Last season London Irish took the final qualifying place with a total of 52 points, in the process winning 10 of their 22 games. They also collected points from 3 drawn games, 3 try scoring bonus points, (one of which came at Headingley), and 3 losing bonus points. Compare that to Leeds 36 points, accumulated from 7 victories, 1 draw, and 6 losing bonus points, and it is quickly apparent that Leeds need to step up a couple of gears if they are to achieve this seasons’ target of a Heineken Cup slot for season 2011/2012.

I think we can all select 4 or 5 games we could, and possibly should, have won last season, but the table doesn’t lie, and if we are to reach our goal this time around, those narrow defeats have to be turned into victories. It’s worth bearing in mind, that at the halfway stage of the season, following our victory at Newcastle, Leeds had only collected 13 points, from 2 wins, a draw and 3 narrow defeats. We had been rocked by ‘Visagate’, and the doom mongers in our midst were setting their sat navs. for Bedford, and Camborne again.

Hopefully we will get a better start this time round. The new recruits are experienced players, and we should have a much stronger squad available when Bath call round on September 5th. That being the case, I hope to see us picking up points from the very start, and this will go a long way to bridging the gap we have to face.

The teams who finished 6th in the 3 previous seasons, had each won 12 games to grab the final HC qualifying place. In terms of league points, this translated to 57, 63, and 53, yet prior to that, Saints sneaked 6th spot with 10 wins and a measly 50 points.

When Leeds finished 4th in 2002/2003, it was on the back of 12 victories, and with 57 points.

I am sure we will target every game as winnable, but for me, we need to win 12 games to be in with a shout of a place in Europe’s top competition the following season. We showed towards the end of last season, that with a bit of luck with injuries we can compete with the best teams in the Premiership. What we have to do now, is start to beat some of them, especially the likes of Quins and Gloucester who will be contesting 6th place with us.

Another area we could certainly improve on is try scoring bonus points, having failed to pick up any at all last term. A lack of creativity in the backs was certainly reflected in our try count, and we can only hope that our new recruits have been told they are allowed to pass the ball when they make a break. Hopefully the hand glue used by Rabeni and Heppy will have been removed from the changing room. Every point will be vital next season, but hopefully we will be picking them up with a view to going into Europe, and not to avoid the drop into obscurity.

There is also the possibility of finishing 7th being high enough to gain entry into the Heineken. This would arise if one of the top 6 teams Premiership were to win the Amlin Cup, as this competition gives the winners automatic entry into the Heineken. Or, of course, we could win the Amlin, and make our league placing irrelevant.

It’s an enormous challenge, but if we can achieve these heady heights, we will all feel the joy of, (finishing in the top), six.

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