Another good win for Zebre. They've moved ahead of Dragons with that result. Even if its during the 6 nations I'd expect a tougher game there than we got last season.

You have to feel sorry for Treviso. Something like 22 lost in a row now despite being very competitive in a large number of those games. Given the difficulty they are having in getting results, that 10 points lead Zebre have over them looks very significant. January looks like this for them: Edinburgh (a) Leicester (a) Munster (h) Ulster (h). When you are on a losing run its hard to see where the next win will come from.

After Embra good news (Glasgow trailing now), Zebre beating Treviso again is another one. 10 points to recover to be the best Italian qualified, they won't make it. There's a high probability they will host us with nothing to play for in April.

They say the table never lies, true when season is over but half way through, it doesn't tell the full story.
All teams have played different teams, home/away Etc.
I compared the same games we've played vs our rivals.
Team / points from same games/ points from head to head / total

Connacht 16 + 4 =20
oSprays 13 +1 = 14

Connacht 14 + 4 = 18
Munster 18 + 1 = 19

Connacht 13 = 13
Scarlets 19 = 19

Connacht 7 + 4 = 11
Edinburgh 13 + 1 = 14

Connacht 13 + 0 = 13
Leinster 13 + 4 = 17

Connacht 17 + 1 = 18
Ulster 16 + 4 = 20

I think the next 6 league games will say a lot about where Connacht will finish. If they only manage 6 or fewer points they will start putting pressure on themselves but if they can manage 14 points from them, they will be well on their way to top 6 or better. They need to win at home to Ulster and especially the Scarlets and also pick up a win away to Cardiff or the Scarlets. An away win at either Munster or Leinster perhaps allowing them to reach 46 points before the start of the 6 Nations and I would seriously start considering the possibility of a top 4 finish.

Ok after Ulster's win over Dragons today everyone has played 7 games and we're top :woohoo:
If I was being critical, we probably could have added another couple of points to our total but its been a very good start. Obviously from here it starts getting tougher.

You'd have to fancy Munster, Leinster, Ulster and Glasgow (not in any particular order) for the Top 4 spots. If Scarlets can pull off some wins away from home they could be in the shake up. Their upcoming run looks quite favourable. Ospreys probably have too much ground to make up at this stage. I'd love to see us as Top 4 contenders and for the moment we can say we are I suppose but over the season as a whole Top 6 is our realistic aim.

In terms of where the challenge for Top 6 is going to materialise from, it looks like nothing much has changed down the bottom. Dragons have no chance at Top 6 and the Italian sides will be battling between themselves for their one spot. Cardiff have shown some promising signs and have already 5 away matches played but they have been leaking bucket loads of trys and it's hard to see them working their way back into Top 6 contention. Their next game is another away game against Ospreys. In Round 9 we've a chance to as good as remove them from the equation if we can get revenge for last season.

That leaves Edinburgh and Ospreys, Edinburgh are now coming off 3 defeats in a row but have 3 wins in the bag against the biggers sides and I'd still expect them to be in the shake up at the end of the season. Ospreys just can't miss out on Top tier rugby if they want to keep hold of their top players so I'd expect them to be very focused for the months ahead to make big inroads into the gap that's been opened up on them.

Table after Round 7
Connacht 28
Munster 27
Scarlets 26
Leinster 23
Ulster 22
Glasgow 22
Edinburgh 18
Ospreys 11
Dragons 10
Zebre 9
Cardiff 9
Treviso 4