The regular season is finished which means that the Gallagher Premiership Guide has ground to a halt . . . but not without one final controversial, argument-inducing, dumpster fire of an edition.
The tippy top and general bottom of the table may have been pretty uneventful, but this campaign has boasted the biggest and best race for the play-offs in years. And we would not have been able to enjoy this chaos without a hearty contribution from those putting their bodies on the line each and every week.
With that being said, who makes the Premiership Guide’s team of the season? Well, dear reader, you are about to find out. Do not forget to share your thoughts in the comments and vote for your player of the campaign in the poll towards the bottom of the article. Let’s have it.
Full back — Santiago Carreras (Gloucester)
No matter where he plays, Carreras is a smooth operator. Gloucester’s Bath-bound back-line boss has been carving it up all season, whether at full back, fly half or in the centre. He is poetry in motion. The 27-year-old January Premiership player of the month is a masterful creator who assisted 12 tries this season on top of scoring six himself. Oh, and he can also kick sticks metronomically. Not bad. The absolute sickener for Shed Heads at Kingsholm is that the jewel in the Gloucester crown is off to The Rec this summer.
Honourable mentions Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers), Joe Carpenter (Sale Sharks), Elliot Daly (Saracens)
Wing — Gabriel Ibitoye (Bristol Bears)
When God was handing out agility, Ibitoye helped himself to a second portion. The Bristol wing is so much fun to watch, with his ability to dodge, dip, duck, dive — and dodge again. He finished the season as the league’s joint-top tryscorer (13) after dropping jaws on a weekly basis. The former Harlequins, Agen, Montpellier and Tel Aviv Heat hotstepper was mesmeric and even scored a nine-minute hat-trick at Sandy Park. Simply put, Ibitoye is quicker than a hiccup.
Honourable mentions Paul Brown-Bampoe (Exeter Chiefs), Cadan Murley (Harlequins) Tom Roebuck (Sale Sharks)
Outside centre — Kalaveti Ravouvou (Bristol Bears)
Every Bristol match comes with a risk of ending up in hospital due to having “too much fun”. If Ravouvou is on the field, it becomes fatal. An army tank with a Ferrari engine, no matter if he is wearing 12, 13 or on the wing, Ravouvou, in his second season at Ashton Gate, brings speed, skill, and plenty of smashing. He is capable of other-worldly moments of utter awesomeness, such as this offload . . .
Ravouvou produced an audacious offload to play Ibitoye in for Bristol’s first try against Leicester in April
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. . . just never ask him to fill in at scrum half . . .
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Honourable mentions Ollie Lawrence (Bath), Max Llewellyn (Gloucester), Rob du Preez (Sale Sharks)
Inside centre — Seb Atkinson (Gloucester)
The No12 jersey has long been a problem position for England but Atkinson may end up being the answer. The 23-year-old has a varied game but he shines in attack; he made 30 more carries than any other centre this season (187), gained 732 metres, and scored seven tries and made eight more. Atkinson also gets stuck in, completing eight turnovers this term. Watching him would bring a smile to even the grumpiest face.
Honourable mentions Benhard Janse van Rensburg (Bristol Bears), Joseph Woodward (Leicester Tigers)
Wing — Ollie Hassell-Collins (Leicester Tigers)
After a tumultuous few years with London Irish’s demise and the England wing merry-go-round, Hassell-Collins settled in the 2024-25 season. And it was not only because he finished top of the tryscoring tree alongside Ibitoye, but the way in which he scored his tries. OHC crossed the whitewash in ten of the 18 Premiership regular-season games, with his haul of 13 scores the most productive league campaign of his career. He showed footwork, intelligent movement but, more importantly, outstanding finishing ability — sharper than a serpent’s tooth.
Honourable mentions Josh Hathaway (Gloucester), Arron Reed (Sale Sharks)
Fly half — George Ford (Sale Sharks)
Trying to select the best No10 from this season’s Premiership makes you realise just how many talented fly halves operate on these shores. Royal Britannia. Makes you proud. But, for me, Ford has been untouchable. There is a reason why the 32-year-old has 99 England caps, and it is absolutely criminal that he does not have a British & Irish Lions appearance to his name. There is nobody on the planet better than bringing the ball to the gainline and giving late passes. Ol’ Blue Eyes may be small but he is tougher than a £1 steak, taking hits, getting back up, and just producing more and more magic. I love you, George Ford.
Honourable mentions Finn Russell (Bath), AJ MacGinty (Bristol Bears), Marcus Smith (Harlequins)
Scrum half — Tomos Williams (Gloucester)
If Tom and Jerry was a rugby player, it would be Tomos Williams. The Welsh Lion arrived at Kingsholm with a good reputation and high expectations, but I don’t think even the most optimistic Shed Head could have predicted that the 30-year-old would tear up his first Premiership season in such style. Whether as part of an all-singing back line or a lonesome wizardly wanderer, Williams was absolutely box office and will now fight Jamison Gibson-Park and Alex Mitchell for that red jersey in Australia.
