The opening weekend of a new Premiership and already a contest to shake the rafters. The Sunday Telegraph's Paul Ackford previews Leicester's clash with Northampton.
"When Northampton and Leicester clash on Sunday afternoon, following a fly past by the Red Arrows, the consequences will be enormous.
"Sure, it won’t decide the title. But it will serve notice on whether Leicester can extend their extraordinary grip on English rugby, which has seen them contest the last six Grand Finals, and whether a fledgling Northampton side do have the resolve to hunt down success.
"Northampton stalled badly last season. They crashed out of Europe at the quarter-final stage to a Munster team lacking Paul O’Connell, and then they were bushwhacked by Saracens in the play-offs. The defeat at Thomond Park was just about excusable because very few sides travel there and win. But Sarries, at home, five weeks after all those internal resolutions, made after the Munster match, that they would learn from the experience? That was very painful."
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