Your Team this Coming Season

First topic message reminder :

Hey all,

Bored on Monday so thought I'd do a little table thing to see how people think their team is shaping up for the season coming. So copy and paste the yoke below and then I am sure that will create some discussion!!!

TEAM:

Scrum: /10
Lineout: /10
Kicking game: /10
Breakdown: /10
Defence: /10
Attack: /10
Squad Depth: /10
Coaching: /10

Expectations this season:

Players to watch:

New signings:

Other:



Ok so type it in and see if people think your team should be better or worse at certain things and you can do the same to other teams. Obviously be respectful.

10 - Absolute perfection
09 - Excellent
08 - Very Good
07- Good
06 - Above Average
05 - Average
04 - Below Average
03 - Bad
02 - Very Bad
01 - Apalling

Nice article

TEAM Scarlets
I can't give an accurate analysis until we have some confirmed signings in the forwards, but I'm going to base this on the assumption we get in Pat Cilliers and Jason Eaton.

Scrum: 8/10
Lineout: 7/10
Kicking game: 7/10
Breakdown: 6/10
Defence: 7/10
Attack: 9/10
Squad Depth: 7/10
Coaching: 8/10

New signings - Vallejos Cinalli, George Earle, Gareth Owens, Kirstin Phillips, Rawlins, I'm assuming Pat Cilliers and Jason Eaton have also signed.
New Head coach - Simon Easterby
Think our squad depth in the forwards will still be a little light, even after the signing of 2 locks, a TH and youngsters like Rhodri Jones and Dan Thomas coming through, we're strong at flanker and hooker, but lightweight at LH (assuming Pat Cilliers, TH signs) and No8. In the backs however we've got strength in depth everywhere with exciting youngsters pushing hard.

Think our defence will continue to improve under Easterby, with Brad Harrington (fitness coach) pushing the players hard and beefing them up, our scrum will improve with the new signings and Danny Walters (new forwards coach) seeming to be very good.

Though I still think our lineour will creak and we won't be as competitive at the breakdown - but you never know we have two great international hookers, and some new locks, so we could do very well.

With a proper preseason and a little bit of a rest, I think we'll see our handling skills back to the 2010/11 standard, and as such will see us much more potent in attack, particularly with Stodds back to link up with Priestland, JD2 and North, while this is added to with Liam Williams.

Predictions - Rabo playoffs/Final
HEC - group stages

Players to watch - Liam Williams, Rhodri Jones, Cilliers,

That's a very high scrummage rating for the Scarlets! Not sure I'd be that bothered by their props to be honest, I would have thought more of a 6/10.

TEAM: Edinburgh

Scrum: 6/10 (am hoping Nel makes this a 7)
Lineout: 6/10
Kicking game: 5/10 (Laidlaw not a big boot and Blair and CP will be missed)
Breakdown: 7/10
Defence: 1/10 (going on last season's league form)
Attack: 8/10
Squad Depth: 7/10 (much improved)
Coaching: 6/10 (Bradley remarkable in HC, awful in league)

Expectations this season: To be in contention for the Rabo play-offs this year and qualifying for the Amlin.

Players to watch: Ross Rennie and David Denton - if both kick-on from last season then both could be Lions next summer. Nel at tighthead could be a huge players for us.

New signings: AP Nel (tighthead), John Yapp (loosehead), Van der Westhuizen (lock), Parker (lock), Basilia (6/8), Richie Rees (9), Ben Atiga (centre or 15), Greg Tonks (wing or 15) and Penn (wing).

Other: I didn't include Lord Visser in the "players to watch" category as you all know that he'll once again finish top of the try scoring tree in the Rabo and make North and Bowe look like inferior show ponies come the Lions....

I think a lot of people are over rating their teams. Sure, no harm.

Work in progress definitely. He'll continue to develop on the wing, with many suggesting 12 or 13 for the future, maybe even 15.

funnyExiledScot wrote:TEAM: Edinburgh

Scrum: 6/10 (am hoping Nel makes this a 7)
Lineout: 6/10
Kicking game: 5/10 (Laidlaw not a big boot and Blair and CP will be missed)
Breakdown: 7/10
Defence: 1/10 (going on last season's league form)
Attack: 8/10
Squad Depth: 7/10 (much improved)
Coaching: 6/10 (Bradley remarkable in HC, awful in league)

Expectations this season: To be in contention for the Rabo play-offs this year and qualifying for the Amlin.

