LONDON IRISH

• London Irish dropped down the table for a second successive season down from sixth to seventh but more importantly they lose out on a place in the Heineken Cup so they cannot build on this seasons run to the semi finals before going down to Toulouse 
• Bizarrely at one stage n the final day of the regular season when Quins were beating Leicester and the Tigers did not have a try bonus point the Irish were in sixth place and in a Heineken Cup qualifying place 
• London Irish only managed two try bonus points all season, only the bottom three clubs got fewer 
• London Irish finished the season joint top of the Form Guide with five wins and a defeat in their last six matches along with Wasps
• The Irish did have one of the better defences with only 433 points conceded, the third best record in the GP after Sale and Gloucester 
• London Irish started just 34 players in the GP only Quins and Worcester with 33 started fewer
• London Irish only started four players under the age of 22 which was the second lowest number in the Premiership but at the other end of the scale they only played five players over 30 which was the lowest number in the Premiership         
• Fijian winger Sailosi Tagicakibau was he leading try scorer for the Irish with six, the lowest return since Scott Staniforth scored six in 2004/05
• Australian full back Peter Hewat was top points scorer with 85 points, two more than Shane Geraghty scored last season for the Irish
• London Irish won as many matches as fourth placed Leicester Tigers but only managed seven bonus points which cost them and only Newcastle Falcons and Leeds Carnegie picked up fewer   
• London Irish were eighth in the try scoring list with 44 tries and Saracens and Worcester who finished below them out scored them
• London Irish had the joint meanest record for tries conceded with 37 the same as Bath and Sale Sharks 
• The Irish have only conceded 12 tries at home in 11 matches, only Sale have conceded fewer 
• Seven of the Irish tries have come from their front row, the second highest figure in the GP after London Wasps with 11
• The Irish have only conceded 12 tries by opposition wingers which is the joint lowest total in the GP and they have also only conceded three tries to the opposition back row which again is the lowest total in the GP along with Bath 
• The Irish had the fourth best home record in the GP this season with nine wins and two draws but only managed one try bonus point in those nine wins 
• The Irish had two players start most games, 20, Irish second row Bob Casey and England hopeful Topsy Ojo
• Front rower Faan Rautenbach was substituted in 14 of his 16 starts 
• Bob Casey was the Irish’s most sin binned player with three yellow cards whilst David Paice and Delon Armitage got two apiece 
• London Irish picked up just two wins in eight matches against the top four sides 
• In matches against the bottom four sides the Irish won seven out of eight, the only defeat was a 14-11 win away at Bristol     
• For the third season running London Irish failed to make it out of the Group Stage of the EDF Cup
• In the Heineken Cup the Irish were competing for the third time, in their two previous seasons in the competition they failed to get out of the Group stage but this season made the semi finals before going out to runners up Toulouse 

SARACENS

• Saracens finished in eighth place marooned, seven points behind London Irish and 14 points clear of ninth placed Bristol as they dropped four places on the previous season   
• In the EDF Cup Saracens reached the semi final after failing to get out of the Group stages in the first two seasons of the competition before losing to the Ospreys
• In the Heineken Cup they reached the semi final for the first time in their history improving on their quarter final appearance in 2001/02
• It was only the second time in five Heineken Cup campaigns they have got out of the Group stages
• Only the bottom two conceded more points than Saracens
• But only the top four scored more points than Saracens 
• Sarries were the fourth highest try scorers with 58 and with 34 were the second highest scorers in the second half of matches 
• They also conceded 58 tries the third highest total in the GP behind Newcastle and Leeds Carnegie
• Saracens scored 11 tries from full back which was the most in the GP
• Their forwards scored 16 tries which was the third highest total in the Premiership 
• 16 of the 58 tries they conceded were scored by the opposition centres the highest figure in the Premiership and the 42 tries scored by opposition backs was second only to Leeds Carnegie  
• Fly half Glen Jackson finished leading points scorer with 179, it is the fourth consecutive season he has topped the Saracens scoring list and was fourth highest scorer in the Premiership
• Jackson has now scored a record 766 points for Saracens in the Premiership and also holds the records for conversions and penalties with 105 and 161 respectively 
• Centre Adam Powell was leading try scorer with seven tries, the most any Saracens player has scored in a season for nine seasons when Ryan Constable scored 12 in 1999/00
• Richard Haughton was second with six tries and now has 30 for Saracens one behind all time leader Thomas Castaignede, Haughton made his debut in the 2000/01 season and has played 83 (plus 10 as a sub) matches to get his 30 tries 
• Also on six tries was Argentine winger Francisco Leonelli his all came in two matches as he scored back to back hat tricks in matches against Leeds Carnegie and London Wasps (he did not play in the game against Gloucester in the middle)   
• Saracens only fielded three players under 22, the lowest number in the Premiership, in their GP campaign whilst at the other end of the scale fielded 17 players over 30 which was the most four more than Bristol
• Scrum half Neil de Kock and second row/back row Kris Chesney started most matches for Saracens during the season in the GP with 19, Chesney also came on as a replacement in one as well
• Saracens only picked up seven sin bins during the season and no player got more than one 
• Saracens started the season well with six wins in eight matches but only got five in the next 14
• In their eight matches against the top four sides they managed three wins
• In matches against the bottom four they won five and lost three with Newcastle Falcons doing the double over them   

