of George Furbank on to a Fin Smith cutout pass, or that of any of the myriad attacking talents in English club rugby, the Premiership’s PR team ushered in the return of domestic fare this weekend by releasing a load of positive numbers. They refrained from deploying a load of exclamation marks too, but a few of those would have been perfectly consistent with the general vibe. The Premiership is back! And it’s never been better!

First, boringly, to debunk some of the hyperbole, most of the stats relating to the uptick in viewing figures and attendances across the first six rounds of this season were positioned relative to last. Apparently, cumulative audiences on TNT Sports are up by 30% on this stage of the season last year; 21,000 more matchday tickets have been sold, an increase of 15%. But the start of last season coincided with the end of a World Cup, which tends to diminish figures for the domestic game.