1) Hughes will add to Bristol’s soaring ambition
Bristol’s second-highest win took them into the top half of the Premiership table, although they fell back to seventhon Sunday and confirmed the tightness of the battle to avoid the drop. The promoted Bears are looking upwards and a squad that already includes Charles Piutau, Steven Luatua, Ian Madigan and John Afoa is set to be supplemented next season by the England No 8 Nathan Hughes, who is in the final year of his contract with Wasps. He looks set to move to Ashton Gate on a £500,000 annual wage, a significant hike on his current deal that Wasps are unable to match because of the salary cap. Given Jordan Crane’s form against his former club, it is not a position Bristol are weak in but they want depth in every position as they aim to join Europe’s elite within five years. Paul Rees
• Match report: Bristol 41-10 Leicester
2) Thorley’s skills are now plain to see at Gloucester
Ollie Thorley’s two outstanding tries in the rout of Leicester last month almost went unnoticed because Gloucester’s match fell on a Friday night during the international period. The 22-year old wing added another couple against Worcester in a similar scoreline at Kingsholm, the second again showcasing the pace and awareness of a player who holds the record for the club’s youngest try-scorer. He is a wing who prefers to take on opponents on the outside, or by cutting inside,, rather than attempting to clatter through them and in a back division orchestrated by Danny Cipriani wide players do not often lack opportunity. Thorley received the ball 15 times and covered 112 metres as the home side climbed to third in the table before their European double-header against the Chiefs. Paul Rees
• Premiership roundup: Gloucester 36-16 Worcester
3) The force is with Dombrandt the Dominator
Exeter’s first league defeat of the season was a deserved reward for Harlequins’s up-and-at-’em defensive enthusiasm and a personal triumph for the 21-year-old Alex Dombrandt, a back-row turning out for Cardiff Met University this time last year. At 6ft 4in and 19 stone the man of the match is a conspicuous force, despite not possessing the chiselled physique of most aspiring young pros. As his head coach, Paul Gustard, succinctly put it: “He’s still got a rig from university but the kid can play rugby.” Despite having represented Wales U20 in 2017 as a student the so-called “Dominator” is English and is ineligible for the senior Wales team. Quins, either way, are benefiting from his no-nonsense carrying and will now be targeting two more wins over Leicester and Wasps either side of Christmas to pull them clear of the increasingly dog-eat-dog relegation scrap. Robert Kitson
• Match report: Harlequins 28-26 Exeter
4) Wilson makes it a Falcons win to remember
It would not be surprising if Newcastle find themselves reflecting on the significance of this victory at the end of the season. While the Falcons are flying high in Europe they have struggled to battle through a tough set of fixtures to start the campaign and arrived at Franklin’s Gardens with only two league wins from eight matches. Step forward Mark Wilson, in the 86th minute, to score the winning try by forcing the ball against the foot of the post, leaving Toby Flood with the simplest of conversions. Before the autumn internationals, Newcastle scored a similar, albeit even later, match-winning try against Montpellier and while Wilson did not get it himself, he was at the heart of everything in those closing stages. To be able to come up with the try against Northampton, after his breakthrough autumn for England as one of only three players to start all four Tests, is an astonishing feat. Gerard Meagher
• Premiership roundup: Northampton 14-16 Newcastle
5) Scrum situation is better – but still a mess
Having weathered something of an existential crisis a few seasons ago the scrum is now in relatively good nick, the de-powered hit from the new binding sequence seeming to stabilise it. Nevertheless, scrums remain a conundrum and one of rugby’s concerns must be the number of games decided, or at least influenced, by what look too often like random decisions at them by the referee. There were eight penalties awarded at the scrum here. “It was a bit of a mess,” said Jamie George, at the heart of them. “Let’s just say, what I thought was happening and what everybody else did were very different things.” No one is any the wiser. Michael Aylwin
• Match report: Saracens 29-6 Wasps
6) Bath’s sluggishness could drag them into trouble
It is too early to say which Premiership team will go down this season but one thing is certain: Bath need to perk up soon if they wish to avoid a dark, depressing winter. Sixth place in the table might sound okay but they sit just four points above the bottom side; of the teams below them, only Leicester are playing with less apparent confidence. It hardly helps that the next two weekends involve home and away meetings with the European champions Leinster; play as sluggishly as they did in their 7-7 draw with the Sharks and they will have nil hope of winning either of those two fixtures. After that come two away games at Wasps and Worcester and a home date with the Tigers just before new year. Lose all three and Bath really will be in the mire.
7) Barbarians continue to show their relevance in modern age
In their last three visits to Twickenham in the space of just over 12 months, the Barbarians have given the All Blacks a run for their money, thrashed England and clinched a thrilling win over Argentina with Elton Jantjies’ late drop goal proving decisive against the Pumas on Saturday. In an age where the international calendar is so bloated it is a testament to the invitational side that they continued to dispel talk of their demise. Granted, Rassie Erasmus relied on a core of Springboks players on Saturday and it must be hoped the crowd would have been a little larger than 31,000 had the Barbarians succeeded in tempting Christian Wade into one last hurrah before heading stateside. But as the British & Irish Lions continue to be pushed to the margins it feels remarkable that another institution with its roots in the amateur era stays relevant. Gerard Meagher
