Bath

Last season: 3rd, and stylish
Gaffer: Steve Meehan, slow-starting Aussie now progressing well
Welcome to: Stuart Hooper, clever lock from Leeds; Shontayne Hape, latest RL convert (whatever happened to the others?); Justin Harrison, possibly creaky Aussie lock
Farewell to: Olly Barkley and Steve Borthwick, arguably the two club pillars
Franchise player: David Barnes, perhaps not the greatest prop, but definitely the most indomitable
Fortress factor: Great loyal fans. You’d have to be to watch your sport at The Wreck. When is the rebuild, for goodness sake?
Goal: respectability. They will struggle to match last season
Fear: That Butch James, back from the TriNations with no off-season, will be knackered
Projected regular season finish: 6th

Bristol

Last season: 9th, with momentum slowing
Gaffer: Richard Hill, master bricklayer, without straw
Welcome to: a bunch of second division thrusters, strictly no galacticos
Farewell to: Sean Hohneck, influential giant lock who, bafflingly, wants to play for lowly Viadana
Franchise player: David Lemi, glorious Samoan finisher
Fortress factor: one sore-thumb stand at the piecemeal Memorial Ground but a decent arena, and raucous Brrrrristolians Goal: to avoid relegation
Fear: that their small playing budget, compared to the giant teams, will cripple them
Projected regular season finish: 12th

Gloucester

Last season: 1st after the regular season, savage home defeat in the playoffs to dreaded Tigers
Gaffer: Dean Ryan, perhaps ham-fisted as a player, but deft as anything as coach
Welcome to: Olly Barkley, to shore up a fallible midfield; Greg Somerville, influential All Black prop
Farewell to: all those culled in a mass clear-out, including Chris Paterson, the able Scot who could never hack it in the Premiership
Franchise player: Peter Buxton, old style boots-and-saddles grafter and groaner
Fortress factor: massive. New Kingsholm is a joy
Goal: to stop falling short by a nose
Fear: that the impish Ryan Lamb is not a league-winning fly-half
Projected regular season finish: 1st

Harlequins

Last season: 6th, and solid
Gaffer: Dean Richards, impossible to imitate, circumvent or overrate
Welcome to: Nick Evans, the superb All Black fly-half. Is he better than Dan Carter? Epi Taione, ridiculously talented Tongan. Can he be tamed?
Farewell to: Adrian Jarvis, the fly-half who struggled last season
Franchise player: Nick Easter, the England No 8 for whom the word wholehearted doesn’t cover it
Fortress factor: high. The dear old Stoop can often have a surprising edge of rabidity about it. And not so much of the old Goal: to join the traditional denizens of the top four
Fear: that they don’t have the pack power, or overall class
Projected regular season finish: 5th

Leicester

Last season: lowly 4th and then only after a late run
Gaffer: Heyneke Meyer, robbed of the Springbok coaching post because he’s not black
Welcome to: Toby Flood, and Derick Hougaard, Test fly-halves with it all to prove
Farewell to: Andy Goode, packed off with nothing to prove
Franchise player: Martin Corry, endless warrior
Fortress factor: mighty. The rebuilding will drain nothing of the passion
Goal: the title. For Leicester, what else is there?
Fear: that they sold the wrong fly-half, and bought two wrong fly-halves
Projected regular season finish: 3rd

London Irish

Last season: 7th, though terrific in Europe
Gaffer: Toby Booth, thoughtful young England thruster
Welcome to: Elvis Seviaili’i, erratic but talented Sale Samoan centre and Chris Hala’ufia, not overdisciplined Quin flanker Farewell to: Brian Smith, the architect coach; Juan Leguizamon, sterling Puma No 8
Franchise player: Bob Casey, incredible hulking engine room
Fortress factor: low. The Madejski is a splendid stadium but is not intimidating
Goal: they are ringing the doorbell of the top four, but nobody is answering
Fear: that the loss of Smith with leave them lacking inspiration
Projected regular season finish: 9th

