Well, here we go again. The success of last season seems a long way away now because we have been preparing for the new campaign for so long.

After three months of hard slog, the players and staff here are bristling to get stuck into some meaningful rugby.

And it doesn't get much bigger than Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens to start things off in the Aviva Premiership.

It's about as tough a test as it gets. But this season, probably more than any other, I think we need to take a wider look at the whole campaign and keep things in perspective.

Squads are smaller all over the Premiership and the real test will come at times when injuries and international call-ups take their toll.

The depth of what you have assembled comes to the fore at times like that and our success over recent years has come because we have had a number of players who can do a job in every position.

We hope we have built another successful group this year.

We will go to Northampton aiming for nothing less than a win. If we do so, fantastic. If we don't, it doesn't suddenly mean that we are going to have an indifferent season. There is a bigger picture out there and one that everyone needs to be aware of.

We travel to Northampton without three lock forwards and our first-choice No.8 after injuries to Richard Blaze, Geoff Parling, Louis Deacon and Jordan Crane. That's not ideal but we have the experience of George Skivington and the grit and determination of Calum Green to step in for us in the second row.

We have also acted to bring in cover in the form of Tongan international Steve Mafi this week too. He is raw but he has huge potential.

It will take him a while to get used to the culture, the calls and living in a different hemisphere but I am confident he will do well with us.

Elsewhere on the park, we have plenty of options and there have been some tough choices to make this week.

I have been pleased with our natural progression throughout pre-season. If we can keep creating try-scoring opportunities and cut down on our turnovers, we should be okay on Sunday.

I have been told by many people that we are favourites for the title. We shall wait and see whether they are right or not in the coming months.

If we can lift the Premiership title again, it will be three on the trot and everyone here is as determined as ever to achieve that goal.

I got asked by a journalist this week how I guard against complacency in the squad having won the league two years on the trot. It's not difficult at this club because of the culture we work in.

We need to be successful every year and the consequences of not being successful are there for everybody to see.

Every day we go out there, do our jobs and try to be better than the day before.

If the players are not, they get shouted at or encouraged to do better – whether they have 50 caps or no caps.

We have some great players whose job it is to worry about playing. My job is to worry about whether their head is in the right place.

When they have done well, of course I say "well done", although I am trying to think of when!

They don't need me to tell them they have done well. But I do tell them when it needs to be better.

As a group, they usually react well to that. We have a group of players here who want to work hard, do well and improve their games.

That is good news for me and the supporters of this club.

I hope our hard work behind the scenes is reflected in what you see.

Enjoy the season.