BRISTOL             

• Bristol finished ninth in the Premiership a drop of six places on the previous season when they made the play off’s and qualified for the Heineken Cup
• They finished the season poorly bottom of the Form Guide with six straight defeats and lost eight of their last 10 matches
• In the EDF Cup they were unable to get out of the Group stage for a third consecutive season 
• In Europe they played in the Heineken Cup for the second time and could not get out of the Group stage just like in 2002/03 although they did manage a excellent home win over Stade Francais and did the double over Harlequins to finish with three wins and three defeats     
• Bristol used 34 different starting players in the GP which was one off the lowest with 23 of them English players   
• Bristol used nine players under 22 which was the second lowest figure in the Premiership behind Gloucester 
• But at the other end of the scale they used 13 players over 30 which was the second highest figure after Saracens 17
• Fly half Jason Strange was the leading points scorer for Bristol with 95 but for the second season in a row he failed to reach 100 points
• It did though take him past Mark Tainton’s Bristol record of 637 points and Strange ended the season on a new club record 706 points form 63 starts and 11 matches as a sub  and also has a club record 115 career conversions
• Strange made his Heineken Cup debut for Bristol having already played in the competition for the Welsh clubs Newport and Ebbw Vale scoring 130 points in 14 games for them 
• Young winger Tom Arscott was the leading try scorer for the club with seven tries from just 13 appearances for an impressive strike rate of a try in just under every two games, finishing two clear of David Lemi who was looking to finish as leading try scorer for a third consecutive season 
• The most starts by a Bristol player in the Premiership was 17 by five players, three backs, David Lemi, Luke Arscott and Rob Higgitt and two forwards, Roy Winters and Darren Crompton     
• Bristol managed 40 tries during the season with an even split home and away, 20
• They only managed nine tries in the final quarter of matches which was the second lowest in the Premiership as was their eight in the first quarter of matches 
• Bristol conceded 16 tries in the opening quarter of matches which was the second highest in the Premiership after the 17 conceded by the bottom two Newcastle Falcons and Leeds Carnegie        
• Only nine of Bristol’s 40 tries came from their forwards the joint lowest in the Premiership
• New Zealand Hooker Scott Linklater was the leading try scorer amongst the forwards with three  
• 15 of their tries came from their wingers the fifth most productive in the Premiership 
• Bristol conceded just 12 tries to opposition forwards which was the fourth lowest in the Premiership
• Bristol had just six sin binning which was the lowest in the Premiership with flanker Matt Salter the only player to get two yellow cards 
• Against the other bottom four sides Bristol had a good record with four wins and two defeats, doing the double over Newcastle Falcons and Leeds Carnegie but losing both matches to Worcester Warriors 
• In their eight matches against the top four they managed one win, Gloucester home, and a draw, Wasps home 