Players to watch: Ross Rennie and David Denton - if both kick-on from last season then both could be Lions next summer. Nel at tighthead could be a huge players for us.

New signings: AP Nel (tighthead), John Yapp (loosehead), Van der Westhuizen (lock), Parker (lock), Basilia (6/8), Richie Rees (9), Ben Atiga (centre or 15), Greg Tonks (wing or 15) and Penn (wing).

Other: I didn't include Lord Visser in the "players to watch" category as you all know that he'll once again finish top of the try scoring tree in the Rabo and make North and Bowe look like inferior show ponies come the Lions....

can't wait for the reaction to that one, fES!

formerly known as Sam wrote:That's a very high scrummage rating for the Scarlets! Not sure I'd be that bothered by their props to be honest, I would have thought more of a 6/10.

Our scrum improved a lot last season and we very rarely got mullererd in the scrum, except for some of the big European sides, and with a practically new front 5 I can see our scrum being even better, with an improving Rhodri Jones, some very good hookers, a new (and very good) TH (if he signs), and then 3 new locks to go with our best lock of last season, Timani - who'll only be back up this season.

Has North even scored for Scarlets yet?

Yappysnap I would agree mostly with you but 10/10 for coaching?

Has to be 8.5 surely. 10/10 would be for a historical AP-HC double IMO.

Plus that loss to Connacht in the HC.....

Mickado who are you referring to?

Finally getting that front five strength you were hankering after. Good stuff.

I see our academies are due to meet in the LV again next season, hopefully ours will show up this time. Though they did all improve after the hammering they took at the start of last season.

Mickado wrote:Has North even scored for Scarlets yet?

He's a non-scoring winger. A little bit like Emile Heskey used to be a non-scoring striker for England. You're supposed to appreciate his work rate and comment that he allows other players around him to shine.....

If you're talking about George North he's scored 5 tries - none last season as he was a bit in and out of the team and suffered from Gatlands quarterly bid to drive him into the ground while playing him injured.

And I'm pretty sure North has scored more tries for Wales than Heskey has scored goals in his entire career (maybe Heskey should try aiming at North instead of the net, with the bigger target he may actually hit something once in awhile...)

beshocked wrote:Yappysnap I would agree mostly with you but 10/10 for coaching?

Has to be 8.5 surely. 10/10 would be for a historical AP-HC double IMO.

Mickado who are you referring to?

Yea I think 8.5 would be a lot more realistic, guess I got a bit carried away there. Not sure if Mickado was referring to mine, genuinely think all the other ratings are pretty fair (as fair as you can be when you only have your opinion to go by).

Mickado wrote:I think a lot of people are over rating their teams. Sure, no harm.

Mickado wrote:My own views and scores for Leinster:

TEAM:

Scrum: 8/10
Lineout: 7/10
Kicking game: 7/10
Breakdown: 9/10
Defence: 8/10
Attack: 9.5/10
Squad Depth: 8/10
Coaching:9 /10

There was me thinking you had underscored yours

funnyExiledScot wrote:

Mickado wrote:Has North even scored for Scarlets yet?

He's a non-scoring winger. A little bit like Emile Heskey used to be a non-scoring striker for England. You're supposed to appreciate his work rate and comment that he allows other players around him to shine.....

Like Mark Cueto then?

Rava wrote:

Mickado wrote:I think a lot of people are over rating their teams. Sure, no harm.

Mickado wrote:My own views and scores for Leinster:

TEAM:

Scrum: 8/10
Lineout: 7/10
Kicking game: 7/10
Breakdown: 9/10
Defence: 8/10
Attack: 9.5/10
Squad Depth: 8/10
Coaching:9 /10

There was me thinking you had underscored yours

Pick away Rav, we're the best team in Europe, surely our scores will reflect that.

Yappysnap no I think you're ratings are quite fair. Only calling you out on the coaching bit.

