LONDON WASPS

• London Wasps picked up the Guinness Premiership title at Twickenham in front of a full house 81,600 crowd, a record for a club/provincial match in the world, with a 26-16 win over Leicester Tigers  
• It was their fourth title in six seasons and first since 2005/06
• Wasps after a disappointing start to the season finished strongly with 10 wins in their last 11 matches to finish second in the League table and claim home advantage in the play off semi finals 
• Lost both matches to Gloucester during the regular season
• In the six matches against the other Top Four sides during the season Wasps won three and lost three
• Did not lose to any of the bottom four sides during the season winning six and drawing twice, Bristol and Worcester away   
• Only recorded one win in their first six matches of the season in the Premiership 
• 31 of the 38 players used were English only Newcastle fielded more English players, 32 
• Danny Cipriani finished as leading points scorer with 188 second only to Charlie Hodgson including six tries, the most by a fly half last season, in his first full season of first class rugby. His 37 conversions was the most in the Premiership during the season
• Tom Voyce with eight was the leading try scorer, one more than his opposite wing Paul Sackey, and Voyce topped the club’s try scorers list for a fourth time in five seasons since joining the club and passed 50 Premiership tries, he finished the season on 52, 38 for Wasps and 14 for Bath    
• Sackey now has 65 Premiership tries and 26 have come for Wasps in 50 appearances which is a pretty impressive strike rate
• Wasps finished the season as leading try scorers with 67 tries, two more than Gloucester, and went against the trend by scoring more tries away form home than at home 34 to 33 and scoring more tries in the first half of matches 35 to 32 
• Despite being the leading try scores Wasps had the third worst record for scoring tries in the final quarter with just 13 
• Wasps only had the seventh best defensive record in terms of tries conceded with 49
• The Wasps’ centres scored 16 tries between them which was the highest number in the Premiership as did their front row with 11, four more than any other front row
• Their back row only managed six tries between them which was one of the lowest figures in the Premiership 
• Centre Fraser Waters in his last season at the club played most matches with 19 (he also came on as a sub in one as well), one more than centre Riki Flutey who as of September 1^st is an English qualified player 
• Hooker Joe Ward and prop Tom French were the most used substitutes coming on eight times each 
• Picked up 11 sin binnings during the season with James Haskell and Eion Redden collecting the most with two each 
• Wasps failed to get out of the Group Stage of the Heineken Cup for the third time in four seasons, the one time they did they won the competition, 2006-07  
• In the EDF Cup they were beaten in the semi final by Leicester Tigers

LEICESTER TIGERS

• Leicester Tigers finished as runners up in the Guinness Premiership final which when taken in context with the rest of the season was an excellent result
• On the final afternoon of the regular season they were trailing at home to Harlequins and were down in seventh place in the table and looked like not even making the Heineken Cup for the first time ever, but a late Tom Varndell try saw them home and they make fourth place, a point clear of Sale and Quins  
• Picked up six losing bonus points in their nine defeats 
• It was their fourth consecutive top four finish and each time they have made the play off final at Twickenham, winning two losing two 
• They finished the season poorly with six defeats in their last 10 matches this after starting the season with nine wins in their opening 12 matches 
• Picked up excellent away wins at the top two Gloucester and Wasps 
• Sale Sharks were the only side to do the double over the Tigers 
• Tom Varndell, a late call up for England’s summer tour of New Zealand, was the leading try scorer in the Guinness Premiership with 13 tries, it is the second time he has finished leading try scorer in the competition, in 2005/06 he was top with 14 tries
• For the Tigers Varndell has been leading try scorer for three successive seasons now with a total of 42 Premiership tries from 54 (plus 8 as sub) appearances which is an impressive strike rate 
• Varndell also started more matches for the Tigers last season with 18 Premiership starts, also coming on as a sub twice, one more than Irish winger Johne Murphy
• Andy Goode was the leading points scorer for the fifth successive season at the club with 185, his third highest total in a season for the Tigers
• Goode passed 1,000 points for the Tigers in the Premiership and now has 1079 in 97 starts (plus 15 as a sub), and if you include the points he scored at Saracens his has 1398 in the Premiership regular season
• Goode is now within 101 points of Tim Stimpson Premiership record for the Tigers of 1180 set between 1994-2004 
• In the Heineken Cup the Tigers failed to get out of the Group stages for only the third time in 11 seasons and the first time since 2003/04 
• The Tigers reached a second successive EDF Cup Final but this time were beaten by the Ospreys having beaten them in the final the previous season 
• Picked up two defeats in eight matches against teams finishing in the bottom four 
• They were the fourth highest try scorers with 58 and 34 came in the second half of matches, second only behind Gloucester who ran in 36 in this period 
• The Tigers conceded 40 tries during the season which was the fifth lowest total in the Premiership
• They only conceded 10 tries in the final quarter of matches which was the joint lowest total in the Premiership 
• They only conceded 18 tries in the second half of matches which was the lowest figure in the Premiership
• 42 different players started for the Tigers in the GP which was the highest and four more than any other side
• Only Sale Sharks had a lower percentage of English players than the Tigers 57% to 53%                  
• Leicester Tigers has the most productive back row in terms of tries scored with 14, five more than ay other back row

