Lawrence Dallaglio, a five-time Premiership champion, asserts that Saracens are still the "team to watch" as the 2023/24 season begins. The new season commences on Friday with Bristol Bears taking on Leicester Tigers. Dallaglio also anticipates a transformed Bath team and predicts that Sale Sharks will rise to prominence in the upcoming year.

Champions Saracens are the "must-win team" for the 2023/24 Gallagher Premiership rugby season, but this year's much-improved Bath side could be a "different team", says Lawrence Dallaglio.

The new season kicks off on Friday night when Bristol Bears host Leicester Tigers at Ashton Gate.

Surrey are the bookies' favorites to defend their title after beating Sale Sharks 35-25 in last year's final at Twickenham.

But five-time Premiership winner Dallaglio believes there have been four Premiership champions in the last four years.

"If you look at the teams that dominated last season, I think all of them will be back in contention," Dallaglio said in an exclusive interview.

"Saracens ended up winning the title and I think even though they lost so many players (at the Rugby World Cup) they will still be the team to beat.

“They have got all that experience of coping with and without their international players. It is something they have become used to.

“I think Sale will be very strong again, they look to have a really strong squad. They may well have learned a lot from their campaign last year.”

Beyond the top two from last season, Dallaglio picked out Bath as a potential contender after they signed Scotland star Finn Russell in a bid to improve on last season’s eighth-place finish.
“Bath, who really struggled over the last couple of years, have made significant recruitment in their coaching and playing squad,” Dallaglio said.

“They will certainly have the look and feel of a very different proposition this year.”

On Russell, he added; “There is always going to be a lot of excitement and some stardust around any team that he’s involved in.”

The Premiership has been reduced to a 10-team league this season following the collapse of London Irish, Wasps, and Worcester Warriors.

And Dallaglio believes the battle for a top-four finish to guarantee a playoff spot will be a tight one.

“I see the likes of Leicester, Exeter, Sale and Saracens being the contenders,” Dallaglio said.

“But Gloucester had so many injuries last season that they could never really get a real gauge of where they are at.

“When they are at full strength, they are going to be a force to be reckoned with.

“There are opportunities for the likes of Bath and Northampton, who finished fourth [last season], to really mount a serious challenge.”

The new season kicks off on the same weekend as the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, meaning many Premiership sides will have to make do without their international stars through the early weeks of the campaign.

But Dallaglio called the clash "an opportunity” ahead of an action-packed opening weekend where all 10 clubs will fancy their chances of making a fast start.

“We’ve always known that the Premiership is a marathon, not a sprint,” said the World Cup-winning former England No. 8.

“It’s 20 rounds of matches and I guess the slightly bizarre nature of the structure of the season is such that you know you’re going to have your international players for only half of those matches.

“When I was playing, I looked at it in blocks. The first block until Europe starts, the next until Christmas. Then the Six Nations kicks off, and you have another block when the international players are away.

"The primary goal is to amass points early in the season. Clubs are eagerly looking forward to getting the season started."

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