I agree I think Mickado has underscored his.

I personally think some of the attacking ratings are a little high for some of the teams.

And I'm pretty sure North has scored more tries for Wales than Heskey has scored goals in his entire career

Emile Heskey - 117 goals for his clubs and a further 7 for England.

George North - 5 tries for the Scarlets and 11 tries for Wales.

Now don't you go knocking big Emile, he is a nice bloke.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:HongKong-
Jaysus forgot about Mumm, he is quality.

Stag-
Yeah good point I guess.

Kingsu-
You'd really give the Ulster scrum that much? Also the attack was great in the league but was it as good in the HCup? Think that is a bit far fetched. Tooting our own horn and all but it is generally accepted that Leinster/CLermont have the best attack in Europe. Don't mean to be offensive, sorry if it comes across that way. Your lineout is very good in all fairness as is your defence for the most part.

Mick-
Yeah I agree with you re: Cullen and the captaincy. He could well lose his place to Denton or Roux this year. Hope it is Denton obviously. Think the captaincy should go to Heaslip as next in line. Jennings will be in the team til Novemeber as well. Kearney is another option.

Think the Ulster scrum is one of the best in Europe, Court, best Afoa are a match for any front row, muller and Touhy are powerful locks.

I can see it being matched but rarly bested over the season.

Attack,we were the top try scorers in the League, add to that Bowe, Payne and Willaims (top try scorer for Aironi, top forward or something), and Gilroy having more experience, and you can say its even more of an attacking unit.

Great attacking backs, plus forwards who like to carry, Willaims, Ferris, Afoa, half back of Pieneer, only area that could be more attacking, is Jackson but we don't even know how he'll turn out this year?

I can't see how we could improve the attack any further

Think Jackson will be key. For all of his critics, Humphreys ran a very good attack for Ulster. Can Jackson do the same? For that reason I am not sure Ulster will be quite as potent.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

And I'm pretty sure North has scored more tries for Wales than Heskey has scored goals in his entire career

Emile Heskey - 117 goals for his clubs and a further 7 for England.

George North - 5 tries for the Scarlets and 11 tries for Wales.

Now don't you go knocking big Emile, he is a nice bloke.

To put that in context Heskey has scored 117 goals in 546 games plus 7 goals in 62 games for England

North has scored 5 tries in 26 games for the Scarlets and 24 caps for Wales scoring 11 tries. He also apparently played lots of football until his mid teens.

I think I'd probably go for North in rugby or football over Heskey, he's probably quicker than Heskey and would make a very good target man...

beshocked wrote:Yappysnap I would agree mostly with you but 10/10 for coaching?

Has to be 8.5 surely. 10/10 would be for a historical AP-HC double IMO.

Plus that loss to Connacht in the HC.....

Mickado who are you referring to?

No, I would say that 10/10 means you don't believe you could swap your coaching team for anyone else and see an improvement. And I would say that Quins are pretty much in that position.

It takes more than just good coaching to get to a double, and some of those things are things a coach can only influence slowly (squad depth) or not at all (luck). The loss at Connacht is a case in point. If you saw the game, Quins were stronger in pretty much every aspect except placekicking in those conditions and getting over the line. The one clear cut chance for a try from either side didn't come off because the ball bounced 8 feet into the air off a sodden pitch and over Monye's head. There's no way a coach can influence that.

But once we were out of the HC, O'Shea clearly set his sights on the Prem title and managed the rest of the season to achieve that at the first attempt. His management of the squad's fitness, the team's position in the table, preparation and the tactics in the final was exemplary, even down to little touches of genius like the supposed jolly in Abu Dhabi in the week before the final. It was only seeing a prediction that the temperature on the pitch at HQ would hit 29 celsius that I realised what he was doing - he'd had the squad training for 3 hours a day in temperatures approaching 40 celsius.

My criterion for a 10/10 for coaching is sustained excellence. I can't quite claim that they've reached that yet but 2 trophies in 2 years is a damn good start. I'll give them 9 for now and award the extra if we win something this year as well.

