I know what Bangor need to make impact in top-flight, insists boss Lee Feeney
Bangor manager Lee Feeney says he has retention as well as recruitment on his mind as he sets out to make the Seasiders a Premiership force to be feared.
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BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Martindale welcomes 'newest version' of artificial surface
David Martindale says criticism of Livingston's artificial surface has been "unwarranted" but is looking forward to welcoming opponents to a new improved one in the coming West Lothian club's pitch is being upgraded this summer and the Livingston manager points out that it is the "newest version of our surface and Falkirk's", which has received some praise."I know everybody talks about it not being a good surface, but that probably comes from watching and not playing on it," he said of Livingston's has lost captain utility man Jamie Brandon to Kilmarnock but brought in four new players - winger Graham Carey from St Johnstone, defender Shane Blaney from Motherwell, plus forwards Connor McLennan and Zak Rudden from Ayr United and Queen's Park striker Stevie May has signed permanently after last season's loan from St Johnstone."I thought it was important to get as much Premiership experience in as we can," Martindale told BBC Radio Scotland's Sportsound. "They are all boys who have played in the Premiership and I'm giving some of them the opportunity to continue to do that but also giving some of them the chance to get back to the Premiership."Martindale admits his side will be slightly "undercooked" when the season starts with the League Cup group sections because they will be "a week to 10 days" later in starting pre-season because of playing in the Premiership Play-off final. "I've been involved in some big games with Livingston previously, but that tops the lot for me," he said of the victory over Ross County."In the manner of going behind, how we won the game, it was just a great way to end the season. I think it was a really good game of football for the neutral, but I think it was really good for Scottish football in terms of the play-offs - it is one of the formats that work."
Telegraph
3 hours ago
- Telegraph
Where Premiership champions Bath rank in our top 10 title winners
The following list covers the period since the play-off system was introduced to decide the English top flight in 2002-03. It takes into consideration how teams fared in the regular season and Europe, their performance in the final and whether they backed up their title in the ensuing campaigns. Nevertheless, this is still a highly unscientific exercise, prone to my own biases and unreliable memory. 10. Northampton, 2024 Would have been ranked higher but for a slightly underwhelming performance in the final in which Beno Obano's red card swung the tide in Saints' favour and a disappointing follow-up league season in which they finished eighth, albeit slightly counterbalanced by a run to the Champions Cup final. However, Saints' triumph stands out both for the fact they had one of lowest wage bills in the Premiership and engineered a complete stylistic revolution that extended across the league and influenced how England approach their rugby. Also a brilliant sign-off to possibly my favourite English player of the modern era in Courtney Lawes. Key player: Courtney Lawes Underrated player: Fraser Dingwall Favourite player: Courtney Lawes 9. Exeter, 2017 Only Leicester City's 2015 Premier League title surpasses the Chiefs' rise to the top of the English rugby pyramid in terms of fairy-tale value in English sport. This was an epic final against a Wasps side that might just have featured the most loaded backline of all time – Wille Le Roux, Christian Wade, Elliot Daly, Jimmy Gopperth, Josh Bassett, Danny Cipriani and Dan Robson. Gareth Steenson kicked a penalty to take it to extra time and then another one three minutes from the end. Given that they lost three other finals to Saracens, it also featured a cathartic semi-final defeat of their great rivals, featuring the most ballsy kick to a corner I have ever seen live from Henry Slade. Incredible finish to the Exeter and Saracens game! What balls from Slade! The Chiefs are in the final! — RugbyLAD 🏉 (@RugbyLAD7) May 20, 2017 Key player: Don Armand Underrated player: Phil Dollman Favourite player: Thomas Waldron 8. Sale, 2006 A personal favourite team of mine, from a back row of Magnus Lund, Jason White and Sébastien Chabal – yes please – to the canny half-back duo of Richard Wigglesworth and Charlie Hodgson and a fabulously balanced back three of Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto and Oriol Ripol. Philippe Saint-André's side were up against an excellent Leicester team – see next entry – but mastered the rainy conditions and the occasion superbly. Stuart Barnes's commentary of 'drop goal, it has to be three points' only for Hodgson to pull off a sensational dummy for Ripol to score just before half-time is also rooted in my head. There are some classic moments in this 📼 Here's a throwback to 2006, when @SaleSharksRugby beat @LeicesterTigers 45-20 to become champions of England for the first time 😮💨 #GallagherPrem — Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) June 11, 2025 Key player: Charlie Hodgson Underrated player: Oriol Ripol Favourite player: Ignacio Fernández Lobbe 7. Leicester, 2007 Sometimes you just need to forget everything else and