Rugby World Cup"s golden halo will light up the Aviva Premiership as ...

It will. Injury permitting, Mallinder will have some cast-iron certainties in England’s

squad: Ben Foden, Luther Burrell, Dylan Hartley, Alex Corbisiero, Courtney

Lawes and Tom Wood, not to mention Wales’ George North, USA’s Samu Manoa,

Samoa’s Kahn Fotuali’i and the Pisi brothers, Ken and George.

Then there are others in England contention like Lee Dickson, Stephen Myler,

Alex Waller, Calum Clark and Sam Dickinson, even if the latter misses the

first months of the season after a neck operation.

With Stuart Lancaster having been allowed to defer the naming of his Elite

Player Squad, that means places are up for grabs.

“I think it is a good thing,” says Mallinder, even though it was originally

the clubs that demanded the squad’s early naming in order to plan ahead. “To

pick that group of players for the autumn Stuart is going to watch the first

games. It is not going to affect my recruitment if it is now or in two

months’ time.”

The notion of competition for places increasing the quality of Premiership

play is taken up by Bath’s head coach, Mike Ford. “We’re in a position where

we’ve got nine or 10 possibles for the England squad,” he says. “Out of them

David Wilson is nailed on, Rob Webber as well probably, but the other six or

seven are marginal, so we know that if we stick together as a team that will

help those individuals.”

Indeed, you can see the likes of Henry Thomas, Dave Attwood, George Ford, Kyle

Eastmond, Jonathan Joseph, Ollie Devoto and Anthony Watson raising their

games to merit selection.

The rugby league convert Sam Burgess, the undoubted news story of the early

season, may have a say, too. His arrival is much anticipated. Asked about

its exact timing, his deadpan new boss Ford said: “I’m not sure.” A smile

then began to emerge. “Three o’clock, Oct  15.”

So Bath will be enthralling to watch as they strive to break the top-four

hegemony of Saracens, Northampton, Leicester and Harlequins that has existed

for the last three seasons. They came close last year, and their 14 wins

would have seen them into at least fourth place in every other season that

the Premiership has featured 12 teams since 1999‑2000. But the competition

will be even stronger again this season.

Gloucester have recruited superbly and it is inconceivable that they can be as

poor again. Richard Hibbard, John Afoa, Tom Palmer, Greig Laidlaw and James

Hook can take an already outstanding group of players to another level.

David Humphreys is a wonderful acquisition and handing Billy Twelvetrees the

captaincy could aid his quest for the England No 12 jersey.

That this season’s competition might be better than last season’s is a quite

wondrous thought, because the 2013-14 Premiership was the finest I have

seen. Naturally there was some dross at the bottom of the table, but the

stuff at the top was compelling – full of spite, physicality, and pace.

The final had its own drama, with Northampton’s victory in the last second of

extra-time, but the competition reached its apex on a Friday night in May

when Northampton and Leicester slugged out an epic semi-final.

Despite Northampton’s first title, courtesy of a vast array of heavyweight

ball-carriers, I still think Saracens were the best team in the land – their

19 league wins were the most since 2000 – and that will be proven with

silverware this time. For Saracens to be asked to play the Heineken Cup

final and Premiership final in consecutive weeks last season was blatantly

unfair.

Yes, Toulon managed it, winning the Top 14 after defeating Saracens the week

before, but not everyone, not even Saracens, can boast their depth. Saracens

are the closest to it in England: as London Welsh’s head coach Justin

Burnell put it, there is “little difference between their first and fourth

choice players”.

Granted, Northampton had a European final of their own the week before – the

Challenge Cup – but it was not of the same intensity and they had an extra

day’s rest before the Premiership final. Thankfully the new European Rugby

Champions Cup final will take place earlier this season, on May 1.

Northampton at full strength are a fearsome prospect, but there are concerns

about their depth after an inactive close season. As Mallinder admits: “We

have got one of the smaller senior squads, but we really trust our younger

lads coming through.”

London Welsh have made more than 20 signings this summer. And Burnell was a

welcome addition to the launch last week, uttering the words “crikey” and

“respectful” so many times that we were left in no doubt as to his take on

the task ahead. To stay up would be a huge achievement, one of which they

should capable of, because Newcastle look poor.

That is the narrative and scene for the rubber-neckers. At the other end of

the table you will find the quality and the real battle – for silverware and

World Cup places.

Steve James’ verdict on the season ahead

Champions Saracens. Have not signed heavily but still have significant

depth.

Relegated Newcastle. London Welsh are the obvious answer but there is a

special spirit there. Newcastle were dire last season, surely the worst ever

to survive.

Dark horses Gloucester. Ninth place last year was a disgrace. New

director of rugby David Humphreys will improve things.

Top try scorer Leicester’s Niki Goneva last season, but Wasps’

Christian Wade was injured for most of the year. It will be Wade this

season.

Foreign star Northampton’s Samu Manoa, always a gigantic presence. If

Welsh is foreign, Richard Hibbard will become a darling of Gloucester.

Breakthrough star Bath’s Anthony Watson. Has pace, quick feet and is

not small.

European champions Toulon will miss Jonny Wilkinson, so it will either

be Saracens or Clermont.

Article source: http://www.bathchronicle.co.uk/Bath-Rugby-bolster-Academy-ranks-new-players/story-21747471-detail/story.html

Rugby World Cup"s golden halo will light up the Aviva Premiership as ...