Quins feel pain, Russell prevails & Tigers tear it up - Prem talking points

By

BBC Sport rugby union news reporter

Bonus points caught some flak at the end of the Six Nations.

Had champions France drawn their high-scoring game against England in the final round, rather than winning it by one point, they would have finished top of the standings despite having won one fewer match than second-placed Ireland.

However, the concept came good at the end of Leicester's win over Bristol on Sunday.

With the clock in the red, Leicester 28-19 up and each team having scored three tries, the Bears were attacking hard deep inside the host's half.

Bristol couldn't win the game, but a try would deliver them two bonus points and keep them within one of Leicester in the table and the race for a top-four finish.

When replacement Tigers' hooker Finn Theobald-Thomas turned over the ball, it seemed Leicester would take the money and kick to touch.

Their coach Geoff Parling certainly thought so.

"Could you not hear me at the end? I wanted us to kick it off," he said later.

Instead, despite the rest of the backline standing flat and fatigued and the left-hand touchline invitingly close, Izaia Perese flung a long pass the other way.

Freddie Steward caught it, kicked a pinpoint bomb across to Billy Searle, who fed inside to Gabriel Hamer-Webb to streak in to secure Leicester's own four-try bonus.

It was a sensational finish.

And Tigers are a lot more safely entrenched in the top four because of it – four points clear of fifth.

It also points to a shift in style for Leicester. There was plenty of their traditional hard edge in a tussle of a game, but also moments of 24-carat sparkle.

They made more clean breaks than the free-wheeling Bristol, more offloads and, 20 minutes before Hamer-Webb's try, almost scored an even better one down the other wing, attacking from deep, with Joaquin Moro spilling in sight of the line.

"The players feel free to express themselves, our game is evolving," said Parling.

On the back of a Prem Rugby Cup win and seven wins in their last eight Prem games, last year's runners-up are rolling impressively.

The big draw on the Bath v Saracens undercard was host's number eight Alfie Barbeary taking on Bordeaux-Begles-bound Tom Willis, who he will replace in North London next season.

In the end, it was Josh Bayliss, full of energy and acceleration, who shone brightest in the back row, beating more defenders than any other player in the Prem this weekend.

But, with Owen Farrell back at fly-half and Finn Russell straight back into the fray after the Six Nations, two old adversaries were reunited at 10.

Initially it looked like Farrell would have his day. He clipped over a penalty to put the visitors 10 points clear inside quarter of an hour.

Even closing in on half-time, Saracens were well in it with possession, territory and only six points to make up.

But Henry Arundell intercepted Farrell's pass to race under the sticks, and from there the game was gone.

Russell slotted a penalty to take it out to 16 points at the interval and laid on two second-half tries, with his fast hands releasing Arundell and then a sublime dummy sending Willis skidding out stage left.

At one point, Russell, who has had plenty of Calcutta Cup run-ins with Farrell, aimed a gesture at the visitors suggesting they continue 'crying' over a penalty decision.

With Bath playing with more width and ruthlessness – nine tries from 17 visits to the Saracens 22m – some of the pre-Six Nations concerns over the defending champions were allayed.

For Saracens, eight points off fourth and surely out of the play-off equation for another year, it is an unsettling time.

A generation of promising youngsters will mesh with established internationals and big signings next season, with Leicester's George Martin and Gloucester's Tomos Williams joining Barbeary in switching.

Where will Farrell fit in?

It was interesting to note that the 34-year-old, whose father Andy has been linked with the Saracens' top job post Australia 2027, was coaching the club's fringe side in the Prem Rugby Cup while attention was on the Six Nations.

Even Marcus Smith's personalised boots – featuring Quins' diamonds in the colours of England and the Philippines, Baybayin calligraphy and Jasmine blossom – couldn't distract from his team's troubles.

Another eyesore home defeat, this time to Gloucester, cut them adrift of the top eight and a European spot for next season.

In fact, given Newcastle's upward trajectory, they will be grateful that relegation is not a live concern.

The Red Bulls are four points off Quins.

Coach Jason Gilmore's post-match comments about using the remainder of the campaign to tune up ahead of 2026-27's pre-season, understandably drew ire.

But, you can see his point. Gilmore, stepping in after Danny Wilson's eve-of-season departure, has held the head coach role on an interim basis

Quins need to get the top job right.

Former Australia coach Robbie Deans is reportedly lined up to be a consultant., external Ex All Blacks boss Scott Robertson, who will coach the Barbarians across the road at the Allianz Stadium in June, has been mentioned.

There is some promising talent to be tapped into.

Twenty-one-year-old Ben Waghorn, a member of England's 2024 under-20 World Cup-winning squad, threw off a clutch of Gloucester defenders on his way to his first Prem try. Midfield partner Bryn Bradley, 22, is from a similar hard-running mould. Lucas Friday, 19, is a scrum-half of immense potential.

Quins' limbo down the league is perhaps the price worth paying for taking the time needed to get the person with the ability to turn the tanker around.

It could get worse before it gets better as well.

Their seven remaining matches include away trips to high-flying Bristol and Bath, local revenge-seeking rivals Saracens and, on 10 May, Newcastle.

Stephen Jones, promoted to head coach for the remainder of the season, has brought shape and purpose to Newcastle Red Bulls' attack.

The Prem's bottom side pushed league leaders Northampton hard at Franklin's Gardens, scoring four tries and missing out by a single point in a 28-27 defeat.

In Harrison Obatoyinbo, Jones has an intriguing wing option.

The 24-year-old, who came through Saracens academy and played for Championship side Ealing Trailfinders before moving to France for stints with Toulon and Stade Montois, is electric with ball in hand.

After long-range efforts in his last two outings in the Prem Rugby Cup, Obatoyinbo sliced up the left wing and stepped around Saints prospect James Pater for another great score on his first Prem appearance.

He topped the charts for metres made (170) and line breaks (six) across the weekend's action.

Signed on a one-year deal at the start of the season, he could not have made a much more compelling play to stay part of the Red Bull project for the longer term.

Sale's season appears to be petering out after defeat away to Exeter.

But hooker Nathan Jibulu has been a bright point in an underwhelming campaign.

In 66 minutes on the pitch at Sandy Park, he finished as Sale's joint-second ball carrier (nine), third on metres made (38) and nailed eight of his nine line-out throws.

Saracens' Theo Dan and Bristol's Gabriel Oghre also impressed in defeat, but, at 23, Jibulu is younger than both and will be vying for position on England's hooker depth chart.