Last year’s comprehensive victory in the cuppers final against Jesus confirmed a sixth successive cup and league double for St John’s rugby team and much to everyone’s dismay it is difficult to look past them doing it again this time around.  Having comfortably won the league for the tenth year in a row, new captain Mathonwy Thomas will be supremely confident of another very successful season.  With Reid, Cheetham, Cherezov and Wilson all in the Blues squad ready to be called upon for big games against their nearest rivals Jesus and Downing, St John’s still have comfortably the best squad in college rugby.  Here’s hoping that such an unexciting predictable procession fails to materialise.

At the other end of the table, in a division with the perennial strength of John’s, Jesus and Downing, it will be a scrap to avoid relegation between Trinity, Queen’s and Magdalene.  Trinity narrowly managed to avoid the drop to Division 2 last year, but it will be more difficult for them this year as both Magdalene and Queens’ have the capability of calling upon University players if necessary.

Division 2’s most recent acquisitions from the top flight, St Catharine’s and Girton will be confident of being at the top of their league by the end of the term.  With more quality and more experience than the others in their division, it is likely they will immediately head straight back up to join college rugby’s elite.  Emmanuel and CCK (Clare, Corpus and Kings) will be involved in a play-off in the first week of term to determine who will take the last place in Division 2.  Having played some dreadful rugby even in the third division last year, Emma will need to play well to defeat a CCK side who beat Downing on the way to the semi finals of the Cuppers competition.  It is likely that Robinson, newly promoted to Division 2 will struggle last year after playing a very outdated form of rugby.  However, there is no doubt that the enthusiasm for their season is high and if they pass the ball rather than kick it aimlessly, there is potential for them to survive the season.

In the dingy depths of Division 3 it will be Caius and Christ’s who fight it out to avoid finishing bottom of the bottom league in Cambridge.  Christ’s succumbed to that fate last year, but there is little to suggest lightening will not strike twice.  Caius have been suffering for a few years now with increasingly disappointing positions in college rugby, and, like Christ’s, unless there is an influx of new talent the bottom place dog fight awaits.

Churchill, who defeated Trinity in last year’s Cuppers, are likely to reach the promotion league, as are the losers of the CCK-Emmanuel play off.  Other than that there is little separating any of the sides in the bottom league.  Homerton and Selywn-Peterhouse will hope that they can raise themselves above the sea of mediocrity that is the third division.  Most importantly, all teams will be desperate not to join Caius and Christ’s in the icy depths of the League of Shame.