2025–26 Premiership Rugby
| 2025–26 Premiership Rugby | |
|---|---|
| Countries |  England |
| Number of teams | 10 |
| Date | 25 September 2025 – June 2026 |
| Official website | |
| www | |
The 2025–26 Premiership Rugby is scheduled to be the 39th season of the top flight of English domestic rugby union competition. The competition is being broadcast by TNT Sports for the thirteenth consecutive year and the second year of their current broadcast deal.
The reigning champions entering the season are Bath, who claimed their seventh league title after winning the 2025 final. No team was promoted from the 2024–25 RFU Championship, as the champions, Ealing Trailfinders, were not able to satisfy the eligibility criteria required to enter the league.
Teams
[edit]The competition will feature the same 10 teams from the 2024–25 season as for the fourth consecutive season, the top team in the Championship was ineligible for promotion to the Premiership, after 2024–25 Championship winners Ealing Trailfinders failed to meet the minimum standards criteria to join the competition.[1]
Stadiums and locations
[edit]
| Club | Director of Rugby / Head Coach |
Captain | Stadium | Capacity | City/Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bath |  Johann van Graan
|
The Recreation Ground | 14,509 | Bath, Somerset | |
| Bristol Bears |  Pat Lam
|
Ashton Gate[note 1] | 27,000 | Bristol | |
| Exeter Chiefs | Rob Baxter
|
Sandy Park | 15,600 | Exeter, Devon | |
| Gloucester | George Skivington
|
Kingsholm[note 2] | 16,115 | Gloucester, Gloucestershire | |
| Harlequins | Danny Wilson
|
Twickenham Stoop[note 3] | 14,800 | Twickenham, Greater London | |
| Leicester Tigers | Geoff Parling
|
Welford Road | 25,849 | Leicester, Leicestershire | |
| Newcastle Falcons | Steve Diamond
|
Kingston Park | 10,200 | Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear | |
| Northampton Saints | Phil Dowson
|
Franklin's Gardens | 15,249 | Northampton, Northamptonshire | |
| Sale Sharks | Alex Sanderson
|
Salford Community Stadium | 12,000 | Salford, Greater Manchester | |
| Saracens |  Mark McCall
|
StoneX Stadium[note 4] | 10,500 | Hendon, Greater London |
Notes
- ^ Bristol Bears will also play one home game at Principality Stadium, Cardiff.[2]
- ^ Gloucester will also play one home game at Villa Park, Birmingham.[3]
- ^ Harlequins will also play two home games at Twickenham Stadium, London.[4]
- ^ Saracens will also play one home game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London.[5]
Player movements
[edit]Table
[edit]| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | PF | PA | PD | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bath | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Play-offs |
| 2 | Bristol Bears | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Exeter Chiefs | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Gloucester | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | Harlequins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | TBC |
| 6 | Leicester Tigers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 7 | Newcastle Falcons | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Northampton Saints | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 9 | Sale Sharks | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | Saracens | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Relegation play-off |
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers for teams tied on points: 1) Number of matches won; 2) Difference between points for and against; 3) Total number of points for; 4) Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams; 5) Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled.
Round-by-round progression
[edit]The grid below shows each team's progression throughout the season, indicating their points total (and league table position) at the end of every round:
| Team Progression | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | R16 | R17 | R18 |
| Bath | ||||||||||||||||||
| Bristol Bears | ||||||||||||||||||
| Exeter Chiefs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Gloucester | ||||||||||||||||||
| Harlequins | ||||||||||||||||||
| Leicester Tigers | ||||||||||||||||||
| Newcastle Falcons | ||||||||||||||||||
| Northampton Saints | ||||||||||||||||||
| Sale Sharks | ||||||||||||||||||
| Saracens | ||||||||||||||||||
| Updated: | ||||||||||||||||||
| Key | ||
| Win | Draw | Loss |
Regular season
[edit]The regular season fixtures were announced on 23 July 2025.[6]
Highlights of the season include:
- Derby Weekends – All fixtures scheduled for Round 3are derby matches between local rivals – the Northern Derby (Sale Sharks v Newcastle Falcons), the West Country Derbies (Bristol Bears v Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester v Bath), the East Midlands Derby (Northampton Saints v Leicester Tigers), and the London Derby (Harlequins v Saracens).[6]
- Slater Cup – Leicester Tigers and Gloucester will contest the Slater Cup at Welford Road on 19 December 2025, and at Villa Park on 28 March 2026, in honour of former Leicester and Gloucester player Ed Slater.[3]
- Big Game 17 – Harlequins will host Bristol Bears in this season's edition of The Big Game at Twickenham Stadium on 28 December 2024, during Round 7.[4]
- The Showdown 6 – Saracens will host [[Northampton Saints in this season's edition of The Showdown at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 28 March 2026, during Round 12.[5]
- Big Summer Kick-Off 5 – Harlequins will host Exeter Chiefs in this season's edition of the Big Summer Kick-Off at Twickenham Stadium in May 2026, during Round 16.[4]
- Big Day Out – Bristol Bears will host Bath in the second edition of the Big Day Out at Principality Stadium in March 2026, during Round 12.[2]
Notes
- All fixtures are subject to change.[7]
- Referees appointed to officiate Premiership matches are employed by the RFU, unless indicated otherwise.[8]
Results
[edit]Promotion/relegation play-off
[edit]Subject to meeting the eligibility criteria for promotion, the champions of the 2025–26 Champ Rugby season will play in a two-legged play-off against the team which finishes 10th in the Premiership table at the end of the regular season. The winner, based on aggregate score, will play in the Premiership for the following season.[9]
Broadcast coverage
[edit]The competition is being broadcast by TNT Sports for the thirteenth consecutive year. The 2025–26 season is the second of the new broadcast deal with Premiership Rugby, under which all 93 matches will be shown live on TNT and Discovery+.[10] In addition, seven select matches, including the Premiership Final, will be broadcast free-to-air on ITV over the course of the season.[11]
This season will be the second to have the one-hour highlights programme, titled Gallagher Premiership Unleashed, which is aired on ITV4 each Wednesday at 7pm, recapping all of the fixtures held over the previous weekend. An abridged, half-hour version of the show is also shown on ITV1 every Wednesday at 11.45pm, while both programmes will remain available to view on demand via ITVX.[12]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Jones, Chris (18 March 2025). "Ealing fail to meet Premiership promotion criteria". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Big Day Out 2026: Bears Men and Women to face Harlequins". Bristol Bears Rugby. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ a b "Gloucester Rugby to host Slater Cup at Villa Park". Gloucester Rugby. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ a b c "2025/26 Gallagher PREM Fixtures Revealed". Harlequins. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ a b "2025/26 Gallagher Prem Fixtures Confirmed! - Saracens". 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ a b "PREM Rugby | Gallagher PREM 2025/26: Fixtures released as new era begins". PREM Rugby. 23 July 2025. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ^ "Premiership Rugby – FAQs". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Match officials: profiles". Premiership Rugby. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ Raisey, Josh (15 May 2025). "Extra drama added at both ends as RFU unveil new-look Champ Rugby". Rugby Pass. Retrieved 19 June 2025.
- ^ "Every Premiership game to be shown live next season". BBC Sport. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "Premiership matches remain free-to-air after record ITV figures last season". The Telegraph. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
- ^ "New on ITV: Gallagher Premiership Unleashed". Premiership Rugby. 23 September 2024. Retrieved 15 June 2025.