English rugby union will attempt to rebuild its damaged reputation as its season kicks off with Sale hosting defending Premiership champions Leicester on Friday.

Bath, among the front runners for this season's title, hit the headlines over a drugs scandal and Harlequins - second in the table last term - are still reeling from the ramifications of the fake blood affair.

And the ongoing fall-out from the two incidents - which saw the England national side, among other Test teams, accused on Sunday of sharp practice when it came to the faking of injuries - promises to overshadow the start of the Premiership campaign.

"It is not ideal. Rugby has always had an image of good, honest, hard fun but there have been incidents over the last 12 months that have been unsavoury," Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill said.

Saracens and England captain Steve Borthwick says the players are conscious of their responsibilities.

"We want this season to be remembered for the great tries that are scored, the last-minute kicks, the young players coming through - that is what we want the headlines written about," he said.

Cockerill's side remain the favourites to top the table and in 23-year-old flanker Tom Croft, who had a hugely successful British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa, they have a player who could lift the mood of the English game.

But the controversies that have engulfed the English game show no signs of going away.

Further evidence into the controversy at Harlequins will emerge this week and there is every indication that the club - who have accepted the resignations of chairman Charles Jillings and director of rugby Dean Richards over the affair - will be embarrassed further.

But John Kingston - who has stepped up to fill the void left by Richards - insisted the effect of the departure of the ex-England No.8 would be minimal.

"Last year the team was set up by the coaches - Dean Richards was not on the training field," he said.

"He had two main responsibilities that have to be dealt with immediately by us. They were selection and substitutions and they are two areas we have to have control over now."

Bath were damaged as four players - former Wallabies lock Justin Harrison, Michael Lipman, Andrew Higgins and Alex Crockett - left following a drugs scandal to add to England prop Matt Stevens's two-year ban for cocaine abuse.

Lipman and Crockett are appealing against their nine-month bans from the game on September 7 but their careers appear to be in freefall.

Head coach Steve Meehan has appointed a five-strong committee of senior players to instil a more disciplined off-field approach at the club.

"John Neal, our performance coach, has helped us through this in putting values and behaviour in place as opposed to writing out a code of conduct," Meehan said.

"Once you do that you can end up giving them options to say 'we are going to break these rules and do what we want'. Those things tend to cause dramas," he said.

Brought to you by AAP © 2024 AAP