With the Premiership season nearly upon us, there is a lot of talent to be excited about. I’ve picked out a player from each club that I think will have fans on the edge of their seats in 2017-18.
BATH – SAM UNDERHILL Not too many forwards make my selection but Sam Underhill gets the nod because he is a very talented player whose return to England has been hyped up for some time. Is he the guy to finally put the England open side debate to bed? James Haskell has done a brilliant job but Underhill is a specialist with age on his side. Ball in hand he is strong and has good footwork and links up play well, but he can also do the dog work and win turnovers. Will be fascinating to watch him develop under the England coaches.
EXETER CHIEFS – HENRY SLADE I am a bit of a closet Slade fan to be fair – ever since I played against him during my first year at Wasps and he schooled me. His ball skills are top drawer and some of the touches he has are out of this world. Every time he gets the ball, he tries to make something happen. The thing that excites me is whether we’ll find out this year if he is going to play 10 full-time or concentrate on playing centre? I’d recommend the latter.
GLOUCESTER – JASON WOODWARD An exciting player in what is an average squad in my book. Played exceptionally well at times last year in a heavily beaten Bristol team. Always seems to find space in front of him and has the pace to exploit it. Gloucester will need his spark to excite the fans now Jonny May has gone to Leicester.
This story is from the August 27, 2017 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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This story is from the August 27, 2017 edition of The Rugby Paper.
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