Five things we learned from the opening Premiership weekend: Leicester and Bath get wake-up calls as Bristol deliver

Already the cream looks to be rising to the top as both Saracens and Exeter secured bonus-point wins to start the season in style

Exeter, celebrating, thrashed Leicester at Sandy Park (Getty Images)

The first weekend of the new Premiership season threw up plenty of talking points, some meeting expectations and some major surprises, but already the cream looks to be rising to the top as both Saracens and Exeter secured bonus-point wins to start the season in style.

The pair were among most pre-season predictions as filling the top two in the Premiership, and while they may not yet be locked into those positions due to Harlequins’ impressive start, it’s clearly going to take a monumental effort to shift them this season.

But beyond the obvious there is plenty to discuss. Danny Cipriani has taken just one game to make an impact at Gloucester – though this time thankfully it was on the pitch – while two big hitters in Leicester and Bath look to be in real trouble, while Newcastle are already showing signs even in defeat that they can back-up last season’s success.

And then there’s the modern day buzzword: injuries. This weekend proved that no matter what is done, injuries will always be part of the game, but thankfully the news emerging in the wake of round one appears to be of the positive variety.

Here’s what we learned this weekend.

Leicester and Bath receive urgent wake-up calls

Neither Leicester nor Bath featured in many top-four predictions last week, but no one expected it to be quite as bad as the opening weekend proved. The Tigers looked like a side in disarray, with the departure on Monday of their director of rugby, Matt O’Connor, following a humbling by Exeter and in the wake of last season’s failure to reach the play-offs. Having rolled over to the Chiefs, Leicester must turn things around this weekend when Newcastle come to Welford Road and prove that they are not in a crisis.

No one wants to open the season with a defeat against the promoted side, but that feeling was 10-times worse for Bath as the promoted side was their closest rivals. That Bristol managed to secure a famous victory in front of more than 26,000 was no surprise, but the way Bath failed to fire certainly was. Their season last time out very much ran out of fuel as they became the also-rans among an injury crisis, but just like Leicester, their director of rugby Todd Blackadder is under pressure to prove he can be a success at the Rec.

The noise at Harlequins was genuine

The talk throughout the summer was that a new leash of life had arrived at the Twickenham Stoop, but few expected the performance that Harlequins produced on Saturday afternoon. Sale’s defence is not as renowned as their star-studded attack, but putting more than 50 points past what is still a top-four chasing side is something to take note of.

Nathan Earle celebrates scoring a try on his Harlequins debut in the win over Sale Sharks (Getty)

Quins have a nice blend of experience and youth, with the likes of Chris Robshaw and Mike Brown complemented by the raw talents of Marcus Smith and full-back Aaron Morris, who made such a positive impression at the weekend. Having been touted as one of those at risk of relegation if Bristol hit their stride, perhaps Quins are ready to take a step in the right direction.

Write off Exeter at your peril

With just one summer signing arriving at Sandy Park in the form of exiled Wales wing Alex Cuthbert, the Exeter Chiefs were facing the difficult scenario of finding another gear in a set-up that features the same players and the same coaching team. That can often prove tricky, particularly for a side who have reached the last three Premiership finals and enjoyed the highs of winning the league with most of this current squad.

But on Saturday they proved why Rob Baxter has kept his faith in the current crop of players. Exeter have a team camaraderie like no other in the Premiership, and when he is able to field a starting line-up without Henry Slade and Jack Nowell in it – undoubtedly two of their best players – yet they are able to steamroll Leicester, it would suggest that all is well down in the south-west.

Bristol do exactly what they promised

Bristol Bears arrived back in the big league talking the talk, but on Friday night under the lights at Ashton Gate they proved that they’re just as capable of walking the walk. From head coach Pat Lam to veteran flanker George Smith to the programme sellers and just about every other Bristol-cheering supporter inside the stadium on Friday insisted that Bristol are not here to just make up the numbers – and they delivered.

The 17-10 victory over Bath not only sent out a statement to the rest of the Premiership that they will be no walkover this season, but they also showed that they can win matches when up against it given that for most of the match their scrum was under huge pressure from the Bath pack. If they’re able to find ways to win even when certain areas of their game are under pressure, it bodes well for their ability to adapt mid-match.

Injuries will always be a part of the game

With such scrutiny on player welfare and the number of injuries this season, the sight of players remaining prone on the pitch on the very first weekend of the campaign was enough to justify those concerns.

But the injuries that were suffered by Sale’s Tom Curry and Worcester’s Cornell du Preez were a stark reminded that in a game like rugby, injuries will always be a factor. Curry made the error is mistiming his tackle on Harlequins’ Morris as he leapt through the air and got a nasty knee to the face as a result that ended his match after just three minutes. Curry has since been confirmed as OK, but the fractured larynx suffered by Worcester’s Scotland prop Cornell du Preez appears to be far more serious. The South African-born front-row is set to undergo further surgery in order to correct the fracture in what is very much a freak injury.

Bristol also lost star-signing Charles Piutau to a pre-season shoulder injury, not in making a tackle but the impact with the ground immediately afterwards. The good news is that Piutau doesn’t need surgery and should be back in action in October, but all three injuries are not a result of over-playing or wear-and-tear and show that while they do need to be looked after, players will never be 100 per cent free from injury.