WORCESTER WARRIORS 

• Worcester Warriors finished 10^th in the Premiership in which they had to wait till 26^th January for their first win of the season, 25-5 home to Bristol, after a run of nine defeats and a draw    
• They finished the season with five wins and a draw form their last eight matches losing just two in the Premiership
• They improved a place on the previous season but were down on their first two seasons in the Premiership when they were 9^th and 8^th
• In the EDF Cup they failed to make it out of the Group stage for a third consecutive season
• Worcester had a successful European campaign as they reached their second final in four years, they were unbeaten in the Group stages winning all six matches before losing to Bath in the final at Kingsholm
• Winger Myles Benjamin was the leading try scorer for the club in his first season of senior rugby with nine tries, third highest total in the Premiership, in 15 matches and has the fourth best strike rate in the Premiership, behind England internationals Lesley Vainikolo, Paul Sackey and Tom Varndell 
• His nine tries is the best in the Premiership by a Worcester player, three more than Aisea Havili cored in 2005/06 
• Benjamin was still a teenager when he scored his first Premiership try aged 19 years and 240 days
• Shane Drahm, in his last season at the club before going off to play in Japan, was the leading points scorer for a third successive season with 118 points and in the process passed 500 points for Worcester in the premiership and finished on 507
• Flanker Pat Sanderson was the leading scorer amongst the forwards with four tries
• Drahm also broke the all time points scoring record for the Warriors with the old record of 457 by Sateki Tuipulotu being broken, he also increased his all time record for penalties and drop goals to 108 and 9. Drahm also extended his Premiership points in his career for Worcester, Northampton and Bristol to 1176 since joining Bristol back in 2001/02, and is seventh on the all time list
• Worcester had just 33 starters in the Premiership which was the joint lowest figure along with Harlequins with 21 of them English qualified
• Worcester fielded 12 players over 30 which was the third highest total in the Premiership
• Worcester ran in 48 tries which was the seventh highest total in the Premiership but only scored eight in the opening quarter which was the joint second lowest number
• Defensively Worcester had the sixth best record for tries conceded with 47 better than both Wasps and Quins 
• They did though have the fourth worst record for tries conceded in the opening quarter with 15, Mike Ruddock’s team talks must have been good at half time as in the third quarter they only conceded seven tries the second lowest figure in the Premiership                
• The Worcester back row scored nine tries between them which was the second highest in the Premiership behind Leicester Tigers 
• The opposition front row scored eight tries against Worcester which was the second highest total in the Premiership after the nine Leeds Carnegie conceded
• Craig Gillies was a Worcester ever present starting all 22 games in the Premiership, one of just four players to start all 22 games during the season , just behind Gillies at Worcester were Pat Sanderson and Tevita Taumoepeau with 20 starts each
• Against the other three bottom four sides they had a record of three wins and a draw in six matches doing the double over Bristol
• In matches against the top four they came out with two wins and a draw, the wins were home to Gloucester and Worcester and a draw at home to Wasps 
• Bath were the only top four side to do the double over Worcester but of the middle four finishers London Irish, Saracens and Harlequins did the double over them
• Second row Will Bowley came off the bench 13 times which was the most by any player in the Premiership  

