With the World Cup in full swing, the belated beginning of the Aviva Premiership this weekend may have eluded you. Unless you’re an England player, of course, in which case it’s top of your in-tray.
Jokes aside, here’s the first of our two part series profiling all the teams ahead of the new season.
BATH RUGBY
Coaches: Mike Ford, Toby Booth, Neil Hatley
Key player: Kyle Eastmond is probably the league’s silkiest centre. He may be deemed too small for England, but his distribution & quick feet make him a handful at this level.
Newbie to watch: In Niko Matawalu Bath have inherited a a flying Fijian at the very top of his game. The ex-Glasgow player combines pace both physically and mentally with snappy service to make him one of the most dangerous nines around at the moment.
Last season: 2nd (runners-up). Bath were the most exciting team in the league last season, running in several absolute pearlers that graced end-of-season highlight reels. When it mattered most, however, they were beaten by the pragmatism of Saracens in the final.
Prediction: 2nd. It should be another positive season for Bath, who have recruited in quality rather than quantity. In Matawalu, Cook, Ford & Priestland they have two sets of half-backs that would walk into most other sides.
EXETER CHIEFS
Coaches: Rob Baxter, Ali Hepher, Rob Hunter
Key player: It was a few games too late for England, but Henry Slade proved against Uruguay just how good he is. It’ll be intriguing to see if Exeter employ him more in the centre or as fly-half this season, but either way, the precociously talented young play-maker can lead the Chiefs to great things.
Newbie to watch: Exeter have inherited two greats from Leicester in Geoff Parling and Julian Salvi. The latter, especially, is a Premiership stalwart and turnover master. He may be getting on a bit but has showed no signs of slowing down in recent seasons.
Last season: 5th. The Chiefs were desperately unlucky to miss out on the play-offs last season, finishing equal on points with Tigers and Sarries but missing out to the former on games won and the latter on points difference.
Prediction: 5th. They’ve recruited brilliantly and will be firmly knocking on the play-off door once again – the only thing that could stop them is having to juggle a Champions Cup campaign with Premiership duties. But make no mistake, they will be there or there abouts.
GLOUCESTER RUGBY
Coaches: David Humphreys, Laurie Fischer, Nick Walshe, Trevor Woodman
Key player: Ross Moriarty can show England fans what they have missed with a huge Premiership season to build on some massively impressive performances for Wales this summer. A nuggety, physical player, he will form a potent back-row with Matt Kvesic and Ben Morgan.
Newbie to watch: Jeremy Thrush was desperately unlucky that the All Blacks only took three locks to the World Cup – had they taken another, he may well have been it. Like all Kiwi forwards, he can handle like a back – but also has plenty of dog about him. Should relish Premiership conditions.
Last season: 9th. After a summer of big-name recruitment on and off the pitch, it was a desperately disappointing season for the Chery and Whites, which kicked off with a 50 point drubbing against Northampton. There were some good wins along the way, but far too few to make it a success.
Prediction: 7th. They should genuinely be a much better side this year, with a tricky first season navigated by a new squad and coaching team. The problem is, there are so many good teams in this league, it still may not be enough to crack the top six.
HARLEQUINS
Coaches: Conor O’Shea, John Kingston, Tony Diprose, Mark Mapletoft
Key player: Fly-half Nick Evans had a patchy season last year, by his lofty standards, and the team suffered for it. Quins do not have huge strength in depth at half-back in general (their back-ups are not in Evans’ league), so if they are to make the most of some impressive new signings, they need Evans fit & firing.
Newbie to watch: The Harlequins scrum in reverse was an all too familiar sight last season – with that in mind, James Horwill will add bulk to the engine room and plenty of nous to a relatively young squad.
Last season: 8th. As noted above, it was a battling year for a young Quins squad last season, whose callowness when leaders like Evans, Chris Robshaw and Nick Easter were away was all too obvious.
Prediction: 8th. They have brought in some big name players who will undoubtedly help shore up the squad, but in reality their season will rest on whether Care and Evans remain fit and available in the half-backs. If they do, Quins could push for the play-offs. If not, they will struggle again.
LEICESTER TIGERS
Coaches: Richard Cockerill, Aaron Mauger, Geordan Murphy, Richard Blaze
Key player: With Owen Williams still returning from long-term injury, much focus will again fall on Freddie Burns. He was forced into a game he didn’t enjoy playing last season, but with the arrival of Aaron Mauger and, potentially, a more open style, we could see Burns return to the form that saw him pushing for an England starting spot just two years ago.
Newbie to watch: Attempting to fill the void left by Julian Salvi is Brendan O’Connor. A similar breakdown predator, O’Connor was a shining light in a poor Blues team last season. If he hits the ground running he will become a key component of this Leicester side.
