Experienced journalist and editor covering the sports and betting industry. A football, NFL and rugby specialist, he is a FWA member and judge at the Football Content Awards.
Gallagher Premiership Information
We will be focusing on the Gallagher Premiership and Premiership Rugby Cup in this blog, the top tier of the English rugby union pyramid, which features ten teams competing to be crowned champions.
Founded in 1987, the league is the springboard for the European competitions and, of course, the bragging rights of being crowned the best in England.
Below, we are going to look at the upcoming season, look back at past champions and look at betting odds to enhance your betting experience with the Premiership Rugby.
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Gallagher Premiership Preview
Who won the Gallagher Premiership?
Bath are the current reigning champions of the Gallagher Premiership, having won it in 2025. They beat Leicester 23-21 in last season's final at Twickenham Stadium.
When is the Gallagher Premiership?
The Gallagher Premiership takes place between late September to mid-June the following year, the regular season finishing towards the end of May before the playoffs take place.
Who are the favourites to win the Gallagher Premiership?
The 2025-26 Gallagher Premiership is yet to be priced up by the bookies, but you would expect the reigning Champs, Bath, to be prominent in the betting along with the runners-up Leicester.
Who will win the Gallagher Premiership?
Head over to the OLBG Rugby Tips to see who they are tipping to win, not only the outright winner but also matches throughout the tournament.
Additionally, if you only want to view the tips from the top tipsters, those who have shown a profit on rugby over the past year, then head over to the Best Rugby Tipsters page.
What is the Gallagher Premiership Format?
Ten teams compete over eighteen rounds of a round robin format, playing each of the other teams both home and away.
The top four teams advance to the playoffs and, along with those in 5th-8th, will take part in next season's Champions Cup.
The teams finishing 9th and 10th will head to next season's Challenge Cup.
In the playoffs, it's a simple format of 1st plays 4th and 2nd plays 3rd in the semi-finals before the final itself, which is held at Twickenham Stadium.
Gallagher Premiership Broadcast & Scheduling Info
The Gallagher Premiership matches can be watched live on TNT Sports and Discovery+, with a handful of matches available on ITV4.
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Gallagher Premiership Past Winners
Bath's success in 2025 was not only overdue, with their last title coming back in 1996, but it was the seventh title which moved them to the second most outright winners.
That win moved them clear of both Wasps and Saracens, who are on six wins; however, they are still four wins behind Leicester Tigers, who have won the most championships with eleven.
The league seems to have become more competitive of late, the last back-to-back winner was Saracens (2018-19), meaning teams are struggling to back up their championship win.
Last ten Gallagher Premiership Champions
| Season | Winners | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | Bath | 23–21 | Leicester Tigers |
| 2023–24 | Northampton Saints | 25–21 | Bath |
| 2022–23 | Saracens | 35–25 | Sale Sharks |
| 2021–22 | Leicester Tigers | 15–12 | Saracens |
| 2020–21 | Harlequins | 40–38 | Exeter Chiefs |
| 2019–20 | Exeter Chiefs | 19–13 | Wasps |
| 2018–19 | Saracens | 37–34 | Exeter Chiefs |
| 2017–18 | Saracens | 27–10 | Exeter Chiefs |
| 2016–17 | Exeter Chiefs | 23–20 (aet) | Wasps |
| 2015–16 | Saracens | 28–20 | Exeter Chiefs |
Gallagher Premiership Favourite Statistics
If you are looking for consistency when it comes to winning favourites, then the last two seasons of the Gallagher Premiership demonstrate just that!
In both the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, there were 93 favourites, and from those, 71 won, giving both seasons a favourites' success rate of 76.34%.
Overall, for the past ten seasons, the success rate of favourites has been 71.21% with six of the seasons exceeding 70% and four of them under that mark.
In terms of teams, there are three who hold a 77% win rate when favourites and those are Exeter Chiefs (127-36-3), Sale Sharks (90-22-5) and Saracens (130-36-3).
| Year | Favourites | Winners | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-16 | 135 | 98 | 72.59% |
| 2016-17 | 135 | 96 | 71.11% |
| 2017-18 | 134 | 94 | 70.15% |
| 2018-19 | 135 | 94 | 69.63% |
| 2019-20 | 133 | 91 | 68.42% |
| 2020-21 | 124 | 86 | 69.35% |
| 2021-22 | 159 | 109 | 68.55% |
| 2022-23 | 120 | 88 | 73.33% |
| 2023-24 | 93 | 71 | 76.34% |
| 2024-25 | 93 | 71 | 76.34% |
| Total | 1,261 | 898 | 71.21% |
Gallagher Premiership Odds Statistics
Here we look at how teams perform between certain odds. What we know a bettors is that those shorter in price should win more games, simple as that!