Honourable mentions Ben Spencer (Bath), Harry Randall (Bristol Bears), Gus Warr (Sale Sharks)
Loose-head prop — Nicky Smith (Leicester Tigers)
A man who I thought was very unlucky not to be heading to Australia this summer. What a signing Smith has been for Tigers. The Swansea scrummaging superstar has been an unreal addition to the scrum in Tiger Town since joining from Ospreys last summer and showcased his abilities as one of the best set-piece props in Europe — so much so that even Warren Gatland decided he could no longer keep him away from the Wales team.
Honourable mentions Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks), Fin Baxter (Harlequins), Beno Obano (Bath)
Hooker — Jamie Blamire (Newcastle Falcons)
How good is Blamire? Well Leicester Tigers have picked him to replace the Argentina animal Julián Montoya. That’s right, the Julián Montoya who has won 95 caps for a Tier One nation. He may be heading to Welford Road, but nobody can accuse Blamire of not giving absolutely everything for Newcastle Falcons. What a warrior he has been, both with and without the ball. Blammy has never met a tryline that he didn’t like, finishing the campaign as Newcastle’s top tryscorer in all competitions. Dropping him into the Leicester pack could be brutal for the rest of the Premiership.
Honourable mentions Luke Cowan-Dickie (Sale Sharks), Gabriel Oghre (Bristol Bears), Tom Dunn (Bath)
Blamire scored 12 tries for Newcastle in all competitions this season — two more than his nearest team-mate
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Tight-head prop — Thomas du Toit (Bath)
Is anyone surprised? Will Stuart has come on leaps and bounds this year, bossing the Six Nations with England and becoming a British & Irish Lion, and yet, with all due respect, his Bath team-mate is levels clear. Du Toit may not only be the best tight-head in the league but he may also be the best player in the Premiership. A concrete animal in the tight and an undeniable freight train in the loose. And speaking of loose, he can play both sides of the scrum. The MVP — Malevolently Vivacious Prop.
Honourable mention Will Stuart (Bath), Asher Opoku-Fordjour (Sale Sharks), Trevor Davison (Northampton Saints)
Lock — Maro Itoje (Saracens)
Sometimes you just cannot fight it. Yes, Maro Itoje is a familiar name that blind-drunk corporate big-wigs on a jolly at Twickers would safely select for man of the match, but the Saracens, England and British & Irish Lions captain is not that here. The man-mountain of muscle is god in a scrum cap, at the peak of his powers. He produced more turnovers (16) and carries (124) than any other lock and made the Sarries lineout purr all season. Itoje is a man for any occasion, and you just know that he also smells great, even after 80 minutes, which he plays almost on a weekly basis. Iron man.
Honourable mentions Ernst van Rhyn (Sale Sharks), Cameron Henderson (Leicester Tigers)
Lock — Alex Coles (Northampton Saints)
Coles brought the heat in what was a really tough domestic season for Northampton. The champions lost some big pack princes in Courtney Lawes and Lewis Ludlam last summer, but the 25-year-old new king Coles stepped up whether in the second row or at flanker, and no lock enjoyed greater gainline success (63.6 per cent) than the 6ft 7in behemoth, who also chipped in with five turnovers. Steve Borthwick has a beaut selection of locks available to him at the moment.
Honourable mentions Charlie Ewels (Bath), Freddie Thomas (Gloucester)
Blind-side flanker — Jack Kenningham (Harlequins)
Well I’ll be damned, Jack Kenningham nearly did the impossible this year: win more turnovers than his Harlequins team-mate Will Evans. Still only 25, Kenningham is so influential for Quins and lord knows where they would have been without him this term. He is a smooth operator who offers heft and front-foot ball, makes the lineout tick and can always be depended upon. His availability is a huge benefit. Basically, what more do you want from your flanker?
Honourable mentions Juan Martín González (Saracens), Ted Hill (Bath)
Open-side flanker — Ben Curry (Sale Sharks)
The lesser-celebrated Curry has had one hell of a season for club and country — spearheading Sale’s drive into the play-offs while also muscling his thick gym rat frame into the England back row. I’m made up for him, what a boy. Curry is not human; he was created in a science lab specifically to play rugby. His highlight came on the way to winning Premiership’s player-of-the-month award in December when during the 38-0 win away to Bristol, he made a round-high of 22 tackles (including three dominant slams) in addition to winning two turnovers and scoring a try. Since the departure of Jono Ross, Ben Curry has become Sale’s defensive dynamo, and those were some pretty big shoes to fill.
Honourable mentions Will Evans (Harlequins), Fitz Harding (Bristol Bears), Henry Pollock (Northampton Saints)
No8 — Tom Willis (Saracens)
If I was invited to a gun fight, I would bring Tom Willis. The ruthless one-man army has spent all year rampaging. It doesn’t matter how many blokes there are in front of him, Willis is absolutely mad for attritional warfare. The top ten list for defenders beaten features nine backs and one forward, and that one forward is Willis at the top of the tree — by some distance. Nobody else made more gainline carries, and the new England No8 also ranked high for turnovers and tackles. Put simply, this unit is an absolute workhorse and a rugby stallion.
Honourable mentions Olly Cracknell (Leicester Tigers), Greg Fisilau (Exeter Chiefs)
Agree? Of course you don’t. Have your say in the comments below and let me know who you think has been the best Premiership player this year. And, as always, thanks for reading. See you next season.