The close season transfers have not been overly exciting after the massive changes last year when the demise of Bristol was the catalyst for many of the movements.

I've tried to avoid listing all the changes, departures and arrivals and have generally just picked out those that have caught my eye.

Bath (2003/4 - First)

The shock for me last term was just how quickly the thirty-odd changes to the playing personnel and the new coach, in the formidable form of John 'Knuckles' Connolly, settled down.

In spite of massive disruption through many members of the first choice squad being on World Cup duty and more than a fair share of injuries to the remaining key players Bath prevailed, although paradoxically when these travails were behind them their form went off a bit toward the end of the season, which again permitted Wasps to grab the pot.

I have to confess that on each of the occasions that I watched Bath last season I was left thinking, after another win was duly slotted, how did they manage that?

The pack was good but workmanlike rather than hugely dominant, the backs stuttered and yet they still won, over and over again and our old adversaries really did deserve the pot as the most consistent team in the league in the troubled 2003/4 season.

There have only been three new arrivals in the form of Nick Walshe from Sale and Joe Maddock from Canterbury with the coaching and management team quite understandably taking the view that 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it'. Maddock, a New Zealand Maori, is seemingly a bit of a try machine. Welsh International Christian Loader has moved in from deposed Rotherham to boost the front row options.

I was surprised to see Kevin Maggs and the talented Wylie Human depart for Ulster and Saints respectively although less so in the case of Mike Catt whose injury misfortunes saw him become a bit detached from the mainstream and it would also seem that Bath finally saw the light where Iain Balshaw is concerned.

I think that Bath are too strong to do anything other than well in the new season however I don't see them as table toppers this time - but who knows they might get the pot anyway!

2005 Prediction: Third

Wasps (2003/4 - Second)

Once again Wasps came good as the season drew on and they again nipped in to nick the League Championship pot from under the noses of the league winners who in both of the last two seasons have failed to secure their just reward for nine months hard graft.

Although coach Warren Gatland has told us that he has nothing left to prove and Dallaglio has told us that Wasps only win when they have to I would guess that the club badly want to top the table AND get the Championship pot, a feat which thus far only Tigers have managed to achieve, and be acknowledged as undisputed League Champions.

As at Bath the adage of no change for changes sake has been followed with only the move of Matt Dawson, to cover the long term absence of Robert Howley in the first half of the season, being especially notable amongst the arrivals.

With the form openside for much of last season, Paul Volley, having departed for Castres with colleague Mark Denney this will be an interesting area to watch. Jonny O'Connor is a fine player but whether he has the terrier like quality and indomitable spirit that Volley showed for so long must be troubling the Wasps faithful as must any injury to the Irishman.

It is hard to otherwise find a flaw in their armour although as we saw when Tigers comprehensively dismantled them on a rainy Saturday afternoon toward the end of last season if they are not at full strength and on their game they are as vulnerable as any other team to a committed opponent.

Will they continue to ride their luck? Actually I think they will and with the superb Craig Dowd back and in spite of the departure of some experienced players in Logan, Roiser and Rudd reducing their options they'll be a tough nut to crack up front, but this time after a very close run thing they may well be able to prove that they are the true Champions.

2005 Prediction: First

Northampton (2003/4 - Third)

If I found their patchy form last season infuriating I expect the Franklins Gardens faithful were similarly vexed.

My tip as chart toppers last season they did play some very good rugby at times but again failed to come up with the goods at the crucial moments.

As is generally the case nothing in the arrivals lounge to make my heart soar although they will enjoy the muscular John Rudd when covering for Cohen and the quicksilver Wylie Human is good value but otherwise it's been a squad strengthening exercise really.

Not a cause for my spirits to soar was the long trailed arrival of Krige. To my mind a signing in the same category as that of McRae at Gloucester last season. Tough game rugby may well be with rough house play in the heat of the moment but an opportunity for premeditated violence of the kind we've seen from Krige on more than one occasion? Surely not.

The departures of John Leslie, Nick Beal and Budge Pountney to retirement have deprived the side of a real spine of experience to which of course must be added the defection of Dawson to Wasps. The departure of Mark Connors is also a big loss as I always thought him to be one of their best signings.

But almost greater than all these individually is the returning home of Wayne Smith who did so much to bring the spring back into the step of those at the Gardens since his arrival and I thought that he wasn’t far away from having a great team with the results to match. Solomons?

Well somehow he doesn't seem a fit with the Saints ethos. A candidate for the Tigers job but rejected as being too radical in his ideas he is now looking to make his mark at Franklins Gardens.

So we shall have to wait and see if his style and the frequent flyer discount that he must have negotiated with South African Airways, given the influx of his countrymen to Northampton since his arrival, does the trick.

Not a bad season for our pals down the road but not a great one either, especially if Thompson doesn't recover his form that's gone AWOL since the exploits of last November and it's interesting that two more hookers have been added to the fold!!

2005 Prediction: Fifth

Glaws (2003/4 - Fourth)

The Cherry and Whites were again the form team for the first part of last season before somehow drifting out of their game as the season drew to a close and their European adventure once again faltered.

