Aviva Premiership

England captain Dylan Hartley is set to make a comeback for the Northampton Saints in their final game of the Aviva Premiership season against Gloucester at Kingsholm on Saturday.

Racing 92 and former Welsh scrum-half Mike Phillips will join Sale Sharks starting with next season after signing a deal with the Aviva Premiership club.

Bath and South Africa flanker Francois Louw will face a Rugby Football Union disciplinary panel on Thursday over the incident involving Northampton Saints lock Courtney Lawes.

Harlequins on Wednesday has confirmed the departure of fly-half Ben Botica and scrum-half Tito Tebaldi from the club following the end of the current season.

Wasps fly-half Ruaridh Jackson will exit the club at the end of the ongoing Aviva Premiership season to join Harlequins.

Stormers scrum-half Nic Groom has signed a contract with Northampton Saints and is set to join the English Premiership side at the end of the 2016 Super Rugby season.

Saracens Director of Rugby Mark McCall believes the experience to turn things around under pressure came handy in his team's victory over Newcastle Falcons at the Allianz Park on Sunday.

Exeter coach Rob Baxter lauded his team for dominant 24-3 victory against Wasps as they put themselves ahead in race for a home Aviva Premiership play-off.

Saracens secured both first place in the Aviva Premiership table and a home play-off semi-final with a combative 23-14 win over Newcastle Falcons at Allianz Park.

London Irish's relegation from the Aviva Premiership was all but confirmed as Harlequins ran out 32-25 winners at the Madejski Stadium.

Exeter gained a key foothold over Wasps in the scramble for an Aviva Premiership home play-off after they swept aside their European Champions Cup conquerors, 24-3 at Sandy Park.

Stand-in fly-half Greig Laidlaw kicked Gloucester to their first Aviva Premiership triumph at Sale since 2001 following a narrow 12-11 victory at the AJ Bell Stadium.

London Irish's unbroken 20-year membership of the English rugby elite will effectively end if they are beaten by Harlequins on Sunday.

The Aviva ‘A’ League never fails to be underestimated in terms of its importance to player development but with squads larger than ever before to take on the travails of a full domestic and European season, it has never been more important as a source of game time and skill development for emerging players.

Sale Sharks will continue their concerted push for automatic European Champions Cup qualification when they host Aviva Premiership opponents Gloucester on Friday.

Championship title contenders Bristol, Yorkshire Carnegie and Doncaster have all met minimum standards criteria that would allow them to play in the Aviva Premiership next season.

After flirting with relegation all season long, the worst was all but confirmed for London Irish when they lost 13-6 to Newcastle Falcons in Round 20 of the Aviva Premiership.

Saracens flanker Jacques Burger has confirmed he will retire from rugby following Sunday's Aviva Premiership game against Newcastle at Allianz Park.

Mike Ford believes Ollie Devoto should be right in the frame for an England spot on their summer tour to Australia after he set Bath on their way to a bonus-point victory over Sale.

Bath held off a late Sale fightback to secure revenge for their defeat in last week's reverse fixture with a 32-26 win over the Sharks at the Recreation Ground on Saturday.