The bars shown in blue are where the odds fall within or exceeded their expected percentage, whilst those in orange fall below expectations.
This league is fairly standard, the shorter priced teams generally do well, whilst the bigger fail to win many games.
There is one range which doesn't fall inline and that is those priced up between 1.80 - 1.89, these are expected to win 52.9% to 55.6% of games, however, those have won 60.32% of games, so a range to watch out for.
Tournament Betting Comparison
Here is a comparison between some of the top rugby union tournaments (Leagues) for winning favourites.
You can see that the Gallagher Premiership doesn't come out as one of the most successful leagues for winning favourites.
Its win rate of 71.13% when compared to other tournaments with league formats, only comes out better than one other, the Currie Cup.
| League | Games | Winning Favs | Overall Fav % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Womens Six Nations | 138 | 112 | 81.16% |
| Six Nations | 148 | 115 | 77.70% |
| United Rugby Championship | 1,376 | 1,039 | 75.51% |
| Super Rugby | 1,067 | 797 | 74.70% |
| Pro D2 | 2,354 | 1,751 | 74.38% |
| Top 14 | 1,758 | 1,304 | 74.18% |
| Gallagher Premiership | 1,261 | 897 | 71.13% |
| Currie Cup | 392 | 268 | 68.37% |
Gallagher Premiership Teams
The ten teams for the 2025-26 season will be the same as the ten who competed in the 2024-25 season. Ealing Trailfinders, who won the RFU Championship for the second year running, fail to meet the minimum standards and are therefore ineligible for promotion.
Bath
- Head Coach: Johann van Graan
- Stadium: The Recreation Ground (14,509)
Established in 1865, Bath are seven-time winners of the Gallagher Premiership and are the current reigning champions. Having ended their twenty-nine-year wait for a title in 2025, they have been beaten finalists six times and topped the regular season eight times.
Bristol Bears
- Head Coach: Pat Lam
- Stadium: Ashton Gate (27,000)
The 2025-26 season will be the eighth consecutive in the top flight for Bristol Bears, a team established in 1888 and yet to taste success in this league. They did finish top of the regular season in 2020-21 but were knocked out of the playoffs by Harlequins at the semi-final stage.
Exeter Chiefs
- Head Coach: Rob Baxter
- Stadium: Sandy Park (15,600)
Exeter Chiefs are two-time winners of the Premiership, their first coming in 2017 and then again in 2020. They made every final between 2016 & 2021; however, they lost three of those. They have finished top of the regular season league on three occasions.
Gloucester
- Head Coach: George Skivington
- Stadium: Kingsholm (16,115)
Gloucester are one of only two from the current ten teams to yet win this tournament (Bristol the other). They have three times topped the regular season but failed to convert those into champions. The last of those came in 2008, and their best since has been 3rd place on two occasions and failing to make it past the semi-finals.
Harlequins
- Head Coach: Danny Wilson
- Stadium: Twickenham Stoop (14,800)
Harlequins are dual winners of the Premiership, their first title coming in 2012 and their second, nine years later in 2021. Those are the only two finals that they have made, giving them a 100% record when they do make the final. They have finished top in the regular season just once, which was in 2012.
Leicester Tigers
- Head Coach: Geoff Parling
- Stadium: Welford Road (25,849)
Established in 1880, the Leicester Tigers are the most successful club in the Gallagher Premiership. They have topped the regular season table eleven times and have made it to the final nineteen times; in eleven of those finals, they went on to success, being crowned champions.
Newcastle Falcons
- Head Coach: Steve Diamond
- Stadium: Kingston Park (10,200)
The Newcastle Falcons have only ever made it to one final, and that was way back in 1998, which was their sole title. Since then, they have only made the playoffs once in 2018 when they failed to get past the semi-final, and they have also been relegated and promoted again twice since their only title.
Northampton Saints
- Head Coach: Phil Dowson
- Stadium: Franklin's Gardens (15,249)
Two-time winners Northampton Saints made their fans wait ten years between titles, their first coming in 2014 and their second in 2024. They made it to the other finals in 1999 & 2013 but lost both of those. They are regulars for making the playoffs; they have made it to 10 of the last 16.
Sale Sharks
- Head Coach: Alex Sanderson
- Stadium: Salford Community Stadium (12,000)
Sale Sharks are the only previous champions to have lost more finals than they have won; they have been finalists three times, their only win came in 2006, and they lost finals in both 2002 & 2023. After failing to make the playoffs in 14 straight seasons (2007-20), they have now made 4 of the last 5.
