‘The Premiership has gone mental’ - Lawrence Dallaglio and Brian O'Driscoll on 'amazing end to season' ahead

Lawrence Dallaglio branded Harlequins’ narrow victory over Bath “fascinating” and believes the Gallagher Premiership has gone “mental” in recent weeks.

Last weekend, Harlequins were thumped by Saracens and lost 52-7 to Mark McCall’s side in London, before taking a stunning six-try lead against the in-form Bath on Saturday.

But the second half was the polar opposite, as Bath closed the gap with five consecutive tries to mount a tremendous comeback effort, which Harlequins managed to fend off to seal five points.

Reflecting on the stark difference between Harlequins’ recent performances, Dallaglio was left stunned after the match.

“What a game and what a weekend,” Dallaglio said on TNT Sports following the full-time at Twickenham Stoop. “In fact, what a couple of weekends of Premiership Rugby.

"The Premiership has gone mental. It really has. Even Bristol [Bears] are now in the mix again with a big win today.

“Credit to Harlequins. Brian [O’Driscoll] mentioned before, that sometimes the game is played upstairs [mentally] and Quins last week, couldn’t win a raffle. They couldn’t do anything, they couldn’t win any collisions and they got absolutely annihilated by Saracens.

“And then they come back and produce, certainly a first-half performance, that was almost completely the opposite. It’s just fascinating. You get it right up top [mentally], it makes such a difference.”

Johann van Graan’s side are currently second in the Premiership standings with Harlequins occupying the final play-off spot in fourth.

Exeter Chiefs and Bristol are just two points adrift of Harlequins, while Leicester Tigers are three points off the play-off spots in seventh place.

Bath’s inspired efforts on Saturday saw them pick up two losing bonus points, which O’Driscoll feels could prove to be crucial in the race for the play-offs at the end of the season.

“That second-half performance from Bath was very Harlequins-esque,” the former Ireland captain told TNT Sports.

“We’ve seen that over the last few years where the game’s been done and dusted, a foregone conclusion. Oh no, hang on a minute. All of a sudden they’ve got a huge amount of points in them and Bath just kept coming and kept coming.

“Credit to them, they picked up a couple of losing bonus points. We saw an important one last night at Franklin's Gardens [in Northampton Saints' win over Saracens].

“It’s going to come down to it. We’ve got more and more teams emerging to the top of the table. If Sale [Sharks] can get a victory, there is another team right in the mix.

“Who knows? What an amazing end of the season we’ve got.”

- - -

TNT Sports presents the premium live sports rights previously carried by BT Sport including the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League, Gallagher Premiership Rugby, Investec Champions Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup, MotoGP, Cricket, UFC, Boxing and WWE. The streaming home for TNT Sports in the UK is discovery+, where fans can enjoy a subscription that includes TNT Sports, Eurosport and entertainment in one destination. You can also watch TNT Sports through BT, EE, Sky, and Virgin Media.