GALLAGHER Super Sarries
THE English rugby union season kicks off on Friday with club and country in urgent need of an upswing.
With the Rugby World Cup a year away, England need to rediscover their mojo and for that to happen a lift from club-land would be highly desirable.
The fortunes of the Premiership moved in depressing parallel to the national team last season with the English clubs wiped out in Europe. The most successful English coach in 2017-18 was Stuart Lancaster, whose Leinster side completed the Pro14 and Champions Cup Double.
Not that the Premiership was dull. The league had its own redemption tales with Saracens turning around a mid-season nose-dive to reclaim the trophy and Newcastle providing a Geordie feel-good factor that spread well beyond the North-east. A record number of tries were scored too.
It was just that too many sides underperformed.
So will we see a resurgence in a season that begins at 7.45pm on Friday when Bristol host Bath?
The return of arch-poachers Chris Ashton, below right, and David Strettle to these shores, plus the arrival of Kiwi talents Charles Piutau and Lima Sopoaga, should help keep the scoreboards ticking again. And the carrot of a World Cup place should focus minds.
But the Premiership has it all to prove to show it is not stuck in some no-man’s land between the dynamism of the Pro14 and the power of France’s Top14.
Off the field, there also seems to be hesitation over whether to stick or twist.
It is ironic in the season in which a new American sponsor – insurance company Gallagher – comes on board that the concept of the transatlantic ‘on the road’ game is quietly mothballed.
The four-year arrangement,which began with Saracens playing Newcastle in Philadelphia last season, has given way to an evening kick-off between Harlequins and the champions in October to be screened on NBC.
Saracens, along with Exeter – the finalists in May – still look a level above the rest. While there will be a different start to the season with no Twickenham double-header because of redevelopment work, there is every likelihood of the same
Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Joe Cokanasiga (London Irish). Matt Banahan (Gloucester), Ben Tapuai (Harlequins).
There is no finer backdrop to professional rugby union than the Rec but the close-up was out of focus last time around in a campaign that included five home defeats. They will be without injured England duo Anthony Watson and Jonathan Joseph for the opening months.
Bath were quickest to a try-scoring bonus point last season, Matt Banahan scoring their fourth in the 19th minute against Harlequins. Last season Johnny Williams (Lon Irish), Nemani Nagusa (Aurillac). Ally Hogg (retired), Nili Latu (Hino). The masters of the close finish will have it all on to repeat last season’s fairy tale, when the cards fell Newcastle’s way – never before had a club with a negative points difference reached the Premiership play-offs. Their strength lies in the retention of players such as Niki Goneva and Sinoti Sinoti. Second-row Calum Green is the king of the lineout steals with 11 in the last campaign. Last season This season ending when the final is staged at HQ on June 1. Sarries and Exeter have their own tried-andtrusted method of playing and individuals who fit that mould.
Neither side have shopped too extensively; neither have This season
Charles Piutau (Ulster), George Smith (Queensland). David Lemi (released), Olly Robinson (Cardiff Blues).
Major excitement is brewing in Bristol ahead of their return to the Premiership, with Ashton Gate on course for a 27,000 sellout for Friday’s opener against Bath. Can the team match the ticket sales? They will not fail for funding with Steve Lansdown’s cash behind them and the league’s highest-paid player in £950,000-a-season Piutau.
Bristol lost only once on way to last season’s Championship title, 38-34 at home to Jersey. Last season Dan Biggar (Ospreys), James Haskell (Wasps), Taqele Naiyaravoro (NSW). Ben Foden (Rugby United, New York), Stephen Myler (Lon Irish), George North (Ospreys). George North departs and an even bigger winger – Taqele Naiyaravoro – arrives. The 19st Australian should at least see more of the ball under director of rugby Chris Boyd as Saints morph seamlessly into the Hurricanes with Dan Biggar pulling the strings. That’s the theory anyway. No player turned over the ball more often than flanker Jamie Gibson last season, with 19. Last season This season This season tampered with their coaching set-up. The changes have come elsewhere as clubs have invested heavily in new management or new players to try to break the duopoly of the past four years. Northampton and Harlequins have gone Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff Blues). Will Chudley (Bath), Thomas Waldrom (Wellington). The Chiefs have done a Tottenham in terms of recruitment with stability the watchword. Expect Rob Baxter to get the best out of their one new arrival, Wales wing Alex Cuthbert, and the keep-ball kings to motor on serenely to another Twickenham day out on June 1. Eighteen of Exeter’s 79 tries in the 22 rounds of the regular season were scored in the final 10 minutes of their matches last season. Last season for a coaching overhaul, while the retained management at Bath and Leicester try to wring improved campaigns out of their sides.
For Leicester, in particular, as the faded powerhouse of the English game, mid-table obscurity sits very uncomfortably. Coach Matt O’Connor, right, said: “Everyone understands what we achieved last year and over the last five years isn’t good enough. But it is going to be a really tough league again and
Chris Ashton (Toulon), Rohan van Rensburg (Lions). Will Addison (Ulster), Mike Haley (Munster), TJ Ioane (L Irish)
Director of rugby Steve Diamond believes he is shopping in Waitrose rather than Aldi these days but with an enhanced budget comes enhanced expectations. However, they still look a little light up front and will be without Chris Ashton (suspended) and Faf de Klerk (international duty) for the first chunk of the season.
Sale topped the tackling charts last term with Jono Ross (336) first and Ross Harrison (301) third. Last season This season This season