Saracens, Bristol Bears and Harlequins kicked off their PREM Rugby Cup campaigns with wins over Northampton Saints, Gloucester and Leicester Tigers. 

Here is a round-up of all the action from Saturday’s opening fixtures.

N.B: Sale Sharks face Bath on Sunday, while Exeter Chiefs and Newcastle Red Bulls begin their campaign next week.

Saracens 96-42 Northampton Saints

Brendan Venter’s second stint at Saracens got off to a flying start as Saracens secured a rampant 96-42 win over reigning PREM champions Northampton Saints at the StoneX.

While they secured one of the biggest victories the 2026/27 season will likely see, the North London outfit actually trailed 28-19 at half-time. The early period saw the two sides swap tries, with Saracens scoring through Phil Brantingham, Angus Hall and Rotimi Segun and Northampton crossing courtesy of James Bennett, Josh Taylor, James Pater and Will Catley; but it was mainly one-way traffic after that.

PREM Rugby ins and outs: Every confirmed signing and departure ahead of 2026/27 season

Saracens bagged a further nine tries across the second 40 minutes, with Jack Bracken getting a hat-trick, Segun bagging his brace and further efforts from Alex O’Driscoll, Tom James, Sione Va’enuku, Max Malins, Tobias Elliott and Nathan Michelow before a penalty try finished off the rout. Northampton did get further scores through Bennett and Aidan Ainsworth-Cave, but it was mere consolation at that stage.

Harlequins 45-21 Leicester Tigers

After a difficult 2025/26 season, Harlequins began their competitive campaign in fine fashion via a 45-21 win over Leicester Tigers at the Stoop.

The South London side took a healthy 24-7 lead into the half-time break, with Seb Driscoll getting a brace and Harry Johnson-Holmes and Theo Povey also crossing for the hosts, while Leicester’s sole try came from Finn Cardnuff. That advantage continued into the second-half, too, with Povey grabbing his second either side of Jack Walker’s and Josh Bellamy’s efforts.

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.

Again, Leicester did make a dent in the scoreboard via Billy Searle and Will Wand, but it was not enough to get them over the line as Harlequins held onto victory.

Bristol Bears 43-40 Gloucester

Ashton Gate played host to a high-scoring West Country derby, with Bristol Bears sneaking past Gloucester in a 43-40 thriller.

The sides swapped eight tries alone in the first-half, but it was Bristol who held a 29-21 advantage. Pat Lam’s side opened the scoring via Paddy Pearce, before Jimmy Halliwell, Gabriel Ibitoye, Noah Heward and Harry Thacker got themselves on the scoresheet for the hosts; while Gloucester crossed through Dan Robson, Ben Redshaw and Phil Cokanasiga.

There were further tries in the early stages of the second-half, with the sides swapping two tries apiece courtesy of Bristol pair Thacker and James Williams and Gloucester duo Cokanasiga and Jack Clement. Junior Denny added one more to Gloucester’s tally, but it was the hosts who came away with the spoils.

READ MORE: ‘We don’t know what we’re capable of’ – Newcastle Red Bulls boss opens up on ‘start-up project’