  GLOUCESTER

• Finished top of the table at the end of the regular season four points clear of second placed London Wasps but were beaten at home by Leicester in the play off semi finals after Andy Goode dropped a late goal 
• It was the third time they have made the play offs and the first time they failed to reach the final   
• They have now finished top of the table three times at the end of the regular season and failed to take the title in the play offs
• They were beaten seven times during the season and each time they picked up a losing bonus point 
• Collected seven try bonus points which was the joint highest total in the GP 
• In the EDF Cup they failed to get past the Group stage for the third consecutive season
• In the Heineken Cup they reached the quarter finals for the third time in six appearances and lost for the second time at this stage going out at home to Munster
• England hopeful Ryan Lamb top scored for the Cherry & Whites with 152 points for the first time and he is now 19 points shy of reaching 300 in the GP
• James Simpson Daniel and Lesley Vainikolo finished as joint leading try scorers with nine, which was joint third overall in the GP, the nine tries equals the Gloucester record which Simpson Daniel already shared with Elton Moncrieff, Chris Catling, Jake Boer, Junior Paramore  
• Simpson Daniel has now finished as leading try scorer four times in his seven seasons at the Kingsholm club and has scored nine tries in a season three times      
• Simpson Daniel extended his Gloucester try scoring record to 40 tries in 95 starts (plus 14 as a sub) since joining the club in 2000/01
• Hooker Olivier Azam was the leading try scorer amongst hookers in the GP along with another Frenchman Rafael Ibanez with five 
• They finished the season as second highest try scorers with 65 two fewer than Wasps    
• They were top try scorers in the second half of matches with 36, two more than the next on the list
• Only conceded seven tries in the opening quarter of matches, only Bath had a better record 
• 50 of the Gloucester tries came form their back which was the most in the GP, four more than Wasps 
• Only five of the Gloucester tries came from the back row which was the third lowest figure in the GP 
• Gloucester conceded seven tries to the opposition front row, only Worcester and Leeds Carnegie conceded more
• Centre Anthony Allen started most matches for Gloucester with 19 (plus one as a sub), two more than prop Nick Wood and wing/centre James Simpson Daniel  
• Gloucester with 10 used the most players under 22 in the GP
• Gloucester started the season well with eight wins in their opening nine matches and finished it strongly with four straight wins including victories over London Wasps and Bath in their final two matches
• Gloucester won four of their six matches against the other top four finishes 
• Gloucester were the only side to do the double over Champions London Wasps 
• In matches against the bottom four Gloucester won six out of eight losing away at Bristol and Worcester
• Italian second row and Captain Marco Bortolami finished the season with three sin binnings, one more than Andy Hazell and Ryan Lamb

