Can Gloucester start 2025 the way they finished 2024?

Auld Lang Syne has been sung, the fireworks have died down and 2025 is up and running – that means New Year's resolutions time!

In Gallagher Premiership Rugby, nine rounds of exciting action are already in the bag, meaning we are exactly halfway through the regular season.

Bath Rugby lead the way, while the race for The Play-Offs is set to be as tight as ever with every point counting.

So a quarter of a century into this new Millennium, here are our 10 resolutions for the Gallagher Premiership Rugby clubs:

Bath Rugby – end the wait for silverware

Denied at the death at Twickenham last summer, and now leading the way once again, Bath have lived up to their status as pre-season favourites so far.

With Ben Spencer and Finn Russell pulling the strings in the half-backs, an endless conveyor belt of talent in the back row and no shortage of beef in their prop stocks, Bath have a team built to go all the way.

It is now 29 years since they were last crowned champions of England, and their last silverware of any kind came back in 2008. Now is the time to change all that.

Bristol Bears – make that away record unassailable

In 2024, Bristol Bears did not lose an away league game, breaking the all-time record for most consecutive away victories, making it 10 in a row in emphatic fashion at Leicester Tigers.

They have broken Saracens’ previous record of nine, and next up is a trip to the StoneX Stadium to take on Mark McCall’s men.

Last Friday’s home thumping from Sale was something of a roadbump, but another win or two away from home could make this Bears’ record one that might last decades.

Exeter Chiefs – build on Gloucester success

Chiefs started this season with a pair of heart-breaking home defeats, a last-gasp loss in Michael Cheika’s first game in charge of Leicester Tigers, followed by Bears coming from a huge deficit to claim victory.

Add in some underwhelming away form, and quite quickly, Chiefs found themselves on the wrong end of a seven-game losing streak to start the season.

That made Sunday’s home clash with Gloucester a huge encounter and after a blistering start, and a strong rearguard effort, Exeter are now up and running.

This season now looks to be the transition year that everyone had predicted for 2023/24. Rob Baxter will be keen to progress that rebuild as much as possible over the next few months, and kicking on from the Gloucester win will be a big part of that – even if the upcoming schedule is not easy, with a trip to Leicester followed by the visit of French giants Bordeaux-Begles.

Gloucester Rugby – Maintain newfound defensive steel

Gloucester started the season playing a new style of expansive rugby that saw them rack up points, but generally concede just as many.

Through the first five weeks of the season, no team was involved in higher scoring matches than the Cherry & Whites, but the last four rounds of the Prem have seen a vast improvement in Gloucester’s defence.

Even with Sunday’s 22-15 loss to Chiefs, Gloucester have conceded just 46 points in their last four matches, winning three times in the process.

While their attack has also cooled off a fraction, they have still managed 90 points over that period. If this defensive output is a sign of things to come, then no team is going to fancy taking on the Cherry & Whites.

Harlequins – Rediscover attacking touch without sacrificing the defence

The league’s great entertainers have always backed themselves to be able to come back from any deficit, such has been their ability to score points at will.

Unfortunately last season, their defence had fallen off after the departure of Jerry Flannery to a point where they needed to find a solution.

The arrival of Jason Gilmore has certainly had the desired effect, with only Bath having a better defence so far this season.

Unfortunately, their attack has not been as sharp as in previous seasons, with only Chiefs and Falcons having scored fewer points or tries.

With Marcus Smith pulling the strings and Cadan Murley and Rodrigo Isgro offering a threat out wide, that made no sense, but in The Big Game, we saw Quins back at their try-scoring best.

They scored four tries and racked up 34 points, but conceded just as many. Their resolution has to be to tighten up once again, while still being the entertaining Quins we know and love.

Leicester Tigers – Make it impossible for Michael Cheika to leave

Given all the success he has had in Australia, Europe and Argentina, we should not be surprised by how quickly Michael Cheika has taken to life with Leicester Tigers.

The former Wallabies boss got a dream start with a late win at Sandy Park on debut and Tigers have not looked back, sitting in the thick of The Play-Off race at the halfway stage of the campaign.

There is clearly a sense that Cheika is building something at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, but he is only on a one-year contract with the club because of personal circumstances.

Cheika has spoken about finding a way to make it work long term, and Tigers will surely be desperate for that to happen.

Now they need to make sure that on the pitch, they are doing everything to convince him that he should not leave. The draw at Quins was a handy result, but Tigers are winless in their last three league games, that needs to change.

Northampton Saints – Match last season’s second half

Currently sitting nine points off the top four, defending champions Northampton Saints have no margin for error whatsoever in the defence of their crown.

Last week’s 61-0 win over Newcastle Falcons boosted their points difference, which is joint third best with Sale, but it was only their fourth bonus point of any kind this season.

Cracking The Play-Offs will not be easy, but a look at how they finished last season should give them hope.

A year ago, they were down in sixth after six rounds before embarking on a run of nine wins from their next 11 games to wrap up top spot in the table with a week to spare.

If Saints are to have a shot at going back-to-back, then they need a similar run, starting at home to Bath on Sunday.

Newcastle Falcons – Start picking up bonus points

Steve Diamond has got Newcastle Falcons back winning again, with Exeter Chiefs and Saracens both seen off at Kingston Park already in this campaign.

Those two wins are more than Chiefs in ninth, but Falcons enter 2025 bottom of the table for one reason and one reason only, bonus points.

Where Chiefs have already racked up six bonus points, including five losing bonus points, Falcons have not managed a single one of any kind.

That leaves them two points behind Exeter, with a trip to Sandy Park still to come.

In what looks a two-horse race to avoid bottom spot, Falcons might need to start picking up a few more points in defeat, as well as adding a couple more of those very welcome home wins, if they are to overhaul Chiefs.

Sale Sharks – Spend more time bonding

Ok, this one is easy. After all, Alex Sanderson spelled it out in his final press conference of 2024.

The Sharks boss believes part of the reason his team made a slow start to the current campaign is that they had not spent enough time together bonding off the pitch.

Plans are already afoot to change that, and the hope will be that with more time spent together on team socials, Sharks will become more cohesive on the pitch.

Given that their last three league games have seen them beat Leicester and Exeter at home before a thumping win at Bristol, maybe Sanderson is onto something.

Saracens – Challenge in Europe again

Between 2016 and 2019, Saracens won a hat-trick of Champions Cups in a four-year spell, marking themselves out as one of the great clubs teams in European history.

Since the last of those titles – beating Leinster at St James’ Park, Sarries have won two Champions Cup knockout matches in five seasons.

That is not a bad return by any means, but two wins from two to start this campaign has Sarries well-placed to earn at a minimum, a home last 16 encounter in this year’s Investec Champions Cup.

Even if they were on the wrong end of a record defeat to Bath last weekend, Sarries know that no one will fancy coming to the StoneX. If they can maintain their Champions Cup form in January’s final two pool games, then there is a path to a decent home run come the knockouts.