NEWCASTLE FALCONS

• Newcastle Falcons  finished 11^th their worst finish since winning promotion back to the Premiership back in 1995/96, dropping two places on last season
• They finished the season on a poor run with nine defeats in their last 10 matches 
• It is the sixth consecutive season they had finished in the bottom half of the table since finishing 6^th in 2001/02 
• They actually finished the season as the lowest points scorers with 333, three fewer than Leeds Tykes scored
• They collected just the one try bonus point all season and got five losing bonus points in their 15 defeats 
• The Falcons used 37 different starters and four other players as replacements only and with 32 had the most English players in their playing squad 
• Robert Miller at 18 years and 224 days was the youngest scorer in the Premiership 
• New Zealand centre Mark Mayerhofler was the oldest Falcon’s try scorer during the season at 34 years and 332 days
• The Falcons managed just 34 tries during the Premiership season with only Leeds Carnegie with 33 scoring fewer 
• Newcastle managed just five tries in the opening 20 minutes of matches which is the lowest figure in the Premiership but in the next 20 minutes before half time they ran in 14 tries which is fourth highest total in the Premiership
• The Falcons conceded 62 tries during the season and they were split evenly 31 in each half, they conceded 17 of these in the first quarter which was the most by any side along with Leeds Carnegie
• The nine tries scored by the Falcons’ wingers was the lowest return of any club by their wingers               
• Newcastle conceded 14 tries from opposition back rowers which was the highest total in the Premiership
• Newcastle backs Tom May and John Rudd made most starts for the Falcons with 20 each whilst amongst the forwards New Zealander Mark Sorenson made the most with 19   
• Jonny Wilkinson after a two year absence was back as the clubs leading points scorer in the Premiership but with just 89 points   
• Tom May was the leading try scorer with seven tries and topped the try scorers list for the second time in his Falcons career, the other time was in 2003/04 when he finished with 12 tries, the last time a Falcons player reached double figures 
• May scored six of his seven tries at Kingston Park and six of the seven were scored in the first half
• Only Ollie Phillips and Toby Flood with two scored more than one try away from home all season 
• In the EDF Cup they failed to get through the Group stages for a third consecutive season     
• In the European Challenge Cup they reached their second semi final in three seasons, in the Group stages they did the double over Brive, in the quarter final they beat Castres before going out in the semi final to Worcester         
• In matches against the top four they managed one win in eight matches with a late season win over Leicester Tigers 
• In matches against the other bottom three sides they picked up two wins at home to Worcester Warriors and Leeds Carnegie 
• The only side they did the double over during the season was Saracens
• They picked up just eight sin binnings with only flanker Ben Woods getting more than one with two 

LEEDS CARNEGIE

• Leeds Carnegie finished bottom of the table with just 12 points some 22 points adrift of Newcastle Falcons with just two wins and a draw form their 22 matches 
• Last time they finished bottom of the Premiership in 2005/06 they got 28 points and managed five wins
• Leeds Carnegie used 34 different starters, only one more than the fewest used by Worcester and Harlequins
• 25 of their 40 man squad were English and they fielded just six players over 30, only London Irish with five fielded fewer
• On the road they lost 10 of their 1 matches managing a draw at Sixways against Worcester Warriors
• Leeds Carnegie were the only club not to pick up a try bonus point during the season and in their 19 defeats managed just one losing bonus point 
• In the European Challenge Cup they reached the quarter final despite two defeats in the Group stages against Castres and Calvisano, but were well beaten in the quarter finals by Bath at the Rec
• Argentine full back Alberto di Bernardo was the leading scorer for the club with 123 points, the 7^th highest scorer in the Premiership
• His total included five drop goals, second only to Sale’s Charlie Hodgson who dropped nine 
• The five drop goals equalled the club record for a season held by Colin Stephens and Gordon Ross 
• Winger Tom Biggs was the clubs leading try scorer with seven tries, one fewer than when he was last leading try scorer in their last season in the Premiership in 2005/06, and he was rewarded when he was a late call up to the England Saxons squad for the Churchill Cup
• Biggs has now scored 26 tries for the club in league rugby and is three behind all time leader Sateki Tuipulotu
• Leeds Carnegie picked up all their points against the other three sides in the bottom four with a win and a draw against Worcester Worriers and a narrow 16-15 home win over Newcastle Falcons              
• Scrum half Joe Bedford was the only Leeds ever present and was one of only four in the Premiership, he was though the third most substituted player in the Premiership coming off in 13 of his 22 starts   
• Club captain Stuart Hooper in his last season at the club before joining Bath played most matches by a forward with 18 starts and one appearance as a sub, he leaves after five seasons at the club after joining from Saracens and has played 78 +9 matches since joining for the 2003/04 season 
• They were the lowest try scorers with 33 with just 10 of them coming in the opening 40 minutes
• They ran in 15 tries in the last quarter which was the sixth highest in the Premiership
• They conceded just short of 100 tries, 96, 34 more than any other side 
• In the EDF Cup they were knocked out in the Group stage for the second time with two defeats and a draw 
• Leeds Carnegie conceded three penalty tries which was the most by any team in the Premiership 
• Leeds picked up 11 sin binnings during the season with second row Stuart Hooper getting the most with three 
• Scrum half Darren Edwards was the fifth oldest try scorer during the season aged 35 years and 25 days