Saracens
- Head Coach: Mark McCall
- Stadium: StoneX Stadium (10,500)
Saracens are the joint third most successful team in the league, they are on six wins (same as Wasps), with their latest coming in 2023. They were pretty dominant at one point, winning titles in 2015, 2016, 2018 & 2019, and they have also been runners-up four times. In their last 15 seasons in this league, they have made the playoffs 13 times.
Gallagher Premiership Records
Most Career Matches in the Gallagher Premiership
Richard Wigglesworth holds the record for most appearances in the Gallagher Premiership, having taken part in a combined 322 games across three clubs, Sale, Saracens and Leicester.
He is 28 clear of Danny Care, who made 294 appearances for Leeds & Harlequins, whilst next on the list and separated by just one appearance are Alex Goode (282) and Mike Brown (281).
Most Gallagher Premiership Career Points
Two players have amassed over 2,000 points during their careers in the Premiership; both have since retired from the game, both finishing their careers in 2016.
Charlie Hodgson tops the list with 2,625 points during his time with Sale & Saracens, and he is 340 clear of Andy Goode (2,285), whose career spanned five clubs (Leicester, Saracens, Worcester, Wasps & Newcastle).
Most Gallagher Premiership Career Tries
Only one player has breached the 100 mark for tries in the Premiership, and that is Chris Ashton, who scored a total of 101 tries during his busy career with spells with Northampton, Saracens, Sale, Harlequins, Worcester & Leicester.
The closest to Ashton is Christian Wade (Wasps & Gloucester), who managed to score 93 tries and not too far behind him are Tom Varndell (92) and Mark Cueto (90).
Premiership Rugby Cup
Premiership Rugby Cup Intro & Format
The current Premiership Rugby Cup was created in 2018. It was created to replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup following the withdrawal of the Welsh regions.
Originally, the cup featured only the teams from the Premiership; however, from the 2023-24 season onwards, the Premiership teams were joined by the RFU Championship teams.
The cup features all 10 Premiership clubs along with 10 from the RFU Championship, which are initially split into five regional pools, featuring four clubs in each, with the pools playing round-robin matches.
The winner from each pool will advance to the knockout stages along with the three best runners-up; those eight teams will make up the quarter-finals, and then normal knockout matches are played to decide the winner.
Premiership Rugby Cup Favourite Statistics
The number of games has increased over the last two tournaments with the introduction of the RFU Championship teams, and with the lesser teams, the favourites have won a higher percentage.
Take the 2022-23 season, for example, the favourites won 73% of the games; however, the following season, with the format change, that number rose to 85% and then 82% last season.
Over just a short period, you can see how much more reliable they have become from 63% in 2018-19 up to 82% in 2024-25, which is a big improvement in winning favourites.
Newcastle Falcons are ones to watch when favourites as they are unbeaten, winning all twelve games when they have been priced up by the bookies as favourites to win the game.
| Year | Favourites | Winners | Win Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 27 | 17 | 62.96% |
| 2019-20 | 27 | 20 | 74.07% |
| 2021-22 | 28 | 22 | 78.57% |
| 2022-23 | 26 | 19 | 73.08% |
| 2023-24 | 54 | 46 | 85.19% |
| 2024-25 | 67 | 55 | 82.09% |
| Total | 229 | 179 | 78.17% |
Premiership Rugby Cup Winners
There have only been six tournaments thus far, and backing up a win has been difficult because of the six tournaments, there have been six different winners!
Exeter have made the final twice, with one win and one defeat, whilst London Irish have also been to two finals; however, their fate has not been as good, with them losing both of those finals after extra time.
| Season | Winners | Score | Runner-up | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–25 | Bath Rugby | 48–14 | Exeter Chiefs | Sandy Park |
| 2023–24 | Gloucester | 23–13 | Leicester Tigers | Kingsholm Stadium |
| 2022–23 | Exeter Chiefs | 24–20 (aet) | London Irish | Brentford Community Stadium |
| 2021–22 | Worcester Warriors | 25–25 (aet*) | London Irish | Brentford Community Stadium |
| 2020–21 | Not held | |||
| 2019–20 | Sale Sharks | 27–19 | Harlequins | AJ Bell Stadium |
| 2018–19 | Northampton Saints | 23–9 | Saracens | Franklin's Gardens |
*Worcester won on try count
Contributor Information
We are fortunate to have an exceptional team of specialists and experts at OLBG. The data in this Gallagher Premiership Preview & Betting Guide is managed by Andy Powell, who looks after the Rugby Tipsters and results in the Rugby Tips Section. Our Commercial Content Manager, Luke Bradshaw-Lee, is a keen Rugby fan; he fact-checks the article for accuracy and publication. Together, they produce our Rugby Union Previews and Rugby League Previews.
Andy Powell
Content Editor
Luke Bradshaw Lee
Senior Sports Betting Editor
