A Gen Z wonderkid, Devon revival & Moody returns – Prem talking points

There’s only one place to start.

Noah Caluori, Saracens’ helium-heeled wing, announced himself with a sensational five tries on his first Prem start and finished the weekend with a call-up to train with the England senior side.

The 19-year-old made 233 metres with ball in hand in a 65-14 thrashing of Sale, but just as exciting to England coach Steve Borthwick will have been the vertical distance travelled.

Caluori stands 6ft 4in tall, but soars to unprecedented altitudes in pursuit of a high ball.

In addition to crossing five times himself, he earned a penalty try when – attempting to claim an Owen Farrell cross-kick ball over his head – he was taken out by opposite number Tom O’Flaherty way, way below him.

Caluori is also a slippery runner – beating 10 defenders – and showed a canny footballing brain, setting up a second-half try for Ben Earl with a well-judged grubber back inside.

Although Borthwick has handed them out less frequently than predecessor Eddie Jones, he is far from the first starlet to be invited into England training.

Marcus Smith, Jacob Umaga, Josh Hodge, Zach Mercer and Ted Hill have received similar call-ups.

Australia and Leicester fly-half James O’Connor, who scored a hat-trick on his first Wallabies start as an 18-year-old, can also attest that not all teenagers kick on to fully realise their hype.

But Caluori’s unique ability seems easy to bring into the game and especially difficult to counter.

Despite Saracens coach Mark McCall’s Sir Alex Ferguson-style attempts to temper expectations, we are surely going to see plenty more of him.

Not just on the pitch either. For a rebranded club in a rebranded league, he could be a new Gen Z figurehead, with a burgeoning showreel and busy TikTok output.

Is there something stirring in Devon?

There have been a few false dawns – ‘Exeter 2.0’ crashed after a fast start to the 2023-24 campaign – but the Chiefs look like they may have finally rediscovered their mojo.

Their 38-0 walloping of Harlequins means Exeter are up in fifth, with one defeat in their first four matches.

While many eyes were on debutant Len Ikitau, Australia’s player of the year, it was longer-standing Exeter stars who came good.

Centre Henry Slade scored two and set up another. The back row of Ethan Roots and Greg Fisilau, ably abetted by another Aussie debutant in Tom Hooper, put fearful dents into the away defence.

Fly-half Harvey Skinner, at the club for more than a decade and feared by some to be the weakest link in a stellar backline, was excellent.

They take on winless Gloucester at home in the final match before the league takes a break for the autumn internationals.

After being read the riot act by owner Tony Rowe during a 2024-25 campaign that Slade described as “embarrassing”, Roots says mindsets have changed this term.

The Red Bull buzz continues at Newcastle, despite a fourth successive loss.

The club recorded a second successive sell-out at Kingston Park with a capacity 10,210 taking in a 36-19 defeat by Northampton.

The scoreline was deceptive, though. On 62 minutes full-back Boeta Chamberlain skated in for a try and Brett Connon converted to pull the Bulls level at 26-26.

However, the score was chalked off for a dangerous clear-out by George McGuigan, before Fin Smith kicked a 76th minute-penalty and Alex Coles romped over for a late score to add some gloss for Saints.

Number eight Amanaki Mafi and scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz – two of Newcastle’s summer recruits – were impressive and more reinforcements are en route with Tom Christie and Christian Wade both arriving before the end of the year.

Prop Eduardo Bello, who missed all of last season with a knee injury, is also closing in on a comeback.

An absolute humdinger of a game saw Leicester recover from 10 points adrift to inflict defending champions Bath’s first league defeat since they soft-pedalled into the play-offs in May.

With Henry Arundell and Adam Radwan lurking in the opposing back threes, there was plenty of high-revving action, but the Tigers’ scrum dominance helped them claw their way back and replacement Billy Searle kept his nerve to land the decisive penalty with the clock in the red.

Lewis Moody’s first appearance at Mattioli Woods Welford Road since he revealed he has motor neurone disease was the most memorable part of the day.

Accompanied by former team-mates Martin Johnson, Martin Corry, Tom Croft, Geordan Murphy, Leon Lloyd and others, the former Leicester and Bath star took in the ovation from his fans at half-time.

Leicester number eight Olly Cracknell scored Tigers’ first try from close-range, picking, feinting, absorbing Quinn Roux’s initial surge off the line and then shunting his way through in the opposite direction with a secondary leg drive.