1) Tigers are beginning to burn bright
A new year has dawned, bringing with it Leicester’s annual acceleration towards the play-offs and a sharp increase in transfer speculation. Bath chose not to confirm the news after Sunday’s game but the Welsh fly-half Rhys Priestland is heading to the Recreation Ground on a two-year deal that raises all kinds of interesting questions. It would appear Priestland is resigned to missing out on Wales’ World Cup squad, with Gareth Anscombe and Leicester’s Owen Williams jostling for places in the squad alongside Dan Biggar. There is little doubt that the Scarlets – and Warren Gatland - would love Williams to return to Wales but the talented young No10 is establishing himself as the Tigers’ first-choice playmaker, a hard shirt to relinquish. Either way Leicester are back in this season’s title shake-up, their return to form having coincided with Exeter’s loss of momentum over the festive season. Bath are a better side than they showed against Leicester but a Northampton-Bath final no longer looks as safe a bet as it seemed a week ago. Robert Kitson
• Leicester 17-8 Bath
• Priestland in line to join Bath after World Cup
2) Time for Slade to feel the noise
Henry Slade has made 14 appearances for Exeter this season in all competitions, each time at outside-centre rather than his preferred position of outside-half. When the Chiefs reshuffled their back division in the final quarter against Gloucester, Ian Whitten was brought on for Sam Hill at inside-centre but it may have been the time to move Slade to 10. Much of what was good about Exeter’s attack came through a player who was called into the England squad last November and he provided the point of difference in the match behind the scrum. The Chiefs got little reward out of Gloucester at forward and, while Gareth Steenson has been a steadying influence at outside-half, as well as the side’s leading goal-kicker, it may be time to consider moving Slade if a bid to make the play-offs is not to turn into a battle to remain in contention for a place in the Champions Cup. Paul Rees
• Exeter 25-26 Gloucester
• Just the ticket 2015: book your seat for the World Cup
3) Concussion study could lead to a big headache
Saracens have never been afraid of a good crusade but their latest is one of their worthiest. Few can quibble with their introduction this weekend of technology designed to measure the impacts to the head of a professional rugby player. Ed Griffiths, chief executive, said: “The effects of concussion is a question the game has not dared to ask for fear of what the answers might be.” This does beg the next question, though: what happens when those answers start to come through? The suspicion is that the findings of Saracens’ experiment are not going to be pretty. If it turns out that professional rugby nowadays is a health risk that no sane person should ever expose himself to, then what can be done about it, short of abolishing the sport? A lowering of the threshold for a high tackle is one sensible measure but would that be enough? Perhaps they will try to introduce laws on the conditioning of players — in effect depowering them — but that would be next to impossible to police, and there will always be Jonah Lomus, or “freaks” as Will Carling might call them, who break the power/pace mould naturally. Saracens may well be about to uncover a serious problem but the solving of it could prove more problematic yet. Michael Aylwin
• Saracens 22-6 London Irish
4) Arrival of Wasps is creating a buzz in the Midlands
The gate at Coventry for Wasps’ second game at the Ricoh Arena was a long way short of the record 28,000 for the first-day fixture against London Irish but it was foggy, cold and damp against Sale and 15,343 is not only close to three times the attendance when Dai Young’s side last met Sale on Wasps territory but is higher than any gate achieved at Adams Park or their previous home, Loftus Road. Wasps are already expecting a bumper pay day when Leinster, twice European champions, are next to visit The Ricoh in the Champions Cup. And it seems the Coventry club is benefiting as well, their gates increasing with the growing rugby buzz in the Midlands. Mike Averis
• Wasps 41-16 Sale
5) A modest defeat is as good as it gets for luckless London Welsh
London Welsh went into their match against Harlequins with 11 Premiership defeats under their belt and were also without their captain Tom May, absent through suspension. So they could have done without losing their hooker, Nathan Vella, to injury midway through the game. Perhaps it was a sign that their luck was out because this was a match they did not deserve to lose. By far the better side in the first half and up against an under-strength Harlequins, this should really have been their first win of the season. Still, it was an improvement of sorts: at least it was not the sort of thumping they were getting a while back. Harlequins, meanwhile, should have a good look at where their season is going: played 12, lost six and won six is hardly good enough for a team with the talent they can call on. Tom Bryant
• London Welsh 13-24 Harlequins
6) New year reversals create exciting congestion at top of Pro12
The top four all lost as the new year opened with a batch of derby upsets in the Pro12. Scarlets beat the leaders Ospreys convincingly, while Edinburgh enjoyed a 12-point victory over their neighbours Glasgow, winning the 1872 Cup for the first time since 2009 in front of nearly 16,000 at Murrayfield. Connacht comfortably defeated Munster 24-16 on New Years Day and on Saturday Leinster were 24-11 winners over Ulster, while Treviso recorded the double over Zebre. It is now congested at the top, with only eight points separating the top six. Paul Rees
• Interview: Dan Biggar – “You never own the Wales jersey but have to earn it each time”
