Taulupe Faletau: Bath back row injured on Premiership debut

Taulupe Faletau (right) had to be replaced early in the first half on his Premiership debut for Bath

Wales number eight Taulupe Faletau suffered a suspected medial knee ligament injury as Bath started Todd Blackadder's reign with a victory.

Faletau, who joined the Premiership club from Newport Gwent Dragons this summer, was replaced 12 minutes into the 18-14 win at Northampton Saints.

"It sounds like a little bit of a medial, so we'll just wait and see," Blackadder told BBC Radio Bristol.

Wales will hope Faletau is fit for their four Test matches in November.

Bath's victory was their first win at Franklin's Gardens for 16 years, in their first league match under Blackadder and his assistant, head coach Tabai Matson.

"It's about the strength in depth of your whole squad and we showed that," said Blackadder.

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'Rusty' champions Sarries

Fly-half Alex Lozowski, standing in for injured fly-half Owen Farrell, scored on his Saracens debut

Defending champions Saracens also made a winning start to their 2016-17 campaign - but their director of rugby Mark McCall was unhappy with their display.

Sarries, who won the Premiership and European Champions Cup double last season, beat Worcester in the London Double Header at Twickenham.

"Overall, I am probably not happy with that," McCall said after his side's 35-3 victory over Warriors.

"It was a hugely rusty performance but we defended very well. I am happy we got five points and happy to get the win."

'Different refereeing' in the Premiership

In Saturday's second match at Twickenham, Bristol lost 21-19 to Harlequins on their return to the top flight following a seven-year absence

Director of rugby Andy Robinson was unhappy with the way the game was refereed by Luke Pearce, with his Bristol side conceding 18 penalties.

"It looks like the game is refereed differently in the Premiership," Robinson told BBC Radio 5 live. "I don't know if there are different laws but I'm pretty disappointed.

"I'll be writing a report to the referee about the game to look at making sure there is consistency in approach.

"We've got to get used to how it's refereed, make sure we're better in the contact area and keep our discipline."