I've played in the Premiership and Top14 - and here's why I think England has the better league, writes DAN BIGGAR

A week past Sunday, I sat down connected the French Riviera with my Toulon team-mate Ben White, the Scotland scrum-half, and watched Bath against Gloucester successful the Gallagher Premiership.

The nighttime before, Toulon had beaten Perpignan astatine location successful the Top14. The opposition betwixt those 2 matches truly got maine reasoning astir however bully the prime of English nine rugby is close now. I don’t deliberation the Premiership gets the recognition it deserves. It’s conscionable fantastic.

The Bath-Gloucester crippled summed it up for me, particularly successful the archetypal fractional wherever some teams scored 4 tries. The amusement for supporters watching connected was archetypal class. Ben and I surely enjoyed it by the pool! Jokes aside, determination is simply a superior constituent here.

I deliberation excessively often successful rugby we speech down our halfway merchandise erstwhile we should beryllium celebrating it and I deliberation that’s surely the lawsuit with the Premiership close now.

The archetypal play of the league’s instrumentality post-Six Nations was exceptional, with 280 points and 39 tries scored crossed the 5 matches.

Bristol astir apt sum the league up best, with their mad-cap attacking attack that has enactment them successful a bully presumption to scope the play-offs. Bath against Gloucester was a clash of styles, but hugely intriguing. There were immoderate superb tries. Bristol, Gloucester, Northampton and Harlequins are each large to watch.

I had 4 astonishing years with Northampton successful the Premiership and person been with Toulon successful France since 2022, truthful I’d similar to deliberation that puts maine successful a bully presumption to comparison and contrast. Everyone seems to deliberation the Top14 is miles up of the Premiership.

But, from my acquisition of playing successful some countries, I don’t deliberation that’s wholly the case. For me, English nine rugby is up successful presumption of the excellence of the rugby produced.

Don’t get maine wrong, the Top14 is acold bigger successful presumption of fiscal revenue. There are immense crowds astatine each lucifer and monolithic tv audiences. The league’s broadcast bundle is tremendous arsenic a result.

French nine rugby is astir similar football’s Premier League successful England it is that big. But, if you enactment speech the glitz and the glamour, my presumption is the rugby is amended successful the Premiership.

Clearly, successful France determination are superstar players similar Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud, among galore others, who are susceptible of producing moments of idiosyncratic brilliance. They marque for outrageous highlights reels.

But week-to-week, match-to-match and extracurricular the large games, connected the whole, French nine rugby is dilatory and based connected guardant power. It tin beryllium rather tedious to ticker and play in. Because determination are specified immense crowds and viewing figures, that tends to get discounted. The Premiership is antithetic and that’s great.

Some radical volition work this and accidental what astir Toulouse? They’re an unbelievable squad who play superb attacking rugby. But for me, you astir person to discount them – arsenic good arsenic Bordeaux – they’re that good! I basal by the information that overall, the Premiership is simply a amended watch.

There’s thing incorrect with having antithetic styles of rugby successful antithetic countries – that’s what makes the crippled truthful great. And neither contention is perfect.

For me, the Premiership is fantabulous but is crying retired for 2 much teams and 2 bully ones astatine that. It’s incredibly competitive, but Newcastle person evidently been struggling astatine the bottommost for a portion present and for immoderate reason, Exeter aren’t the squad they were.

It's hard to criticise Exeter due to the fact that for a agelong clip they acceptable the league’s standards, but they’re not the squad they were. I’d emotion to spot 2 much beardown teams adhd to the pot.

The Premiership is importantly down France financially and that has an interaction successful presumption of the fig of apical stars successful England.

It volition ever beryllium the lawsuit that the champion players spell wherever the champion wealth is connected offer. For example, we’ve seen Handre Pollard corroborate he’s leaving Leicester astatine the extremity of this season.

But what’s absorbing to maine is that losing big-name players hasn’t detracted from the prime of rugby successful the Premiership. I’ve besides work with involvement immoderate commentary that the end-to-end, high-scoring matches successful the Premiership aren’t preparing England’s players good capable for Test rugby.

I’m not definite I bargain that totally. Of course, determination is simply a large quality betwixt nine and planetary rugby. You can’t play the mode Bristol bash astatine Test level, for example. The crushed for that is due to the fact that the margins are truthful overmuch tighter.

The much high-risk your attack is, the much errors you’re apt to make. Internationally, each mistake is punished whereas that’s not the lawsuit with your club.

That said, I don’t spot wherefore the Premiership is holding England back. For example, Northampton won past season’s rubric and play immoderate superb rugby.

The halfway of their back-line present forms the bosom of Steve Borthwick’s England side. That’s nary coincidence. The Premiership has shown maine determination are brilliant, young attacking players successful English rugby, truthful wherefore not play to your strengths?

That doesn’t mean England person to play Bristol-style hoops rugby. But what they tin bash is harvester the endowment they person with the tactics required successful Test rugby to execute success. I thought we saw that successful the Six Nations.

It's set-up for a thrilling finale to the Premiership play and determination are 5 English teams successful the last-16 of the Champions Cup this play too. A Premiership broadside hasn’t won Europe since Exeter successful 2020, but it’s not similar they’ve been wholly blown distant successful the contention – adjacent if French powerfulness has won the time implicit English panache successful caller years.

Last season, some Harlequins and Northampton made the semi-finals. Ultimately, the past fewer years person seen English teams autumn abbreviated successful Europe to Leinster, Toulouse and La Rochelle – teams which each person acold bigger budgets and truthful bigger squads.

Also, Leinster and Toulouse are fundamentally Ireland and France, truthful losing to them is nary disgrace!

Toulouse and Bordeaux volition inactive beryllium favourites for this year’s rubric and it is disappointing Saracens won’t person the likes of Maro Itoje erstwhile they play successful Toulon this weekend.

But immoderate happens, I don’t deliberation English nine rugby is arsenic acold down the crippled successful France arsenic galore believe, surely erstwhile it comes to connected the field.