Kingshu wrote:
I can't see how we could improve the attack any further

Well signing SBW, Hosea Gear, Conrad Smith and James O'Connor for a start....

rodders wrote:

Kingshu wrote:
I can't see how we could improve the attack any further

Well signing SBW, Hosea Gear, Conrad Smith and James O'Connor for a start....

Don't forget North as well

And some of the scrum ratings also...

North has scored 5 tries in 26 games for the Scarlets and 24 caps for Wales scoring 11 tries. He also apparently played lots of football until his mid teens.

I think I'd probably go for North in rugby or football over Heskey, he's probably quicker than Heskey and would make a very good target man...

Heskey was quick when he was young, injuries and age took his pace. Still a good target man now at 35. If North was that good at football let's no delude ourselves into thinking he wouldn't have accepted the far bigger contracts available there rather than chance his hand at rugby.

Well signing SBW, Hosea Gear, Conrad Smith and James O'Connor for a start....

Who's to say they'd all gel Rodders. Look at the Rebels this season with Cipriani, Beale and JOC. The Rebels backs played their best rugby after Cips had left when JOC was injured, go figure.

That would be because Beale is actually the smartest rugby player about, but he never gets much of a chance to show it.

yappysnap wrote:And some of the scrum ratings also...

It's OK, Yappy. Allow 'em their misplaced confidence a little longer. The truth will out before too long.

Poorfour wrote:

yappysnap wrote:And some of the scrum ratings also...

It's OK, Yappy. Allow 'em their misplaced confidence a little longer. The truth will out before too long.

I love the irony....

Poorfour wrote:

beshocked wrote:Yappysnap I would agree mostly with you but 10/10 for coaching?

Has to be 8.5 surely. 10/10 would be for a historical AP-HC double IMO.

Plus that loss to Connacht in the HC.....

Mickado who are you referring to?

No, I would say that 10/10 means you don't believe you could swap your coaching team for anyone else and see an improvement. And I would say that Quins are pretty much in that position.

It takes more than just good coaching to get to a double, and some of those things are things a coach can only influence slowly (squad depth) or not at all (luck). The loss at Connacht is a case in point. If you saw the game, Quins were stronger in pretty much every aspect except placekicking in those conditions and getting over the line. The one clear cut chance for a try from either side didn't come off because the ball bounced 8 feet into the air off a sodden pitch and over Monye's head. There's no way a coach can influence that.

But once we were out of the HC, O'Shea clearly set his sights on the Prem title and managed the rest of the season to achieve that at the first attempt. His management of the squad's fitness, the team's position in the table, preparation and the tactics in the final was exemplary, even down to little touches of genius like the supposed jolly in Abu Dhabi in the week before the final. It was only seeing a prediction that the temperature on the pitch at HQ would hit 29 celsius that I realised what he was doing - he'd had the squad training for 3 hours a day in temperatures approaching 40 celsius.

My criterion for a 10/10 for coaching is sustained excellence. I can't quite claim that they've reached that yet but 2 trophies in 2 years is a damn good start. I'll give them 9 for now and award the extra if we win something this year as well.

Agree with that, but that Connacht match needed some other things changed as well. I'm not sure what messages the waterboys were carrying on for Robshaw but if they were O'Sheas then they weren't too clever. Still I like to think we learnt from it and I wouldn't change anything.

You should have beaten Connacht. You can say it wasn't your deity's fault that Harlequins lost but he was in charge of the team tactics.

Quins are a much stronger side than Connacht - there should be no excuses for losing to such opposition.

I know in hindsight it helped because it meant you had one less competition to focus on but still....

Again thanks to everyone for getting involved, am about to run out of quota time in work but will pop back in to this later on and see what mischief you guys have been up to.

Lastly, I think Dom Ryan will be a 7. Think he could be a great one too.

Formerly known as Sam

I don't think strike rates of 4.6% (club) and 8.8% (international) is that great a boast for a target man, I mean Mark Hughes was a target man, Carroll is a target man, John Hartson was a target man and they've all got significantly higher percentages than Heskey.

My comment about North playing football was obviously joking, and was meant to underline North's much better strike rate in rugby than Heskey in football (which you brought up by the way) - North scores almost once every 2 games, even though he's used as a decoy or strike runner quite often, while Heskey scores almost once in every 9 games.

