Prem Rugby round 5 takeaways: Freeman becomes Fourman

It is time to take a breath in the Gallagher PREM after five action-packed weeks – but not before we have taken a look back at Round 5.

Northampton Saints head into the mini-break at the summit after beating Saracens under Friday night lights while Bath Rugby are on their tails following a derby win over Bristol Bears.

Exeter Chiefs sit third following their latest impressive victory, this time over Gloucester Rugby, while Leicester Tigers edged out Sale Sharks 36-35 in a thriller and Harlequins eased past Newcastle Red Bulls.

Here are the Round 5 talking points…

Freeman becomes Fourman

Plenty of the pre-match chat before Northampton’s clash with Saracens surrounded Noah Caluori following his five-try showing against Sale Sharks in Round 4.

But the post-match headlines belonged to his opposite number as Tommy Freeman once again underlined his status as one of the best finishers around.

Four tries from the world-class winger carried Saints to a 43-31 victory and made it four wins from five.

“We spoke in the England camp and he told me to watch out — so I did!” Freeman said in the aftermath.

“Nah, he’s a good kid. He’s an unbelievable freak of an athlete. He can jump very high and he hangs there which is the crazy thing. A few people can jump high but he floats up there. He’s got the world at his feet.

“It’s so fun, being on the wing and popping up in spaces where you’ve got Mitch [Alex Mitchell] and Fin [Smith] controlling the ship. It’s pretty special.”

England hopefuls stake claims

This weekend was the final chance for England’s hopefuls to impress before the upcoming autumn internationals and plenty seized it.

Henry Slade once again pulled the strings for Exeter Chiefs, who are fast making Sandy Park the fortress of old.

Slade scored a glorious individual try, latching on to his own deft grubber kick, in a 39-12 victory over winless Gloucester.

At Mattioli Woods Welford Road, Leicester Tigers head coach Geoff Parling said Adam Radwan ‘has to be in the conversation’ after two more tries for his speedster, while Emeka Ilione also crossed.

George Ford may have ended on the losing side – just – but showed the full range of his playmaking skills as he orchestrated Sale’s fightback and Alex Sanderson was insistent the man in possession of England’s No.10 shirt following the summer tour should start against Australia.

“Why wouldn’t you [pick him]?” he said. “He’s a great leader, a master of control of the game. There’s no one better in terms of bringing people on to him. I think he’s earned it [selection].

“Someone who’s that committed to the country and has stuck to task and got better through that period, I feel he deserves a shot now at the helm.”

One of Ford’s rivals for the jersey, Marcus Smith, ran the show at Twickenham Stoop as Harlequins downed Newcastle 52-14 – but Jason Gilmore urged fans not to get carried away.

“He hits it out of the park against Saracens, everyone lauds him, everyone has a crack at him last week and then everyone’s back on his bandwagon again this week,” Gilmore said.

“Marcus will play well when our team functions well. Harlequins isn’t just Marcus Smith.”

Bath edge feisty derby

It is perhaps an ominous sign for their rivals that Bath Rugby can look below their best but still comfortably get the job done.

The hosts started slowly against Bristol Bears at The Rec but pulled clear after the break to win 40-15 in a match containing plenty of needle.

Ellis Genge said pre-match it felt like a ‘battle of classes’ when his side take on Bath and Bristol flew out the traps through Kalaveti Ravouvou’s early score.

But Guy Pepper – another who will hope to feature in a white shirt in the coming weeks – got the ball rolling for Bath, who ran in six tries in all, with Henry Arundell putting the icing on the cake by streaking clear late on.