After all the excitement surrounding the new Aviva Premiership season, the hype was entirely justified as the opening round of fixtures rained tries.
In all, there were 50 scored, a record as 11 of the 12 teams scored three tries or more and seven try-bonus points were picked up in all.
Defending champions Exeter opened their campaign on Friday night with a 28-21 defeat at West Country rivals Gloucester.
Rather than make it 18 straight wins in the league – to break a record they share with Leicester – Gloucester claimed the spoils after Jason Woodward went over in added time to pilfer the points and a secure bonus point in Johan Ackermann’s first game in charge.
A decade ago, Woodward was a Hartpury College student cheering on Gloucester from the Shed – on Friday night he was the reason the famous old stand went wild.
Newcastle Falcons made an impressive statement by beating Worcester Warriors 35-8, much to the delight of the Kingston Park faithful.
Dean Richards’ side finished eighth last season – their highest placing since 2006 – and the manner in which they destroyed the Warriors suggested they can aim higher still.
They scored seven tries and still have Toby Flood to come into the side following his close-season return to the club.
Saturday was a huge tryfest, both at Coventry and Twickenham, as last season’s beaten Premiership finalists Wasps thumped Sale Sharks 50-35 at the Ricoh Arena.
Dan Robson became only the second scrum-half in the league’s history to score four tries in a game.
Robson matched New Zealander Elton Moncrieff, who achieved the feat for Gloucester back in 2000, and helped Wasps race into an early lead.
However, Sale showed their attacking intent, with five tries of their own including debut scores for Faf de Klerk and Josh Strauss.
Great start to the season 👏
In the Double Header at Twickenham, Saracens made arguably the biggest statement of the weekend by hammering Northampton 55-24 before newly-promoted London Irish beat Harlequins 39-29 in the second game.
Saracens saw their two-year reign as Premiership champions ended by Exeter last season but they made a statement in their bid to reclaim their crown with a nine-try victory.
Sean Maitland helped himself to a hat-trick but the standout performer was Schalk Brits, likened to Peter Pan by coach Mark McCall.
Aged 36 and entering his final season before retirement, Brits had a hand in at least two tries while scoring another.
Tommy Bell stole the show for the Exiles in their win over Quins, scoring a try and kicking two conversions and five penalties in an impressive 24-point haul.
The final fixture of the round came on Sunday when old rivals Leicester Tigers and Bath faced off at Welford Road.
The visitors survived a frantic finale which saw three of their players shown yellow cards to hold on for a first win at Leicester since 2003.
Fit-again Manu Tuilagi had put Tigers 8-0 up early on but Bath hit back with Max Clark's brace and a Semesea Rokoduguni breakaway before the break.
The hosts pressed in the closing stages with debutant Jonny May's two tries.
But Bath, who played with just 13 men for much of the latter stages and were seemingly overrun late on, survived to win 27-23.