Heskey also hasn't currently got a club...

To be fair Beshocked it was a lesson learnt for Quins as it demonstrated their weakness in attritional games which is something they seemed to get better at as the season went on. Sometimes it takes a loss for long term improvements to be made. Be interesting to see how much better they will be in adapting to the conditions come winter though.

My comment about North playing football was obviously joking, and was meant to underline North's much better strike rate in rugby than Heskey in football (which you brought up by the way) - North scores almost once every 2 games, even though he's used as a decoy or strike runner quite often, while Heskey scores almost once in every 9 games.

Heskey also hasn't currently got a club..

No you brought it up when you said North had scored more tries for Wales than Heskey had scored goals in his entire career. Heskey will probably only have one more season, he is 35 after all. Shame he won't come home, Hull or Ipswich seem more likely.

If someone signs him.

I can't believe you think Heskey is better at football and more leathal than North is at rugby!

He may well be a nice guy (I've never met him), but so is Rupert Moon but I don't go around saying he's a better scrum half than Cristine Ronaldo is at football

I can't believe you think Heskey is better at football and more leathal than North is at rugby!

Now that I certainly never said, I merely defended Heskey from ridicule. He's earned my defence through his charity work and work in saving Leicester City Football Club from liquidation.

I did see this stat once

international Caps international goals
Heskey 62 7
Chilavert 74 9
Higuita 68 8

Heskey's record looks about average when compared to these two, expcept they were both goalkeepers.

Kingshu wrote:I did see this stat once

international Caps international goals
Heskey 62 7
Chilavert 74 9
Higuita 68 8

Heskey's record looks about average when compared to these two, expcept they were both goalkeepers.

Very good Kingshu.

TEAM: Ospreys

Scrum: 7.5/10 The loss of Paul James will have a big impact on our scrummaging power. Duncan Jones or Ryan Bevington are not nearly the power scrummagers that James is so i'm not sure if we will be able to have the same dominance as we've had. Also when we lose Adam J, while Joe Rees and Aaron Jarvis are solid replacements we will definitely not dominate with them.
Lineout: 3.5/10 Always seems to be crap even with an international hooker, two international locks, a 6'5 number 8/flanker and a great lineout number 7. Doesn't look like improving any time soon either.
Kicking game: 4.5/10 Dan Biggar has got a good boot on him, but our strategy seems to be aimless most of the time. It'll be interesting to see if we try to evolve this.
Breakdown: 8/10 We are very combative at the turnover, but our ball security can be terrible at times. We need to keep the ball in contact.
Defence: 8/10 Very solid, rush defence led by Andrew Bishop, the best defensive centre in Wales. Ashley Beck could learn to be a bit more patient but that will come with experience.
Attack: 7/10 A simple attacking game, nothing flash. Just get it through the hands and crash it up when need be. A real emphasis on counter/turn over attack.
Squad Depth: 6/10 Our forward depth is good, but we lack depth in the backs, especially the back three. Not enough depth to battle on two fronts though.
Coaching: 6/10 Tandy is untested yet, we shall see how he develops as a coach. I feel some are overrating him already. J Humphries is highly rated by a lot in Wales and has overseen our power pack. Gruff Rees is our attack coach, he only had half a season with the team so i will judge him on this years performances. I hope our attack is better.

Expectations this season: Win the Pro 12, 2nd place HC pool with an Amlin spot, semi finals of the LV cup

Players to watch: I'd look out for Ross Jones, he could really make his mark at fullback this year.

New signings: Jonathan Spratt

Other: It's hard to judge how the O's are going to go on the field next year. For the first half of the season we had good results, staying in the top 4 the whole of the season, but in my view we were playing a style/brand of rugby which was ineffective and didn't suit our players as seen in our performances in the HC.

Then in the second half after some disastrous performances Tandy and co.. were brought in, while Scott J left early for a job with Scotland and Sean Holley was fired/let go. Tandy/Hore/J Humphries (not sure who) stripped the game down to the basics, with a solid defence (which we've always had), combativeness at the breakdown and good turnover attack to take advantage of the opponents mistakes. It will be interesting how we will go this year. Will Tandy evolve our style or just keep it the same. I'd like to see some more movement in the backs.

