Bath Rugby are the reigning champions
Premiership Rugby will host its 2025/26 final at the Allianz Stadium in London on 20 June. Bath are the reigning champions and are in good form once again this season. The west country side are among the favourites to lift the trophy again.
Northampton Saints will have a say one way or the other in the trophy race though. They are nipping at Bath’s heels and they themselves have put their hands up to lift the silverware at the home of English rugby.
Read more: How to watch Premiership Rugby
The regular season matches are yet to be completed and so the semi-finalists are yet to be confirmed. But it is always good to know recent history when it comes to the season drawing to a close. Below you can find the last five Premiership winners and how the finals shook out.
Premiership Rugby: Who won the last five seasons?
2024/25: Bath Rugby 23-21 Leicester Tigers
It was a long time coming for Bath whose form has drastically improved over the last few seasons. They narrowly missed out the year before but came good in 2025.
Finn Russell had a gerat match to help his side win their first Premiership title in 29 years. A memorable moment was Russell feeding the ball to Max Ojomoh after setting up a cracking try. The Scotland international could have scored it himself but let the life-long Bath fan score in the final.
Russell also added two conversions and three penalties to seal the win.
Table toppers: Bath Rugby
Read more: Premiership fixtures
2023/24: Northampton Saints 25-21 Bath Rugby
These evenly matched titans of English rugby finished the regular season tied on points, and on the day it was arguably the first-half red card given to Bath prop Beno Obano that proved decisive.
Even with 14 men, Bath looked like the side most likely to claim the title until Saints’ Alex Mitchell scored the 73rd-minute try that bagged the title.
Table toppers: Northampton Saints
Premiership rugby 2022/23: Saracens 35-25 Sale Sharks
Sale made it to the final for the first time in 17 years. However, they faced a tough opposition in Saracens who were looking to right the wrongs of the previous season.
Saracens clinched their sixth Premiership title with a four-try victory, including two touchdowns in the final quarter from Elliot Daly.
Table toppers: Saracens
Related: Ashton on the Prem’s greatest rivalry
2021/22: Leicester Tigers 15-12 Saracens
In Saracens’ first season back in the Premiership after relegation they reached the final. Standing in their way of a perfect return to the Premiership was Steve Borthwick‘s Leicester Tigers.
The match was a closely fought final decided by a late drop goal from Freddie Burns.
Table toppers: Leicester Tigers
Premiership rugby 2020/21: Harlequins 40-38 Exeter Chiefs
Harlequins had made the final after one of the best comebacks in rugby history against Bristol Bears in the semi-final. Quins beat the west country side 43-36 after being 28-0 down in a match that was dubbed “Bristanbul”, a reference to Liverpool’s famous comeback in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul.
In the final they faced Exeter and while Harlequins had a half-time lead, Exeter had managed to get ahead in the closing stages. However, two late Louis Lynagh tries sealed the win for the London club.
Table toppers: Bristol Bears
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Facts Only
Premiership Rugby's 2025/26 final will be held at Allianz Stadium, London, on 20 June.
Bath Rugby are the reigning champions after winning the 2024/25 final 23-21 against Leicester Tigers.
Finn Russell scored two conversions and three penalties in the 2024/25 final.
Max Ojomoh scored a try in the 2024/25 final after a setup by Finn Russell.
Bath Rugby's 2024/25 title was their first Premiership win in 29 years.
Northampton Saints won the 2023/24 final 25-21 against Bath Rugby.
A red card to Bath prop Beno Obano in the 2023/24 final influenced the outcome.
Saracens won the 2022/23 final 35-25 against Sale Sharks.
Leicester Tigers won the 2021/22 final 15-12 against Saracens with a late drop goal by Freddie Burns.
Harlequins won the 2020/21 final 40-38 against Exeter Chiefs after a semi-final comeback dubbed "Bristanbul."
The 2020/21 semi-final saw Harlequins overcome a 28-0 deficit against Bristol Bears.
The 2025/26 semi-finalists have not yet been confirmed.
Executive Summary
Full Take
The strongest version of this narrative highlights the competitive parity in Premiership Rugby, where multiple teams have claimed titles in recent years, and underdogs like Harlequins have staged historic comebacks. The focus on Bath's resurgence and Northampton's consistency frames the league as dynamic and unpredictable, which is credible given the factual outcomes.
Pattern scan: The article leans into emotional storytelling (e.g., "Bristanbul," Russell's selfless pass to Ojomoh) but avoids overt manipulation. The framing of Bath as "favourites" could subtly influence perception, though it's supported by their recent form. No clear distortion or bad faith is present, but the emphasis on dramatic moments (red cards, late tries) may prioritize entertainment over neutral reporting.
Root cause: The narrative assumes that recent success predicts future dominance, which echoes a broader sports media tendency to extrapolate trends from small samples. The unstated assumption is that form is linear, ignoring regression to the mean or injuries.
Implications: For fans, this reinforces the league's appeal as competitive and unpredictable. For teams, it underscores the thin margins between success and failure—red cards, late drop goals, and individual brilliance often decide titles. The cost is borne by teams like Sale Sharks, who reached a final but remain without a trophy.
Bridge questions: How much does a single red card or referee decision skew perceptions of a team's quality? What structural factors (e.g., salary caps, academy systems) might explain the league's parity better than "form"? Would a longer sample size (e.g., 10 years) change the narrative of competitive balance?
Counterstrike scan: A coordinated campaign might exaggerate Bath's dominance to attract sponsorship or downplay Northampton's consistency to create an underdog narrative. However, the article's factual basis and balanced acknowledgment of multiple contenders don't align with such a playbook. The content appears clean, focusing on verifiable outcomes rather than manufactured drama.