focus on the performance and this amounted to the most brutal beat-down ever witnessed in a Premiership final. Gloucester arrived at Twickenham as the darlings of the league, playing a dazzling brand of rugby. A bit like the famous fight scene in Game of Thrones between the Viper and the Mountain, for all Gloucester's razzle-dazzle Leicester just focused on crushing the Cherry & Whites' skull with a display of fearsome power. The image of various Gloucester backs being sent into a different postcode by the rampaging Alesana Tuilagi and the late great Seru Rabeni remains fixed in my mind. Geordan Murphy and Alesana Tuilagi let rip for @LeicesterTigers v Gloucester in the 2007 Premiership final. — Leicester Tigers History (@HistoryTigers) November 24, 2023 Key player: Alesana Tuilagi Underrated player: Leo Cullen Favourite player: Seru Rabeni 6. Bath, 2025 Recency bias? What recency bias? I strongly suspect, however, that this Bath side, which is going to be even stronger next season with the additions of Santi Carreras, Henry Arundell and Chris Harris, might end up climbing this list. They dominated the regular season and lost only two matches with their full-strength side, as well as winning the Challenge Cup and Premiership Cup. For Johann van Graan's team to take their place among the great teams, the next challenge will be to conquer the Champions Cup. Key player: Finn Russell Underrated player: Quinn Roux Favourite player: Ted Hill 5. Exeter, 2020 The high point of the Exeter project as Rob Baxter's side completed a Premiership and Champions Cup double. Such a shame that Covid restrictions prevented more people from witnessing the culmination of Exeter's remarkable rise. Their strength lay in blending a home-grown core of Henry Slade, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jack Nowell with canny recruits such as Dave Ewers and Jacques Vermeulen. Everything about Exeter was about industry and work-rate. Their close-range pick-and-go tactics might not have always been the prettiest, but they were pretty much impossible to defend until the laws changed. Key player: Henry Slade Underrated player: Sam Skinner Favourite player: Olly Woodburn 4. Leicester, 2009-10 Definitely not the same calibre of Leicester side who dominated the Premiership before the introduction of the play-off system, but there is still something highly impressive about back-to-back titles after finishing the regular season top of the table twice. Both finals, however, were nail-biters, first overcoming London Irish 10-9 and then downing Saracens 33-27. In the tradition of all great Tigers teams, the side's great strength lay up front in the form of Marcos Ayerza, the underrated George Chuter, the monstrous Julian White and an emerging youngster in Dan Cole. Tom Croft was right in his pomp and Geordan Murphy might still be the classiest full-back to ever grace the Premiership. Key player: Marcos Ayerza Underrated player: George Chuter Favourite player: Tom Croft 3. Saracens, 2018-19 On paper, this Saracens side might feel slightly stronger than their predecessors in second place, thanks to the signings of Will Skelton, Liam Williams and Sean Maitland. Both won back-to-back titles and a European Cup. But in my eyes, getting over the line first time around after a couple of agonising play-off experiences was the greater achievement. Of course, everything would come crashing down to earth as the salary-cap malpractice was exposed, resulting in the club's relegation to the Championship. Key player: Maro Itoje Underrated player: Jackson Wray Favourite player: Alex Goode 2. Saracens, 2015-16 The start of a dynasty, albeit one that would come to be severely tainted by the salary-cap scandal. This should not diminish the scale of the players' achievement as they became the first side since the 2004 Wasps team above to pull off a domestic and European double. Driven by a relentless defence, they completely dismantled a beautiful Bath side in the 2015 final and then blew Exeter out of the water in the first half of the 2016 final. If Lawrence Dallaglio was Wasps' heartbeat then Owen Farrell set the tone for this Saracens team, while Brad Barritt and Jacques Burger provided titanium-plated steel. Key player: Owen Farrell Underrated player: Brad Barritt Favourite player: Will Fraser 1. Wasps, 2003-05 The only side to pull off a Premiership 'three-peat', Warren Gatland's team were the original mentality monsters long before Jürgen Klopp pitched up at Liverpool. At the dawn of the Premiership's play-off system, they mastered the art of peaking at the end of the season to administer the perfect knockout blow. This was not a side packed with superstars, but there was class everywhere, from the steady hand of Alex King at fly-half, the industry of Joe Worsley and the general chaos that Trevor Leota wrought. Driving everything was Dallaglio, the emotional heartbeat of the side, who seemed to take extra relish in spoiling Martin Johnson's final game as a professional in the 2005 final as Wasps thrashed their great rivals Leicester 39-14. Add in a 2004 Heineken Cup when the competition was truly elite and that makes them my No 1. Honourable mentions Wasps 2008, Harlequins 2012, Northampton 2014, Leicester 2022
ITV News
4 hours ago
- ITV News
Bath Rugby victory parade after historic treble season
The side won an historic victory against Leicester at Twickenham on Saturday - winning their first Premiership title in 29 years.