I never said Heskey wasn't a nice guy or that he hasn't done a lot for charity (I didn't know he'd done that charity work, so hats off to him). I was merely commenting on him because of a comment about North being the rugby version of Heskey - I just said North is much better than Heskey, which I think the stats prove.

Nothing against his character or work rate, just his strike rate...

beshocked wrote:You should have beaten Connacht. You can say it wasn't your deity's fault that Harlequins lost but he was in charge of the team tactics.

Quins are a much stronger side than Connacht - there should be no excuses for losing to such opposition.

I know in hindsight it helped because it meant you had one less competition to focus on but still....

That's where you and I will have to agree to differ on a number of counts. One of the things I like about rugby is that it is decided on very fine margins and that results don't always go to form or even to who has the edge on the pitch. And the weather can be a great leveller. Ask Scotland about that. Sometimes the better team loses, even the better team on the night.

For what it's worth, I thought the tactics were right - including Robshaw's decision to go for a scrum rather than a kick. Quins absorbed the pressure and kept the scoreline down when Connacht had the wind at their backs, expecting to recoup the deficit in the second half. With the wind on their side, they were ahead in the set piece and had most of the territory and possession. The decision to go for a scrum rather than a kick at goal was, I think, based on two points - it was early in the half and at the time it looked like Quins would need a bp to go through, and there was a much higher than usual chance of Evans missing (a right footed kicker who is inconsistent to the right of goal, kicking with a strong right-to-left cross-wind - there was a good chance of a miss from there). That the execution of the tactics didn't come off in extreme conditions doesn't really reflect on the coach. It's not as if they were trying to play champagne rugby; playing any kind of game at all was difficult in those conditions.

beshocked wrote:You should have beaten Connacht. You can say it wasn't your deity's fault that Harlequins lost but he was in charge of the team tactics.

Quins are a much stronger side than Connacht - there should be no excuses for losing to such opposition.

I know in hindsight it helped because it meant you had one less competition to focus on but still....

That's where you and I will have to agree to differ on a number of counts. One of the things I like about rugby is that it is decided on very fine margins and that results don't always go to form or even to who has the edge on the pitch. And the weather can be a great leveller. Ask Scotland about that. Sometimes the better team loses, even the better team on the night.

For what it's worth, I thought the tactics were right - including Robshaw's decision to go for a scrum rather than a kick. Quins absorbed the pressure and kept the scoreline down when Connacht had the wind at their backs, expecting to recoup the deficit in the second half. With the wind on their side, they were ahead in the set piece and had most of the territory and possession. The decision to go for a scrum rather than a kick at goal was, I think, based on two points - it was early in the half and at the time it looked like Quins would need a bp to go through, and there was a much higher than usual chance of Evans missing (a right footed kicker who is inconsistent to the right of goal, kicking with a strong right-to-left cross-wind - there was a good chance of a miss from there). That the execution of the tactics didn't come off in extreme conditions doesn't really reflect on the coach. It's not as if they were trying to play champagne rugby; playing any kind of game at all was difficult in those conditions.

formerly known as Sam wrote:That's a very high scrummage rating for the Scarlets! Not sure I'd be that bothered by their props to be honest, I would have thought more of a 6/10.

Well if somebody on here can give Ulster a 10/10 then that rating for the Scarlets cannot be that far off

Shouldn't the average of all these scores be 5???

Geordie - you say your kicking game was awful but rated it 7/10 which is good!

TEAM: Munster last season. It remains to be seen where they'll improve next season.

Scrum: 7/10
Lineout: 7/10
Kicking game: 4/10
Breakdown: 6/10
Defence: 6/10
Attack: 3/10
Squad Depth: 8/10
Coaching: 3/10

Expectations this season:

Players to watch: Dave O'Callaghan, Luke O'Dea, Hanrahan, Sherry, Kilcoyne

New signings: Downey, Stander, Lualala,

Other: New coaches Rob Penney and Mannix will make the biggest difference

Yeah your right...changed...

