Premiership rugby: Saints stunned, Cheika heist and TV deal

England’s domestic rugby league got under way at the weekend and already there have been shocks, surprises and a couple of predictable outcomes.

There’s a new coach at Leicester Tigers in former Australia boss Michael Cheika, and a host of new stars across the 10-team Premiership to look forward to across the season, but what stood out during the opening round of oval ball action?

Enya rugby bike, Quins

A trip up to Manchester to take on the Sharks always brings out the Enya classic Sail Away, but when Harlequins marched north on Sunday they were sent packing with their tails between their legs.

Sale’s 12-11 win was a scrappy affair with errors on both sides but Alex Sanderson’s side came out on top.

Harlequins are synonymous with fast and flowing rugby but they weren’t able to unleash that while a dogged home side turned the screw.

Sale’s ability to strangle Quins will be a warning to other teams but the Londoners weren’t firing at all.

For their sins 

The season kicked off on Friday with a repeat of last year’s final when Northampton Saints took on Bath in the West Country.

Bath, favourites with the bookies to win a first title since 1996, were dominant, guided by a superb No9-No10 combination in Ben Spencer and Finn Russell.

Their 38-16 win over Northampton Saints will be a reality check for the East Midlanders, who have seen a lot of their experienced players move on to pastures new over the off-season.

As for the Blue, Black and Whites, a solid bonus-point win at home is all they could have hoped for, and to be so dominant was a bonus for Johann van Graan’s side.

Cheika mate

The arrival of Cheika to the Premiership was always going to be a storyline worth following; he is the only man to have won both the Champions Cup in the northern hemisphere and Super Rugby in the south.

And in his first match in the English top flight his Leicester Tigers completed a 17-14 smash and grab on Exeter Chiefs down in Devon.

A try with the clock in the red demonstrated the grit Cheika has introduced at a Tigers team who have the depth to challenge for the title.

Flightless Falcons

Newcastle Falcons finished 27 points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership last season but coach Steve Diamond has insisted he can turn the northerners’ fortunes around, even with the threat of a relegation play-off this year.

However they fell to a 3-24 opening day defeat at home to the Bears with No9 Harry Randall central to the Bristolians’ success.

It is never going to be easy turning the Falcons into a winning machine, and they did well to contain Bristol for much of their match, but the season is a long one and Diamond will hope he can get some form into his side.

Premiership time and place

The Premiership’s return signalled the beginning of a new two-year deal between the league and broadcaster TNT Sports.

As part of the new agreement, which is down in terms of value on the last one between the same parties, every game will be broadcast either on TNT or on Discovery+.

This has meant a shift in kick-offs to 5:30pm for some games – including Saracens’ 35-26 win over Gloucester at Kingsholm – while there could be schedule changes going forward.

Just 11,100 fans turned out at Gloucester – 5,000 short of capacity – and a traditionally packed Bath and Exeter were down on usually strong numbers, raising questions about whether the schedule changes – and ticket prices – could be keeping fans away.