Tigers can find roar once again

A preview of the English Premiership season ahead of this weekend's opening games

Toby Flood of England, centre, in action against Cobus Visagie, right, and Pedrie Wannenburg of the Barbarians.

Bath This sleeping giant finally woke up last season, impressing en route to third in the league. But it remains to be seen how badly they will be affected by the departure of their captain Steve Borthwick and playmaker Olly Barkley. They have brought in the lock Stuart Hooper from Leeds and centre Shontayne Hape from the rugby league side Bradford Bulls to fill the gap and they should have enough continuity not to fall too far back down the table. The key to their success will be the half-back partnership of South African duo Michael Claassens and Butch James.

Predicted finish: Fourth Bristol They pulled off a coup at the end of last season by snatching Adrian Jarvis from Harlequins. One of the form fly-halves in the Premiership, until now he has been overlooked by England. His new employers will be looking to him to add attacking flair to their defensive platform although his cause will not be helped by the injury to scrum-half Shaun Perry, whose shoulder surgery means he will miss the first three months of the season. The club do not look to have the squad to match the bigger names in the league, although they will not be hit by England call-ups as only one of their players, Jason Hobson, made the England elite or Saxons squads.

Predicted finish: Tenth Gloucester Gloucester topped the Premiership at the end of the regular season but missed out on a place in the play-off final. There was no denying they had electric backs last season but they lacked experience and, at times, looked lightweight. That ought to be resolved by the arrival Barkley, who made a surprise west-country move from Bath and will line up with his England teammate Mike Tindall at centre. The All Black prop Greg Somerville adds further experience to the pack and they should be challenging at the top of the table.

Predicted finish: Third Harlequins In Nick Evans, Quins might well have signed the best fly-half in world rugby right now. There is a school of thought in New Zealand that he is actually better than the first-choice All Blacks No 10 Daniel Carter. Either way, Evans is a more than capable replacement for the Bristol-bound Jarvis, and should help raise Quins to the next level. The boss Dean Richards, who shaped the wonder years at Leicester, is an astute coach, who has built up an impressive squad to push the top sides in the Premiership on a regular basis. The other major new signing, Epi Taione, ought to add some bone-crunching muscle to the team.

Predicted finish: Fifth Leicester It shows the high standards that the Tigers set that last season - when they were runners-up in the play-off final - was deemed a disappointment and the coach Marcelo Loffreda was sacked after just one season in charge. They have a world-class replacement in Heyneke Meyer, who was harshly overlooked for the post of South Africa boss and will want to prove a point after moving to England. Meyer's countryman Derick Hougard and the England centre Toby Flood are the two big signings of the summer and the 2007-8 season blip looks set to be a thing of the past. Expect Leicester to be firing on all cylinders.

Predicted finish: First London Irish There will be worried faces at the Exiles following the departure of Brian Smith to become England's attack coach. Smith turned the club from conservative battlers to one of the most attacking sides in the Premiership, which was perhaps best shown as they upstaged more established sides in a cracking Heineken Cup run last season. Their main hope is that Smith's mindset will have been instilled in Toby Booth and Mike Catt. Other big exits include the No 8 Juan Leguizamon, who has been snapped up by Stade Francais and is a hard one to replace.

Predicted finish: Ninth Newcastle They look favourites for the drop to National League One come the end of the season and are seemingly a club in disarray. Of their big three in the backline, two have quit the club, with Flood moving to Leicester and Mathew Tait heading to Sale. They may have held on to Jonny Wilkinson, but his injury record combined with possible England duty means the club cannot rely on him to keep them in the Premiership. Their pack remains too weak to front up to the bigger packs and it could end up being a long season at Kingston Park.

Predicted finish: 12th Northampton A season in National League One seems to have done Saints the world of good. Gone is the belief that they deserve a place at rugby's top table. They have kept some of their star names - the influential fly-half Carlos Spencer is still on their books and ought to provide the required star turns. But their summer spending has been less about big names and more about building a squad to stay up. Neil Best joined from Ulster and the ever-improving Ben Foden moved from Sale.

Predicted finish: Eighth Sale One of the tougher sides to predict in the Premiership, Philippe Saint-Andre's side can be world beaters one day and hopeless wannabes the next. In Luke McAlister, they have the calibre of player to build a team around but he cannot do it all on his own and much will be expected of Charlie Hodgson. The arrival of Wales scrum-half Dwayne Peel and the England utility back Tait ought to give Sale one of the most exciting backlines in the game but it remains to be seen whether they can fizz like they have in the past.

Predicted finish: Seventh Saracens Despite the multi-millions that Nigel Wray has pumped into the club, they have never quite lived up to their potential. The signs appeared to be different last season where they looked a match for the top sides before slipping to a disappointing eighth with a poor run-in. With coach Eddie Jones, they have the perfect platform to finally live up to their billing. Their pack has been given a powerful boost by the arrival of the lock Steve Borthwick and Welsh back-row forward Michael Owen.

Predicted finish: Sixth Wasps The London club have such an appetite for silverware, but the Premiership champions - who beat Leicester in last season's play-off final - will have to do it without Lawrence Dallaglio, who hung up his boots after that success. The club have bagged an equally experienced replacement in the French stalwart Serge Betsen, while their other stand-out signing is Mark Robinson, an impressive New Zealand-born scrum-half who has joined from Northampton. They might start slowly but expect them to get better as the season goes on.

Predicted finish: Second Worcester A total of 16 players have left Sixways this summer as Mike Ruddock has done his best to streamline his squad for the coming campaign. The Warriors may well have spent too much of their wage cap on bringing in the Australia full-back Chris Latham from Queensland Reds, however influential a player he might be. The major plus for Worcester is that they always seem to be at their best at Sixways and, should they manage to improve their away form this season, they could survive the relegation battle which looks set to go to the wire at the end of the season. But it will be close.

Predicted finish: 11th [e-mail]