Last season: 3rd (losing semi-finalists). The Tigers scrapped their way into the play-offs in the way only they can. Given that they scored more tries than only the diabolical London Welsh in the regular season, many felt they didn’t deserve to be there – and the drubbing they were handed by Bath in the semi-final certainly seemed to back that up.
Prediction: 6th. This season will hinge on how much influence Aaron Mauger has, and his working relationship with Cockerill. The old smash-and-grab Leicester ways no longer cut it at the top of this league – but I suspect they may need a season to transition into the all-court team they undoubtedly have the quality to be.
LONDON IRISH
Coaches: Tom Coventry, Grant Doorey, Clark Laidlaw and Richard Whiffin
Key player: Fly-half Shane Geraghty has long been one of the more mercurial playmakers in this league – with the likes of Sean Maitland and Asaeli Tokoirotuma joining Alex Lewington in the backline this season, he has huge reserves of firepower to aim for this campaign.
Newbie to watch: The story of Englishman Matt Symons‘ journey to becoming Waikato Chiefs captain is an excellent one. Now back in England with Irish, he will have a point to prove having not made it through the academy system in the Premiership. He was a key component of two Super Rugby titles at the Chiefs, which speaks volumes for the man’s qualities.
Last season: 10th. It was another season of treading water for the Exiles, neither seriously threatened with relegation nor flirting with top six qualification. It has been their MO the past few years and they will be desperate to avoid it happening again.
Prediction: 10th. Sadly, I don’t think it’ll happen this year. They have undoubtedly invested in the future with a new (very impressive) coaching staff and recruited well on the pitch, but if there’s one thing we learnt from Gloucester last season, it’s that these relationships take time to bed in. They won’t be in the relegation fight, but won’t push higher either.
Stay tuned for the second part of our season preview shortly!
By Jamie Hosie
Follow Jamie on Twitter: @jhosie43
Photo by: Patrick Khachfe / Onside Images
Interesting – so I assume from these rankings that you think Wasps will be in the top 4, keeping Exeter out. I reckon this is a season early for Wasps to get there, but we shall see. Exeter certainly deserve it.
Kyle Eastmond is someone that I think is such a strange player. I don’t think he is a 12, certainly not at test level. He has great feet, but I don’t think he has the distribution, and definitely not the kicking game to truly play a Giteau role in an England back line.
Really interested to see how Matt Symons go, extremely good player down in NZ; could find himself in England contention quite quickly if he finds form. Unfortunately, he has joined quite a poor side.
I remember Matt Symons when he was with Sarries academy. Back then he was not a player that stood out for any reason, so fair play to him for getting where he has and good luck to him. As you pointed out it’s a shame he’s joined such a poor team, but who knows maybe he can help take Irish further up the table?
Potentially he can – whether he is good enough to make that much difference I don’t know. He captained the Chiefs at times so he is obviously a leader.
Lock is a position of strenght for England though (despite SL playing the two that were most out of form), with Kruis, Launchbury and Lawes certainly in the mix moving forward, plus Itoje.
When you throw in Attwood and I’m hoping still Parling too; then he’ll have to do something pretty special!
Also consider players on the fringe like Kitchener and Slater and he’d really have to go some to make England’s radar
And potentially Itoje if they don’t play him in the back row.
But he doesn’t have the aerial solidarity to be an international back three either. Has he ever played at 9? He’d certainly keep fringe defense very honest. I know he used to be a SH in league, but having only watched a handful of league games I have no idea what a 9 does in the 13 man code, or even if they wear #9…
I don’t think Eastmond has the the game management skills to play at 9, probably not the kicking game either. Wing or even 13 may make more sense? I just think he is a very good club 12, but has limitations that mean he isn’t going to be a test quality 12; that has nothing to do with his size.
Thank god for the premiership, I can watch some rugby without feeling as if I’m being stabbed in the heart.
Sorry but really finding it hard to engage with the wc atm.
I know what you mean – sort of like watching the southern hemisphere rugby championship. You know there’s going to be some good rugby but it’s difficult to get any emotional attachment to it.
Slightly disagree for this weekend. Sure it feels like a damp squib without England, but at least we have some intriguing matches.
South Africa are perhaps the SH team the Welsh have the most chance of beating,
Scotland have nothing to lose against the Aussies and I think they have one very good performance in them
France are being typically Gallic in rebelling against PSA and will hopefully throw caution to the wind. The ABs are probably a bit nervous about playing them
Are Ireland going to be as good without O’Connell, O’Mahoney and O’Brien? The Argies are putting together some very good performances at the moment and have the ability to beat Ireland.
All should be good matches to watch and even if I don’t have the personal interest that I would if England were involved, I shall be cheering for the underdogs in each match and probably get quite excited if an upset looks to be on the cards.
I’d love to see a Wales, France, Aus, Arg semi-final line-up