BATH

• Bath finished third in the regular league table after an away defeat at Gloucester on the final day of the season and lost home advantage in the play off’s
• Bath made the play off’s for the second time ever, the previous time was 2003/04 when they were runners up to London Wasps 
• Bath missed out on home advantage by a single point so had to travel to Adam Park where they were beaten 21-10 by the eventual winners 
• Only picked up three losing bonus points in their seven GP defeats which was the lowest % among the top four sides 
• After twice losing in the final of the Challenge Cup Bath finally lifted the Cup with a win over Worcester in an all English final at Kingsholm
• Last season they were beaten by Clermont Auvergne and back in 2002/03 they lost in another all English final 48-30 to London Wasps 
• In the EDF Cup they failed to get out of the Group stages for a second successive season
• Olly Barkley top scored for Bath with 173 points in the GP, 12 points fewer than last season, although he played four games fewer, in all he has finished top scorer for Bath five times in the last seven seasons
• During the season Barkley passed 1000 GP points for Bath and ended the season on 1108 regular season points for the club
• He has put over 261 penalties in those seven seasons and passed Jonathan Callard’s record of 228   
• Winger Matt Banahan made a dramatic start to his senior rugby career to finish as leading try scorer with 10 tries, which was also second overall in the GP for the season, Banahan is the first Bath player to get into double figures in a season since Iain Balshaw back in 1999/00
• Bath were the third highest try scorers in the GP with 59 tries including 37 at home which was the highest in the GP 
• Bath scored more tries than any other side in the last 20 minutes of matches with 21, three more than Quins 
• Bath had the joint tightest defence with just 37 tries conceded along with London Irish and Sale Sharks, including just 18 on the road which was the joint lowest along with Leicester Tigers
• Bath only conceded three tries in the opening 20 minutes of matches which was the lowest total by four form Gloucester  
• Where Bath did concede tries was the third quarter with 15, only Saracens and Leeds had a worst record 
• The Bath wingers scored 24 tries between them which was the highest return in the GP
• Only six of the 37 tries conceded by Bath came from opposition forwards easily the lowest total in the GP
• Nine of the tries they conceded came form the opposition half backs which was the highest figure in the GP 
• South African scrum half Michael Claassens started most matches for Bath with 20 and came on as a sub in another, second row Danny Grewcock was next with 19 starts
• Bath only won two of their six matches against the other top four sides, home to Leicester and Gloucester  
• Bath won all eight matches against the clubs in the bottom four – the only side to do so 
• Bath collected just seven sin bins and Michael Claassens pick up two of them                    
• Bath started the season well with seven wins in their first eight matches but finished it with three defeats in their last seven 
• Bath fielded 28 English players which was the third highest in number after Newcastle and London Wasps