Newcastle

Last season: 11th, with only relegated Leeds beneath
Gaffer: Steve Bates, bouncing back at the head of a new team
Welcome to: Tane Tu’ipulotu, steely Hurricanes centre; Danny Williams, promising Leeds rugby league wing
Farewell to: Toby Flood and Mathew Tait, England backs jettisoned, and also the fine flanker, Ben Woods
Franchise player: Jamie Noon, enduring and hard as nails in the centre
Fortress factor: good. Kingston Park is a terrific stadium, and terrific fans deserve something to shout about
Goal: first, to avoid the drop; then to advance to where they should be
Fear: as usual, that they lack hard noses, especially in a pack that always seems to be on the way, but never arrives Projected regular season finish: 11th

Northampton

Last season: promoted from National One
Gaffer: Jim Mallinder, ex-Sale and arguably England’s fastest-rising coach
Welcome to: everyone. Large gang of a dozen new men led by the fiery Ulsterman, Neil Best and the dazzling full-back/ scrum-half, Ben Foden
Farewell to: hordes, including the sharp Kiwi Mark Robinson, bound for Wasps
Franchise player: Bruce Reihana, a Kiwi but as committed as if he was born in the city centre
Fortress factor: enormous. Teeming, gleaming, packed Franklin’s Gardens
Goal: not much more for the time being than to stay in the Premiership
Fear: a lack of scoring power and the worry that the rather polyglot and uneven squad doesn’t produce a strong team Projected regular season finish: 10th

Sale

Last season: 5th, disastrously losing playoff spot on the last day
Gaffer: Philippe Saint-Andre, clever and influential French guru
Welcome to: a raft of talent, with Dwayne Peel, the Wales scrum-half, and Mathew Tait, of England, the best known Farewell to: almost a whole team, with the meteoric Ben Foden, bound for Northampton, the most painful departure Franchise player: Charlie Hodgson, immaculate, ruined by England, restored by Sale
Fortress factor: high. The big stand behind the goal is the most fervent in the division
Goal: top four as a minimum, they need to rediscover their true talented selves
Fear: that they will start slowly as a new team bonds round Luke McAlister, the new leader
Projected regular season finish: 4th

Saracens

Last season: 8th, fading badly at the end
Gaffer: Eddie Jones, delightfully newsworthy and artful Australian
Welcome to: Steve Borthwick, the former Bath core player; Michael Owen, once a Wales Grand Slam skipper
Farewell to: Richard Hill, the dynamo in honourable retirement
Franchise player: Kris Chesney, winding up again to give it everything in the pack
Fortress factor: half-dilapidated, half-spanking Vicarage Road can be forbidding if the Sarries are on their game
Goal: The endless quest for the playoff positions starts again
Fear: that they are not, quite, dangerous or inventive enough in their midfield
Projected regular season finish: 7th

Wasps

Last season: champions
Gaffer: Ian McGeechan, the old master still harvesting the trophies
Welcome to: anyone they can afford. Serge Betsen, the veteran flanker and Mark Robinson, the scrum-half
Farewell to: the peerless, volcanic, galvanic Lawrence Dallaglio
Franchise player: Simon Shaw, longest-serving player in the history of the Premiership
Fortress factor: the stadium is too tiny for such a major club. So where on earth are the extension plans?
Goal: to retain the title
Fear: small budget and vast number of Test calls could savage them
Projected regular season finish: 2nd

Worcester

Last season: 10th, after a long period at the foot
Gaffer: Mike Ruddock, brutally treated by Wales, now rediscovering his form
Welcome to: Chris Latham, all-time class Aussie act, worth the admission price alone
Farewell to: some grand Warriors favourites, Thinus Delport, Tony Windo and Shane Drahm
Franchise player: Craig Gillies, perennial lanky lineout master and still underrated
Fortress factor: fearsome. Sixways is ever growing and the wonderful Warrior-lovers grow ever louder
Goal: not to have to endure the annual relegation battle
Fear: that they start slowly again and the doubts return
Projected regular season finish: 8th