Bath Rugby and the Exeter Chiefs meet again at The Rec on Friday, less than four months after the Chiefs ended Bath's season on the same ground.

Two Round 1 winners meet at Ashton Gate when the Bristol Bears host defending Gallagher PREM champion Northampton Saints on Saturday.

Gloucester Rugby gets its first home match of the new Gallagher PREM season Saturday, and the Cherry and Whites return to Kingsholm with five points already in the bank.

The Newcastle Red Bulls and Leicester Tigers are both hunting for their first Gallagher PREM win of the season Saturday, but there will be a familiar face on the opposite wing when the Tigers arrive at Kingston Park.

Saracens F.C. returns to North London for their first home league match of the season Sunday with a chance to turn a dramatic opening-weekend victory into a 2-0 start. Saracens escaped Leicester with a 40-38 win in Round 1, while Sale Sharks heads to StoneX Stadium searching for its first victory after a 34-24 home loss to Bristol Bears.

One round down, and the Gallagher PREM already has a five-team traffic jam at the top of the table.

Sale Sharks and Bristol Bears open their Gallagher PREM seasons at CorpAcq Stadium as two clubs look to return to Playoff contention after disappointing campaigns.

Exeter Chiefs begin the new Gallagher PREM season on Sept. 26 against south-west rivals Gloucester Rugby after reaching the Final three months ago and re-emerging as a contender.

Northampton Saints begin their Gallagher PREM title defense Friday, Sept. 25, against Newcastle Red Bulls, and rugby fans can watch the Round 1 matchup live on YouTube.

Harlequin F.C. and Bath Rugby open their 2026-27 Gallagher PREM seasons Friday, Sept. 25, with both clubs looking to move on from disappointing finishes last season.

Northampton Saints begin their Gallagher PREM title defense against Newcastle Red Bulls, with the reigning champions hosting a Newcastle side that added 24 new faces during the summer.

The Gallagher PREM might have a defending champion, but it does not have an obvious favorite.

There are 40 teams across the Gallagher PREM, United Rugby Championship and Top 14, but putting them into one ranking requires something more complicated than comparing league tables. Toulouse plays a different schedule from Leinster. Northampton does not have to survive 26 rounds of the Top 14. The Vodacom Bulls deal with travel challenges that Bath never will. The question here is simpler: Which clubs look strongest entering the 2026-27 season?

Harlequin F.C. enter 2026-27 as a ninth-place team. They went 6-12 in the Gallagher PREM last season, finished with 31 points, yet still produced victories that suggested a higher ceiling.

Exeter Chiefs were one of the great surprises of the 2025-26 PREM season. A year after finishing ninth, Rob Baxter's rebuilt side went 11-1-6, finished third and reached the final after beating defending champion Bath at the Recreation Ground.