We are now 5/18th of our way through the third season, as good a time as any to check how things are running.
I’ll put my cards face up on the table; Gloucester-Hartpury will win a fourth trophy; Saracens will give them a good fight. Leicester will finish a depressing ninth, and the drama will come in the battles between the remaining six.
Any of them could reach the semis; doubts bubble.
Injuries are the constant worry; Bristol Bears probably feel sorriest for themselves. That helps to explain their current position, eighth. We rarely see every club able to pick its strongest side.
Novelty
So many new faces have come into the league. There are new(ish) head coaches too (Bears, Chiefs, Glos-Pury, Quins, Sharks). I doubt they yet know every player’s middle name.
The Board’s attitude
I did a rough count of players not qualified for England in Round 5. With apologies for errors and omissions, they read: G-H 11, Saracens 8, Chiefs 10, Lightning 8, Sharks 11, Trailfinders 14, Quins (DNP), Bears 9 and Tigers 11. That strikes me as a lot. Your reactions?
The PWR board (with Genevieve Shore as Exec Chief) contains members representing the clubs – very sensible. But would it be preferable if they rotated? Perhaps spare time is the issue.
They make their opinions known very rarely.
One recent wheeze is the phrase “injury cover” to explain the arrival of a top player from abroad. That might infringe some employment act or other.
Squad sizes and signings
With squads of around 50, is this the fairest use of resources? This is one of the trickiest matters. 50 might seem ample till the treatment room starts filling up. Are the players omitted from the weekend 23 getting a fair deal?
The biggest change this year is the arrival of Black Ferns. They’ve hardly had time to settle in, but we wait to see whether their presence can help swing results.
Is it time to introduce transfer windows, as in football? I’m always hunting for equality between clubs; it’s hard to achieve.
The last time I recall seeing loans in profusion was when Wasps were coming undone. We don’t want a repeat of that, thank you.
Coverage
TNT has first pick of each week’s four games. Thus far is has covered five of the nine clubs only. Glos-Pury have appeared three times, Quins and Sarries twice.
Fair shares for all? Oh no! Thank goodness the other games are available on YouTube and BBC Sport.
Scoring
In three of the four latest matches the winning side topped 50 points. All the excitement came in that pulsating 26-all draw. Are we getting used to high scores or is it time to reduce the value of the try?
Retirements and replacements
Only two Red Roses have retired post-World Cup, Emily Scarratt (long forecast) and Abby Dow (less obvious). John Mitchell had already sorted his centre positions out (Heard and Jones, backed by Shekells and a selection including Rowland and Aitchison).
But who takes that wing spot? Perhaps Mitchell spends the sunlit hours sorting Gloucesters’ men’s pack out, then the long evenings sifting the claims of a few dozen likely Red Rose wingers.
Leading the way should be be Mia Venner and Bo Westcombe-Evans, both already capped. BWE has recovered from a lengthy injury and scored a try. But rivals line up around the block.
And still to come
We can look forward to a riveting sixth round:
Saturday 6 December
Chiefs v Bears KO 13.00
Glos-Pury v Trailfinders KO 15.05
Tigers v Quins KO 17.05
Sunday 7 December
Sarries v Lightning KO 15 00
Sharks sit this one out. We can safely go for a paddle.
