Club: Leeds Carnegie
Last season: n/a
Odds for the season: 200/1
Season opener: home v Gloucester, 16 September
Ins
Joe Bedford, Hendre Fourie, Adam Hopcroft, Erik Lund (all Rotherham), Alberto di Bernardo, Vili Ma’Asi (both Cornish Pirates), James Brooks (London Wasps), Jon Goodridge (Gloucester), Fosi Pala’ama (Leinster)
Outs
Andre Snyman (retired), Jacob Raulini (Australia), James Isaacson, Richard Bryan (both released), Pelu Taule (Saracens)
The director of rugby preview
Leeds Carnegie director of rugby Stuart Lancaster look ahead to his maiden season as a coach in the Guinness Premiership
Excited?
I can’t wait, it’s a huge chance and I’m really looking forward to pitting Leeds against the best teams in the world in the best league in the world.
How do you avoid going straight back down?
I think it’s a bit of a misconception that sides do go straight back down all the time. Look at the last three sides that came up – Worcester, Harlequins and Bristol! The key thing is to be competitive every time and focus on the next game and that’s it. If you focus too much on the end picture, you will come unstuck. You have to get the performance as good as it can be.
Good time what with the World Cup and all?
It’s not a bad time to come up but the clubs who are established have known the World Cup has been coming around and they’ve recruited, prepared and planned for it. There’s not going to be any side caught unaware by the World Cup – we’re not expecting the first six games to be easy.
Sides will be quite unfamiliar with your players though…
There are advantages and disadvantages to being in our position. One of the advantages is the lack of detailed knowledge about our players and our gameplan but it won’t take long for them to observe and analyse our performances. Another advantage is that we’ve been able to sit and watch the Premiership evolve during the last year and pick up the playing styles and patterns – we certainly found out more than we did when we were going into National One last year.
Has playing in National One changed some of the players?
They’ve certainly gained a lot more respect for National One. You only have to look at the pre-season results when Premiership sides played the sides in the higher echelons of National One to see how far they’ve come. As a club we’ve developed a winning habit which is also helpful coming into the Premiership, we’ve now got a tremendous amount of self-belief and confidence.
And you’ve dipped back in National One for recruitment?
Yeah, the players that have come in have been fantastic. They’re all either players who have been there before and have a point to prove or those who believe they’ve got what it takes to play in the Premiership. Every year there’s player who prove they can make the step up from National One, look at the likes of Dave Strettle, Lee Robinson, Shaun Perry etc.
Anyone we should look out for?
I don’t like picking players out because we’re going for the team mentality, but I think we’ll have a competitive lineout, we’ve worked hard on our scrums and we want to have flexibility in the way we play.
How much is Leeds a Premiership club?
We are a Premiership club in my mind. I’ve been here since 1992 and for the last five years we’ve been a Premiership club and earned the right to be there. On and off the field we’re set up, we’ve got an academy which is one of the best in the country – I think the rebranding of the club has also helped engaging the students and the public as well.
What does it mean to you to be taking Leeds back to the top flight?
Back in 1992, I would never have dreamt in my wildest dreams that I’d be the director of rugby at a Premiership side. Even watching the promotional video at the Guinness launch got me excited…
What about the opposition, who do you fancy?
I don’t think you can pick out any side that’s weak, everybody’s going to be well respected by us.
Gear, Mauger, Jack, Russel, James – you’re coming back to a star-laden Premiership?
It’s fantastic isn’t it?! It’s fantastic for the game and if I was one of the players I’d be rolling my sleeves up and saying ‘right, I can’t wait to get stuck into this’.
Supporters’ prediction: 11th. “Safety would be enough! Lancaster’s signed some quality from National One and keeping most of last season’s squad means we’ve got a good team spirit too.” Stuart Parker, Leeds
Rucked prediction: 12th. If Stephen Larkham signs for them he could make a huge impact and he could even be the difference between staying up and going down. Lancaster is a quality coach and he has made some canny signings so they won’t be adrift at the bottom, but it will be tough going.