Stats suggest Bath can step up and grab glory

Tough start will test mettle of last season's runners-up in a competitive field while return of relegation adds intrigue

- Robert Kitson

A ccurately predicting the winner of the Premiership grows less simple by the year. The stats do not lie: in the past five years there have been five different champions and no one will be too shocked if that sequence stretches to six. Say what you like about the battle-scarred competition but it keeps everyone on their toes.

This time around it promises to be even more cut-throat, given there is now renewed scope for additional fun and games at the bottom of the ladder. Relegation or at least a playoff - will be back in the mixer if the Championship's top team can accommodate 5,000 fans with scope for further expansion in subsequent years.

Given the most recent Championship promotion playoff was in 2017 - when London Irish went up at Bristol's expense by beating Yorkshire Carnegie - it offers a potential tweak to the status quo. Newcastle have finished bottom for the past two seasons and will be saving themselves a huge load of early summer angst if they can sidestep a hat-trick.