Who will win the league?
Robert Kitson Saracens to top the league; Leicester to win the grand final. In the past 12 years the club finishing second in the table has won the title eight times.
Dean Ryan Leicester. Back to big is beautiful. Raiding Treviso has seriously beefed up their squad. Northampton will be the best side but Test and World Cup demands will test squad depth.
Eddie Butler Bath. Or Leicester. Or Saracens. Or Northampton. Or Harlequins. But for no good reason, Bath.
Paul Rees Northampton. They have long played at a consistent level but last season showed they were able to go higher in one-off matches and they have developed strength in depth. Saracens are the best league side, vulnerable when it turns into a knockout tournament. Leicester, a victim of injuries last season, will be there again, Harlequins have strengthened, Bath will be one to watch while Gloucester, Wasps and Sale should be top six contenders.
Mike Averis Saracens from Northampton with Bath a thorn in both their sides. Gloucester – 17 in or promoted from the academy, a new director of rugby and head coach – will take time to settle.
Michael Aylwin Leicester. In this world nothing is certain, except death, taxes and a mid-season injury crisis at Leicester. Last year’s was particularly bad and left them shy of a home semi. An influx of very hard Italians and better luck should place them more handily this time.
Player of the season?
RK Tom Croft (Leicester). He deserves a change of luck after two horrendous injury-strewn years. Much the same applies to Northampton’s Alex Corbisiero.
DR Sam Burgess (Bath). Everybody is watching him anyway.
EB Ken Owens, hooker and captain of the Scarlets. From being a benchman behind Richard Hibbard he has burst forward at speed – it’s the way he plays – to become Wales’s No1 number two.
PR One reason for a sense of anticipation this season is the quality of fly-halves in the Premiership: Owen Farrell and Charlie Hodgson at Saracens, Freddie Burns and Owen Williams at Leicester, Stephen Myler who flourished under Alex King at Northampton, Nick Evans, George Ford, Danny Cipriani, Henry Slade, Shaun Geraghty and James Hook, not to forget the evergreen Andy Goode. May it be a 10 out of 10 for a scheming 10.
MAv Ollie Devoto (Bath). He kicks, runs, passes and understands the game. All that remains is to keep Burgess out of the Bath No12 shirt when the league man arrives from Sydney.
MAyl Owen Williams (Leicester). Bit of a punt, since Freddie Burns is Leicester’s big signing, but this boy is cool and consistent, which tends to be appreciated at Welford Road. Burns has a fight to play for club, let alone country.
Signing of the summer?
RK John Afoa (Gloucester) or Jim Hamilton (Saracens). The Premiership is still an amphitheatre which rewards front-five power.
DR Alapati Leiua (Wasps). If he can repeat his Hurricanes form, Dai Young will have one of the most dangerous outside back combos in the Premiership. The link with Christian Wade will frighten many.
EB Laurence Pearce (Leicester). He’s big and raw and a bit ferocious and on a dodgy knee, but is the sort of ball-carrying No8 a crowd can take to.
PR Piri Weepu was a bold capture by London Welsh. The scrum-half may not be a leading All Black, but he has pedigree and his recruitment was a bold statement of intent by the Exiles. Sam Burgess’s move to Bath generated the most headlines, John Afoa will stiffen Gloucester’s front row, along with Richard Hibbard, Marland Yarde will improve Harlequins’ finishing and it will be interesting to see how the fly-half Joel Hodgson develops at Northampton under Alex King’s tutelage after joining from Newcastle.
MAv At a reported £2m for four years – the highest earner in Europe bar Jonny Sexton – it has to be John Afoa, who chose Gloucester when he could have had his pick of France.
MAyl Lorenzo Cittadini (Wasps). Not sure who can be left at Treviso, such has been the exodus, but the Italians always had a granite-hard pack, of which he was the cornerstone. With Cittadini Wasps have upgraded their steel.
Relegation candidates?
RK London Welsh, sadly.
