Next season

If all goes to plan with the RFU, expect decisions by Jan 24 at the earliest so no will know what they are playing for!!

I think it'll be a great tussle at the top, especially as this will be the first season in a few years featuring a newly relegated Championship side in Richmond. Clearly much will depend on how much of their squad they can retain, and potentially add to. 

They will be seen as the boys to beat, but I believe (and hope) Rams can go one better and gain the promotion that they should have had sown up in April but ultimately stumbled when it mattered and paid the price, sadly with themselves to blame.

Sale will no doubt also see this coming season as 3rd time lucky having been pipped by Caldy and Cambridge previously. I expect them to bring in more DR Sharks/academy players to try and get the job done this time round, and a thronging Heywood Road is something of a home fortress for them so teams should beware of that effect!

With regards Richmond, Rams and Sale, unfortunately I do quietly fear that the question of promotion from Nat 1 may become academic as I can see the top 2 tiers becoming ring-fenced together in the not too distant future. The Prem/Champ cup could be the start of that process and the powers that be do in their heart of hearts realise that the Prem alone is not sustainable in its current guise with Wasps & Worcester gone and perhaps Irish and Falcons on the brink. Despite what many think, they know its at crisis point, whether they admit or not is another matter.

I'll be intrigued to see what Rosslyn Park do this time round. The ££ signings of last season didn't deliver enough and often enough, with many not even featuring regularly apart from Matt Gordon and Charlie Walker. Something not right there for a club of their pedigree, perhaps a change of coaching staff needed, or the issue they tend to have playing away from the plastic.

I'd then say Plymouth and Cinderford will be chasing the above and snapping at their heals the whole way. Again, Brickfields and Dockham Road are two of the hardest places to go and get 4 points, let alone 5 (just ask Rams about key games where they rue the results!). Great seeing Plymouth having such a renaissance.

After that is anyone's guess. Bishop's Stortford, DMP, Moseley most likely. I'm looking forward to seeing how Blackheath bounce back, they won't want to leave Nat 1 again anytime soon. I imagine Sedgley Park will be recruiting hard over the summer, hoping to get some DR players in to strengthen their squad, who I understand have been together for some time which is usually a strong position to be in. I don't know much about Leicester Lions, but I hope the newly promoted sides go for it from the off and don't go straight back down like Esher and Hull. Esher may have survived had they come out firing, but lost most of their games up to Christmas, leaving too much to do after that. Although a resilient and proud bunch, Hull were evidently out of their depth throughout the season as a whole, and what a slog it must have been.

I have read some comments about Level 4 being diluted in quality after going to 3 leagues, so whether that widens the gap in quality when teams make the step up will be interesting.

At a guess, and it is obviously just that, I'd say Chinnor, Taunton and the new boys might be the ones scrapping it out for survival come April next year, but who knows! Good luck to all.

Ah Moseley - no idea what's going on at Moseley. Assuming we can hold on to most of them (and to be honest that's usually a big if) we've got the squad, the talent and the ability to be top 5. With a bit of astute signings possibly even better. But we've also got a slack handful of first choicers who are so injured they didn't even play last season (hello Messrs Dawes, Hutchinson, etc) and no consistency on the pitch whatsoever.

There's nothing in rugby as mercurial as Moseley were last season. It's really, really odd. 

Nick Easter revitalized Chinnor. With him there from the start, I think they may do better.