The Premiership is awash with points, and the men running England's top clubs believe the way the game is now refereed and structured is rewarding teams brave enough to keep the ball in hand.
The numbers are striking. This season produced 5,028 points across the league — an average of around 295 per round, and some 292 more than were scored across the entire 2023/24 campaign. For a competition that has rebranded as PREM Rugby with a younger audience in mind, the timing of an attacking boom could hardly be better.
Northampton Saints director of rugby Phil Dowson points to the way recent tweaks have reshaped the contest, particularly around the kicking game.
"The rule changes around kicking have allowed for more broken-field play and more turnover," Dowson said. In his view, the risk-reward equation has shifted decisively towards ambition. "Risk is being rewarded more. It's better to have the ball than not have it currently."
Dowson is careful not to overstate it as a permanent state of affairs, noting the natural rhythm of the sport. "It goes in ebbs and flows when either attacks or defences are on top," he said.
At Exeter, director of rugby Rob Baxter sees the same trend through the lens of skill execution rather than law alone. "The intricacies of attack now work a lot more than they ever used to," Baxter said. "Teams are creating space with the quality of their movement, speed and handling."
The pace has not gone unnoticed by those new to English rugby. Exeter hooker Joseph Dweba, who arrived with experience in South Africa and Japan, has been struck by the tempo. "It reminds me of Super Rugby with how quick everything is, the fast pace of rugby," Dweba said.
For supporters, the shift has been a gift: more turnovers, more counter-attack, more tries. For coaches, it sets a clear strategic brief — possession has rarely been more valuable, and the conservative kicking duels that once defined tight Premiership fixtures are increasingly a losing proposition.
Whether the balance swings back towards defence in seasons to come, as Dowson suspects it eventually might, the current campaign has delivered a clear message: in this version of the Premiership, fortune favours the bold.