DR Sadly, Welsh and Newcastle. Although if Welsh can blend 26 players quickly they may escape.
EB There was something very resilient about Welsh and their campaign last year. Their refusal to buckle after relegation turned into a Bristol-beating return to the Premiership. But it’s going to be tough for them.
PR London Welsh and Newcastle would take an 11th-place finish now. Gloucester and London Irish finished in the bottom four last season but are looking upwards. Exeter finished last season on a slump, 10 defeats in 13 Premiership matches, while Wasps have become vulnerable at Adams Park which all too often lacks atmosphere. It is the Falcons who need to get off the ground.
MAv Hard to look beyond Newcastle, who appear underpowered even with two of the six Tuilagi brothers, although 43 changes at London Welsh will take a bit of swallowing.
MAyl London Welsh. Last time they were up, the brilliant Lyn Jones was shortlisted for director of rugby of the year. Should have won it too, despite relegation. Justin Burnell also seems to have a sparkle in his eye, but will 20-plus new signings dilute the esprit de corps?
World Cup bolter?
RK Will Fraser (Saracens).
DR Keep an eye on Nic Schonert at Worcester. England’s tighthead locker is sparse.
EB Matthew Morgan has already played for Wales, but he’ll be coming at the World Cup from Bristol in the championship, which may leave him freedom of movement under the radar – and nobody runs better there than the tiny outside-half/full-back.
PR Loosehead prop is hardly a problem position for England, but Northampton’s Alex Waller will be one to watch if his clubmate Alex Corbisiero continues to struggle with injury. At tighthead, there is Quins’ Kyle Sinckler while Exeter’s hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie will be looking for a breakthrough season.
MAv Anthony Watson (Bath). Should England decide he is mature enough then a back three of Mike Brown, Marland Yarde and Watson should get the juices flowing.
MAyl Jack Clifford. Went for him as one to watch last season and … he barely played. Surely now he’ll be given a gallop at Quins? And there’s room in the England squad for a back-row forward of real pace and power.
Most looking forward to?
RK Watching the dash for World Cup squad places. The competition between England’s assorted fly-half candidates will be particularly interesting.
DR World Cup fever in our own backyard and hopefully with an England side ready to go the distance.
EB The All Blacks in November. It is said we see them too frequently now, but they still create a buzz – and yet come with a chill. Presumably won’t be giving too much away 11 months before the World Cup, but the pace of their basic game will determine how every one else plays.
PR The top four has been set in cement for too long. Bath and Gloucester have the strength to break through, but will they do attrition? Sale and Wasps look the bolters.
MAv New Zealand and South Africa at Twickenham before Christmas and a proper understanding of where England stand in the world.
MAyl Peace. Brinkmanship and chest-beating is exactly want we want from players; among people in suits, it’s the height of tedium. With new deals in Europe and Wales, perhaps the bloodless chair-swivellers will keep it in their pants for a bit.
One thing I’d like to see change
RK How about spraying a line of Fifa-style vanishing foam at scrum-time? Then ask scrum-halves to feed the ball straight down it.
DR The top four. Somebody needs to break in.
EB The rugby politics of Wales. A peace deal and we should all celebrate, but the past decade’s feuding has killed the passion of too many rugby lovers. And despite the treaty, the mutual lack of respect between the WRU and the regions lives on …
PR It has already been made with England’s elite player squad not being announced until October, adding confection to the opening month of the season and factoring in current form. Otherwise, television match officials being a last, rather than a first, resort.
MAv Endless TV referrals. They ruin the flow and undermine referees already low on confidence. Why not give each captain one or two appeals per game if they feel aggrieved.
MAyl Card protocol. Only show them for deliberate offences. The course of too many games is perverted by a lack of empathy for those playing. Penalty try or yellow card; never both. And don’t send a prop to the sin-bin for getting stuffed in the scrum. How’s that going to help?
Article source: http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/wales-v-france-preview-warren-6729397
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