Piutau’s Bristol swansong heralds end of the Premiership’s rockstar era

S tarter for 10: has the Premiership ever seen a more naturally-gifted player than Charles Piutau? Others have scored more tries, made more tackles or influenced their team’s fortunes more significantly, but has there ever been anyone to match Piutau’s capacity to thrill, to produce those moments that stir the senses?

On Saturday he makes his last appearance for Bristol against Gloucester after five years at the club. He arrived to great fanfare, the first £1m player and as the totem of the Premiership’s marquee player policy, but the ledger will show only a qualified success. He was injured at the start of his first season and took a while to have the kind of impact when briefly at Wasps before arriving in the West Country via a stint with Ulster. The ledger does not account for aesthetics, however, and there has been no greater sight than Piutau leading a counterattack from deep.

He leaves with Bristol at the wrong end of the table, with a yard less pace – injuries have taken their toll – but with a treasure trove of magic moments. Speak to Bristol fans and they will point to his sidestep on Ben Earl against Saracens, his assist for Harry Randall against Northampton in March and countless others that have taken the breath away. A performance in an exhilarating draw at London Irish sticks in the memory and surely there is no player to have twisted more blood in Premiership history.

“It’s one of the parts of the games that I like and enjoy,” he says. “It’s an area of the game I try to bring into the team, front-foot ball off counterattack and best case scenario is a line-break, if not momentum.” Simple, when put like that. “There are certain aspects of the game and the way that Bristol throw the ball around with an