I do wonder if the significant changes in the front row personnel will reduce the effectiveness of their pack although with Brown and Eustace they'll continue to be a handful in the lineout if Azam finds his jumpers with his football type throw.

The return of Azam will certainly give them some dynamism in the loose and, they must be hoping, compensate for the loss of Woodman in this department. Everybody at Castle Grim will also be keeping everything crossed that Vickery will return from his overdue back surgery as something like his old self.

The departure of the talismanic Paramour has seen the arrival of our very own Adam Balding in who, together with Boer, Forrester, Hazell and Buxton, they have a good set of options in the provision of a pacey approach, whether they have sufficient grunt available should they need it is another thing.

The Kingsholm side have a good half back combination although McRae will need to vary his game from the endless chip and chase and give the form inside centre for much of last season, Henry Paul, something else to do and who will have to show a bit more metal when things go awry. Todd and Delport are major losses in the back division where Glaws too have paper thin cover should injuries strike Garvey and Simpson-Daniel.

Somehow I feel that it will not be their year.

2005 Prediction: Fourth

Tigers (2003/4 - Fifth)

With something of a low key close season as far as signings are concerned it seems that after a good run in to the end of the 2003/4 season the motto has been steady as we go.

Of course this strategy is not strictly possible with the departure of Jaco from Fly-half where he made such an impact in the second half of last season, aided by the pack actually giving him and the rejuvenated Harry Ellis some decent ball to work with.

Andy Goode looks to be the number one choice for the troublesome #10 spot and if he forges an enduring and successful partnership with Ellis then it is to be hoped that the new coaching set up will enable the backs to capitalise.

With Johnno and Back available throughout the season and if injuries do not expose what I still feel is a lack of depth in certain positions then I think we'll have rather more to cheer about than had been the case up and until last Spring.

Of the arrivals Seru Rabeni looks a good prospect from what little I’ve seen of him but we'll have to wait until October to judge.

The makings are certainly there but while I think Tigers will have one of the dominant packs next term it is inevitable that there will be injuries and that our back play could suffer from the lack of cover especially at #10.

But overall I expect us to continue the good work of the second half of last season and with a bit of good fortune come close.

2005 Prediction: Second

Harlequins (2003/4 - Sixth)

With the securing of the Parker Pen Quins joined with Wasps in coming out on top in a contest in which they roundly otherwise came second best but it's the winning that counts and they've got the pot.

Down at the Stoop there has been another crowd scene in the departure lounge with the talented Taumalolo and Chris Bell departing along with Pat Sanderson and their erstwhile Goldenboot Paul Burke scenting the fragrance of clover filled pastures anew. Jason Leonard is of course famously retired and so with half a dozen other changes, including that which led to Scott Bemand turning up at Welford Road, the Quins squad has a very different look.

However here there are some signings which I shall be very interested to see with British Lion and Welsh International Dafydd James and once capped Irishman Jeremy Staunton promising much on the wing and from Full Back respectively.

However while the England A prop Maurice Fitzgerald arrives from Biarritz and Tongan International flanker Maama Molitika crosses the Severn from Celtic warriors to bolster the pack I think this is an area where Quins may again struggle in the tight.

I guess as at Tigers it will more than ever depend on how unfortunate Quins are with injuries however in spite of his sometimes suspect playmaking the absence of the reliable long range boot of Burke could be a deciding factor in the many tight games that the premiership produces.

Could be a rebuilding year.

2005 Prediction: Eighth

Sale (2003/4 - Seventh)

Last season Sale, when going well, suffered cruelly from injuries to key personnel with Bond, Hodgson, Redpath, Anglesea and Sheridan all being notable absentees.

It is hard to see anybody disagreeing that at full strength this is again the class back division in the premiership and with Redpath and Hodgson back with the superb Mike Hercus in the wings not to mention the arrival of Robert Todd and Taumalolo there is also class in depth.

However once again it could be the pack that is their downfall. Woodman is of course a great signing but he is not the greatest of scrummagers his forte being his dynamism in the loose and around the fringes.

There has, predictably with the arrival of StAndre, been signings not only from Gloucester but from French clubs too although Lobbe is already crocked and the loss of the combative Sanderson and the experienced Fullaton to Saracens will not help matters.

If the Sale backs get the ball then they'll need little chance to convert the possession into points but I just don't think the pack will be able to cough it up often enough but the backs will convert what they get. Watch out though for the penalty count from the usual StAndre clutch of French imports.

2005 Prediction: Seventh

London Irish (2003/4 - Eighth)

Untroubled by the World Cup Irish made a good start to the last season but once the playing field was levelled they dropped away.

Just two notable departures that of Chris Sheasby to retirement and Naka Drotske back to play in South Africa. Sheasby's drive and spirit will be sorely missed and I wonder who will be the new totem around which the team will gather when things get tough.

No great excitement in the new signings other than the arrival of Mike Catt to conduct his swansong. If he stays injury free and settles at The MadStad then he could be the ideal individual to get the Irish back division on the move and if Mapletoft is preferred to the more sterile Everitt at Fly Half then there may be some sparks from the likes of Bishop, Sackey, Appleford and Horak.

