New faces making a great impression in the Premiership

With three weeks of Gallagher Premiership Rugby in the books, just one team remain undefeated and the shocks keep coming.

Bristol Bears bounced back from a high-scoring West Country derby defeat at home with victory in another on the road as they ended Bath Rugby’s perfect start at the Rec.

Elsewhere, Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks came out on top in a pair of Friday night thrillers, while Leicester Tigers bounced back from defeat to Bath in style.

Last but not least, Saracens are the only team who are three from three, rumours of their decline looking incredibly premature.

So with every team now having played 240 minutes of rugby, we thought it was a good moment to pick out three of the brightest new faces so far:

Tomos Williams (Gloucester Rugby)

Where else to start but Gloucester’s new starting scrum-half Tomos Williams, who has hit the ground running with the Cherry & Whites.

He grabbed two tries on Friday night at Sale, but that only tells a small part of the story. Alongside international teammate Gareth Anscombe, another new arrival at Kingsholm, Williams has provided direction and impetus that has Gloucester looking like a completely different proposition.

They could not quite pull off an unlikely win on the road in Salford, but two bonus points is a welcome return from such a difficult trip.

That leaves the Cherry & Whites on eight points despite two away games and their only home match coming against Sarries.

In Williams, they have a player hitting his absolute peak, and in a team full of attacking weapons, both in the forwards and the backs, there are not many scrum-halves better suited to taking advantage.

A shout-out for his teammate Christian Wade, a more familiar face for Premiership fans, but also making up for lost time on his return to the league.

Santiago Grondona (Bristol Bears)

Technically Santiago Grondona arrived at Bristol Bears last season, but they had to wait until this weekend to finally see him in action.

A serious knee injury suffered on international duty kept the Puma sidelined last season, and he was then part of the Argentina side that impressed in the Rugby Championship over the last couple of months.

He certainly caught the eye on his first Bears appearance, grabbing two tries and picking up a yellow card in the 36-26 victory.

A powerful ball-carrier in the back row, it was his ability to pick a line that stood out against Bath, and allowed him to get over the line twice.

Playing with little brother Benjamin, Santiago looks right at home back in the Premiership, having previously spent time down at Sandy Park with Exeter Chiefs.

Bears have lots of options in the back row, including another new signing, Viliame Mata, who is still working his way back from injury.

Who starts when everyone is fit will be a tricky dilemma for Pat Lam, but on this form, Grondona will surely be one of them.

Rhys Carré (Saracens)

As with Grondona, we will go with another familiar face who has caught the eye on his return to the league.

Rhys Carré looked a promising talent when he first joined Saracens, but this summer’s return to the StoneX came with a new status and the task of filling the boots of the departing Mako Vunipola.

If the early returns are anything to go by, then Carré is up for the challenge, with his ball-carrying has destructive as ever.

Even by Carré’s standards, the outside break that ended in Fergus Burke’s try before half-time against Exeter Chiefs was outstanding, and certainly the sort of play that most centres would have enjoyed.

After getting on the outside, he drew the man perfectly before a flat pass to Tobias Elliott, who in turn found Burke for the score.

On that subject, Elliott is another new face – albeit he was already on the books at Sarries – who has really stood out.

Consider that at one point, he was in an England Under-20s back three with Sam Harris – scorer of a beauty of a try for Bath on Saturday – and Cassius Cleaves – Quins’ brightest new star – and there was no shortage of talent in the crop of 2023.

Week on week, Elliott is cementing his spot as a must-start player for Saracens, and taking advantage of chief creator Carré!