The Premiership
Here we go
All I can say is that I’m glad that circumstances have prevented me from making any predictions about the season until now. I initially thought that Bath, with McGeechan at the helm, could be the major contenders for the title but this idea soon came unstuck.
Another strong possibility seemed to be that Leicester would just roll everyone over again but they came second in the local derby against Northampton and also lost to Wasps. You might then think that Northampton would be the pace setters but Saracens, still smarting after last season’s controversies, toppled them at Vicarage Road.
Almost unnoticed, London Irish now top the table and will be expected to stay there after a seemingly easy game against Leeds today. The Irish had a good early win against Saracens only to go down to Bath a week later.
Exeter started the season as relegation favourites but had two great wins and gave Leicester a serious fright before being thumped by Harlequins last week.
On last season’s form, Sale also seemed to be relegation candidates but their revamped side has picked up a couple of wins.
My old Club, Leeds, have lost some key players but they seemed to have recruited good replacements and I expected them to have an easier season. However they’re firmly rooted at the bottom and, although they say their first win is just round the corner, it will look like a very long bend as they travel to London Irish. Harlequins, Newcastle and Exeter have opened a gap above them and, although I’m not writing them off yet, they do like to make it hard for their loyal supporters.
At present, this is one of the most open Premierships ever. I still think that Bath will be right up there at the end along with Northampton. Leicester will need to stage a recovery but they’ve done this before after early hiccups
Things may look a bit clearer after this weekend’s fixtures but, in the meantime, home advantage seems to be the key. After 24 games, there were 19 home wins, 1 draw and 4 away wins. If you’d gone for home victories from the start, you wouldn’t be out of pocket
Worcester top the Championship table so it doesn’t look as if they’re planning to stay in that League for long
Rhys Morgan Puntinplay
Editor Bill Barrack