I know Irish has been done, but fancied a go myself:

TEAM: London Irish

Scrum: 5/10 - I have a feeling that Delaney will improve our scrummaging, but I can only give it a 5 as we have failed to sign a tighthead of any real repute. I am sure Halavatau will push on and he can become a solid operator, but it really would have been good to get somebody else in there. Corbisiero is out for the first 8 rounds of the season so Lahiff will have to step up at loosehead. Think Aulika will provide competition there, which is a shame in a way as he was announced as a tighthead.
Lineout: 7.5/10 - Kennedy will be a big loss, but Evans and Skivington are both solid operators. Evans will call the shots and Delaney will push on our mauling game as well. Garvey, Gibson, Hala'Ufia are also solid operators in the air.
Kicking game: 6/10 - Was very poor last season but I think Geraghty and Humphreys will be a slight improvement on Bowden. Homer's goal-kicking is obviously fantastic and his tactical kicking was beginning to improve as well. O'Leary has a pretty solid box kick
Breakdown: 7/10 - Think Treviranus will be dominant here this season and Hala'Ufia does a lot of good work in this area that often gets missed. Gibson, Paice and Lahiff are also very solid in this department
Defence: 7/10 - Shaun Edwards will surely have an impact in this department and I think we will be a lot more confrontational. Really looking forward to seeing his impact
Attack: 8/10 - Has the potential to be excellent. We just need the forwards to deliver quick ball and for O'Leary to use it. Then Geraghty and Humphreys can work their magic. So much pace and power out wide
Squad Depth: 8/10 - Vast improvement on previous seasons. Maybe not in numbers but the quality in depth seems really good. Genuine competition for each of the 23 places now
Coaching: 7/10 - On paper looks good although think we could do with another coach covering the forwards to go along with Delaney.

Expectations this season: Top 6 and a cup run would be great, but other teams look to have improved as well

Players to watch: Ofisa Treviranus. He was looking awesome towards the end of last season and I think he could be an even better 7 for us than Steff was. Drooling at the prospect of him and Chris H smashing into opponents (legally that is!). Hala'Ufia, Tagicakibau, Sa and Humphreys are the other guys I am excited by. Oh, and Joseph of course.

New signings: Lawson, Aulika, Griffiths, Skivington, O'Leary, Humphreys, Geraghty, Sa, Gaston

Other: Can't remember who commented on Yarde, but I think he is still a bit behind Ojo, Ansbro and maybe even Gaston for the #14 shirt.

Again guys, could you refer to this

10 - Absolute perfection
09 - Excellent
08 - Very Good
07 - Good
06 - Above Average
05 - Average
04 - Below Average
03 - Bad
02 - Very Bad
01 - Apalling

Think of it in those terms? Think of a team that is the best at something and where your team compares.

If Leinster are the best attacking team where would your team fit?
If Leicester are the best scrummaging team where would you fit?
If Quins are the best coached team where would you fit?

There are some quite high ratings going out there and I think all that it takes to see it is a moment of thought. Not everyones team can be 9's or 8's in everything that just isn't acurate.

I think Mick is on to something with his ratings as an example. Leinster don't have an excellent scrum or excellent lineout. Good but not excellent not even very good in the lineout I'd argue. But in attack and at the breakdown we are second to very few.

I suppose what I am saying is, this isn't just an opportunity to big yourself up, more an opportunity to see where you are weak and others are strong. For instance I enjoyed reading the Exeter one as we face Exeter this year. I liked reading the scarlets one too but under no circumstance do I think the Scarlet's scrum is better than our one. Just have a glance at other peoples teams and ratings and that may give a more balanced view me thinks

TEAM: Ospreys

Scrum: 8/10
Lineout: 6 /10
Kicking game: 8/10
Breakdown: 7/10
Defence: 6/10
Attack: 6/10
Squad Depth: 7/10
Coaching: 5/10

Expectations this season: Rabbo play offs maybe HEC quarters.

Players to watch: Justin Tuperic, Hanno Dirksen, Ashley Beck, Matthew Morgan

New signings: Sam Lewis Academy
Sam Davies Accademy
Shaun Connor Dragons
Jonathan Spratt LIrish