Premiership Rugby 25/26 Preview – Bath, Saracens and Northampton expected to deliver exciting title battle

The 2025/26 Gallagher Premiership Rugby season is nearly here and it promises to be a great campaign.

Here is our title preview for the season, covering the teams to watch that will be battling for the Premiership Rugby title.

It’s looking like a three-way race, with Bath (13/8) the current favourites, ahead of Saracens (7/2) and Northampton (11/2) – you can use a free bet calculator to work out the potential winnings.

Bath finished first last season, and managed to cement their domination by winning the Premiership title after beating Leicester Tigers in the final.

They ended a 29-year wait for the title, but will now be hoping to win the trophy back-to-back.

Bath looking for back-to-back title wins

Bath are hoping to dominate the Gallagher Premiership again and they have a squad that is well-rounded and definitely able to achieve the targets they have set this season.

Ben Spencer, Will Murr and Guy Pepper were crucial for the club last season, as well as unsung hero Tom de Glanville, and no doubt he will be essential again at both full-back and on the wing.

New signings like Santi Carreras and Henry Arundell are also a huge statement of intent.

One thing Bath have managed to do very well over the summer is add quality to their depth.

After finishing 11 points clear of second place last season, the depth they have added can make sure that they can be this dominant again.

Being able to have players like Ciaran Donoghue come in for Finn Russell when needed is huge and should help them have another successful year.

Saracens experience crucial to getting over the line

The summer has gone as expected for the Saracens, with the club looking for quality over quantity, and they have managed a massive coup by convincing Owen Farrell to return.

Farrell is Saracens’ top scorer in their history, with 2712 points in all competitions.

With Mauro Itoje’s leadership, as well as Farrell, Jamie George and Elliot Daly all in the squad, the Saracens have top proven winners, and this quality, alongside the experience they bring, could be crucial to seeing them battling and possibly winning the Gallagher Premiership.

Their most recent title win was in 2022/23, and they will be looking to prove that they can get back to the top and earn a seventh Premiership title.

Northampton Saints dark horses with a big point to prove

Northampton Saints won the Premiership title in 2023/24, but the most recent campaign was one that they will wish they could forget as they finished eighth.

It was no doubt a big season of rebuilding as they lost a lot of title winners, whilst they also had a fair few injuries.

Ollie Sleightholme, George Hendry and George Furbank were some of the key players who were injured for a large part of 2024/25.

Despite this, their prospects for 2025/26 look a lot better, and they have a big point to prove as they will want to show their opponents that last year was a one-off.

Callum Chick is an astute signing from Newcastle. He adds top quality to their back row options, but there is a little bit of work for them in the forwards department, with the strength in depth perhaps not as good as they would want, but this is not the case when it comes to their backs, especially on the wings, where they have Tommy Freeman, Ollie Sleightholme and George Hendy.

Anthony Belleau is no doubt their best signing of the summer, and with a strong Senior Academy intake also confirmed, there is no doubt that Northampton can challenge near the top.

These three clubs look like the ones to beat and we hope that the 2025/26 Gallagher Premiership delivers twists, turns and plenty of entertainment.