SALE SHARKS

• Sale finished fifth after a disastrous final day of the season and needed a strange set of results NOT to make the play offs, well the strange set of results happened – they were at home to London Irish and needed just a bonus point to progress but they ended up with nothing losing 19-7
• Sale Sharks only collected four try bonus points, the lowest of any top half of the table side 
• They did though finish five places higher than the previous season and have finished in the top half of the table in five of the last seven seasons  
• They only picked up three losing bonus points, only bottom of the table Leeds Carnegie got fewer
• Sale started the season poorly with three defeats in their opening five matches but a run of seven wins in eight matches lifted them back up the table
• Full back Ben Foden was the leading try scorer with eight tries, which is the best return by a Sharks player since Mark Cueto got 10 in 2004/05, it was a big improvement for Foden who actually started fewer games than the season before after picking up a mid season injury
• Next on the Sharks try scoring list was Spanish international winger Oriol Ripol with six as he equalled his career total at Sale from the previous two seasons, four of his six came on the road 
• England fly half Charlie Hodgson finished leading scorer for the club for a fourth consecutive season and sixth in seven years since joining back in 2001/02
• Hodgson was top points scorer in the GP with 201, his third best return in a season as he took his sale Sharks record to 1323 in 102 starts (plus four matches as a sub) 
• Hodgson also led the way with drop goals with nine which was a personnel best, his previous best was five in 2004/05           
• Hodgson now holds the records for most conversions, penalties and drop goals in a Sale career with 179, 261 and 24 respectively 
• Sale managed just 44 tries all season, only three sides scored fewer
• The Sharks were slow starters with just eight tries in the opening 20 minutes of matches, only Newcastle scored fewer
• Sale did though have the joint meanest defence with just 37 tries conceded along with Bath and London Irish
• They only conceded 11 tries at home in 11 matches which was the lowest in the GP and they had the best record for tries conceded in the third quarter with just six
• Although they were the joint lowest in tries conceded they conceded the fifth highest number in the last quarter of matches with 14
• Sale had 38 different players start in the GP, only Leicester Tigers with 42 had more
• Sale only fielded four players under 22 which was the second lowest number by a side in the GP
• With 20 Sale fielded the lowest number of English players in the Premiership, one fewer than Worcester 
• With just 12 tries the Sale wingers were the third least productive in the Premiership 
• Charlie Hodgson started most games for Sale with 20, two more than winger Oriol Ripol 
• Amongst the forwards Chris Jones started most matches with 16 and cam on in three more
• In matches against the Top Four Sale did well with five wins and three defeats and did the double over Leicester Tigers 
• In matches against the bottom four they won six out of eight and were beaten at home by Worcester Warriors 
• Sale picked up eight sin bins during the season and Andrew Sheridan and Chris Jones led the way with two apiece 
• In the EDF Cup Sale did not get out of the Group stage for the second time in three seasons 
• In the European Challenge Cup Sale were looking for a third win in the competition but fell in the semi final going down at the Rec to Bath

HARLEQUINS

• Quins finished sixth in the table but at one stage on the final day of the season were in fourth place and looked like making the play offs before it all went wrong and Leicester Tigers came back to win, sixth place was a one place improvement on the previous season   
• 27 of the 38 players Quins used were English            
• Harlequins had just 33 different starting players during their GP campaign which is the joint lowest along with Worcester Warriors 
• Quins fielded 12 players over the age of 30 which was the third highest total 
• They field seven players under 22 which was the third highest total in the GP after Gloucester and Bristol
• It was the fourth consecutive time they have failed to get out of the Group stages of the Heineken Cup going back to 1999/00, prior to that they reached successive quarter finals 
• For the second successive season they fail to get out of the group stage of the EDF Cup 
• Quins picked up eight losing bonus points in their 10 defeats which was the most by any team in the GP
• Quins also picked up seven try bonus points which the joint highest in the GP and in all their 15 bonus points was the highest in the league
• Seven wins in eight matches in February and March took them into the play off places but they finished the season with three defeat to slip out of contention        
• Quins had two ever presents who started all 22 GP matches, prop Ceri Jones and full back Mike Brown whilst the other prop Mike Ross started 21 matches and came on in the other 
• Promising 21 year old England flanker Chris Robshaw started 20 matches for Quins in his first full season of senior Rugby after a handful of appearances the previous season 
• Second row Olly Kohn was substituted in 10 of his 12 starts 
• Quins were the only side to have two players top 100 points during the season, Adrian Jarvis led the way with 115 and Chris Malone was just behind him on 107
• Jarvis finished leading scorer for a second successive season but is off in the summer to join Bristol
• Leading try scorer for Quins was winger Tom Williams with five tries, the lowest to top the Quins  try scoring list since Simon Keogh scored five in their relegation season 
• Quins were the sixth highest try scorers on 53 tries but in the opening quarter scored 15 which was second only to London Wasps and in the final quarter they ran in 18 tries which was second only to Bath’s 21 
• Quins conceded 27 tries at home, only bottom of the table Leeds Carnegie conceded more with 45