The Irish pack has been awkward of late rather than dominant and I see nothing to change that situation, particularly with the departure of the endlessly endearing Chris Sheasby and it's hard to imagine that the signing of journeymen Robbie Russell and Richard Skuse will make the difference needed.

I somehow think that the rapier talents of Catt may be blunted by too slow a service from the pack and the half backs and that Irish will not enjoy the haymaking time of last Autumn.

2005 Prediction: Ninth

Newcastle Falcons (2003/4 - Ninth)

Mr Andrew has without doubt made THE signing of the season capturing experienced Wallaby, the superb Matt Burke.

If Jonny Wilkinson is fully restored then with the likes of Burke, May, Noon, Stephenson et al the Falcons have a back division to rival but perhaps not quite match that of Sale.

As ever though even the wonderful Wilko needs the ball and with Vyvyan, Archer and Andrews gone so does a huge chunk of experience together with the promise of Godman and the excellent Dunbar.

It will be interesting to see if Gross by name and by physique is equally large on the talent stakes now he has departed the trials and tribulations of Rotherham and whether Charvis is as good as he thinks he is once he is exposed to the week in week out examination that the premiership exacts.

The Wilkinson factor is the imponderable here as Falcons have been denied his talents for such prolonged periods over the past few years, the cost to them being incalculable, much as the loss of Johnno is, or hopefully was, to Tigers.

I don’t think that their pack is of sufficient quality in general and in the front five in particular to see them as contenders for the league but it will be a better year for the Kingston Park side.

2005 Prediction: Sixth

Saracens (2003/4 - Tenth)

Well who knows about Saracens? I certainly don't. Another poor season followed by another mass clear out and another mass influx of new players. This time there being no fewer than 28 changes in playing personnel

I suppose that eventually this policy of everybody being thrown into the pot, being spun round until a load fly out, to be replaced by another set of bodies, may eventually work and maybe this will be the season. Maybe.

Poor old Sale Sharks have certainly had their treasure chest plundered although I am left wondering why Rod Kafer turned his sights on Sale for forwards when they are not exactly renowned for their forward play and yet Cairns, Sanderson, Fullaton, Yates and Kyriacou have all been drafted in to boost the Sarries often creaking pack.

There's the usual sprinkling of southern hemisphere arrivals from down under but really the two signings that catch my eye are Hugh Vyvyan, a shock departure from Falcons and Dan Scarborough from Leeds.

So will it work this time? Who knows? I suppose that the balance of probabilities is that if you keep trying the same idea for long enough it's day will come.

Bath had similar volume of changes last term and it worked but somehow the Bath changes had an air of thought about them whereas at Sarries it always seems that there's just been another trip by the incumbent coach to 'Rugby Players 'r Us' armed with Nigel Wray's cheque book.

2005 Prediction: Tenth

Leeds Tykes (2003/4 - Eleventh)

After a good start to the season the return of players from the World Cup and injury at the other clubs saw the Headingley side plunge like a stone and give thanks for the plight of their Yorkshire neighbours, the ill fated Rotherham, whose presence provided the ultimate safety net for the other poor performers as they formed a solid plug in the drain down to National One.

On balance I think the loss of Scarborough, Stuart-Smith, Phil Murphy and Persico amongst others is not matched by the quality of the signings. Balshaw we all know about, so perhaps Phil Davies has not been concentrating. although the itinerant Chris Murphy and Chris Bell are, with John Dunbar, all good players as of course is our erstwhile favourite son Tim Stimpson.

As is the case elsewhere it will depend on whether their attempts to strengthen their pack will bear fruit but even if they do I question whether there is the cutting edge in the backs to make use of the possession. Let's hope they're not relying on Balshaw!

I rather fear for Leeds this year.

2005 Prediction: Twelfth and relegated.

Worcester Warriors

(2003/4 - Unbeaten National One Champions)

Like Rotherham in the two preceding seasons Worcester have earned their tilt at the premiership but they'll not find it easy and nobody at, in, or around the club thinks it will be.

In John Brain and Keast they have two very grounded individuals and with the demanding and wealthy Cecil Duckworth behind them, to whom failure is not an option, Worcester will be no push over.

I think that in losing just four of their championship winning squad, and then only to the retirement of Swanepoel, Evans, Bates and the excellent David Officer, they have got it right.

Understandably there have been lots of signings in anticipation of the trials traumas that lay ahead of them and they have made some very shrewd buys with Delport, Stuart-Smith, Lombard, Murphy, Sanderson, Gollings and Horsman amongst the new arrivals.

They may have been better advised to have boosted their tight five rather more than they have and may find things a struggle against some of the premiership packs.

It will not be easy to settle these changes down but unlike other promoted teams they have kept the roots of their success in place and have those foundations on which to build.

If they get a few early wins at Sixways and get the fortress mentality

going again then who knows.

2005 Prediction: Eleventh

That's what I think but of course my track record on such things is not great.

Look what I said last year!

Two right out of twelve - no cigar!!

So being a glutton for punishment: AND As for the rest of next season?

Heineken Cup - Stade Francais

Parker Pen - Falcons

Powergen – Wasps

Championship Cup - Tigers