Leicester celebrate with the Premiership silverware following last season's victory over London Irish in the season finale © Getty Images

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Teams: Bath Rugby | England | Gloucester Rugby | Harlequins | Leeds Tykes | Leicester Tigers | London Irish | Newcastle Falcons | Northampton Saints | Sale Sharks | Saracens | Wasps | Worcester Warriors

After a summer mired in controversy and scandal, English rugby's leading protagonists will no doubt delight in the return of the Guinness Premiership this weekend.

The sport is still reeling from the Harlequins fake-blood saga and the drug-related drama at Bath but thankfully the game can start making headlines for the right reasons as of Friday night with the start off the latest battle for the domestic crown.

With the contentious Experimental Law Variations a thing of the past and the salary cap safely frozen, there is ample reason to believe that this season could exceed the highs of 2008-09 that delivered arguably the most entertaining contest in Premiership history.

As the result of a busy summer there will be a fresh injection of playing talent - with some players defying the exodus to France's Top 14 - while half of the clubs will have a different man at the helm compared to this point last season. In addition, there will be new regulations that will hopefully rid the game of uncontested scrums and prevent another fake-blood controversy.

This all adds up to another exciting campaign - but who will come out on top?

Leicester Tigers lifted the sizeable Premiership silverware at Twickenham in May following a narrow victory over London Irish and they will once again be amongst the favourites having been ever-present at the end of season showpiece for the last five seasons - winning on two occasions.

Head coach Richard Cockerill may have lost the services of the likes of influential scrum-half Julien Dupuy and winger Tom Varndell but welcomes fly-half Jeremy Staunton and the exciting Billy Twelvetrees into his ranks with both set to ease injury concerns surrounding international play-makers Toby Flood and Sam Vesty.

The champions will also be bolstered by the latest stage of the development of their Welford Road home. The new Caterpillar Stand will lift the stadium's capacity to an impressive 24,000 to make a trip to the East Midlands more daunting than ever.

London Irish surprised many last season with their run to final with head coach Toby Booth earning many plaudits as he guided his talented squad to the brink of glory. Veteran Mike Catt was a pivotal figure but is unlikely to see as much game time this year with Booth keen for the side to move on. The loss of fly-half Shane Geraghty will have also hurt the club and the pressure will be on new recruit Ryan Lamb to fill the void.

Harlequins' stand-out form saw them finish the regular season as runners-up to the Tigers before being shut-out by the Exiles in the semi-finals. Sadly for the Twickenham-based club they have hogged the headlines since for all the wrong reasons since then.

The so-called 'Bloodgate' incident has accounted for director of rugby Dean Richards and as a result coaches John Kingston, Colin Osborne and Tony Diprose have taken charge of team affairs. Kingston has talked down the effect of Richards' departure and the team have vowed to rally together but only time will tell if they can ride out the turmoil.

Winger Tom Williams must sit out the first four months of the season as punishment for his part in the scandal but the arrival of England 7s star Josh Drauniniu will go some way to appease the loyal Quins fans.

Bath completed last season's semi-final line-up but are another side that have had to weather a storm of unsavoury headlines since the close of the last campaign. A failed drugs test stripped them of England international prop Matt Stevens earlier this year and co-captains Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett have also since parted company with the west country giants after being found guilty of failing to submit to drugs tests - although they are appealing the charges.

However, head coach Steve Meehan has made some eye-catching additions to his depleted squad in the form of fly-half Olly Barkley, who returns to the club after a short stint at Gloucester, and Western Province flanker Luke Watson - neither a stranger to controversy.

Sale Sharks just missed out on the play-offs last time out and have since waved goodbye to director of rugby Philippe Saint-Andre. They have also suffered a talent drain with Sebastian Chabal, Juan Martin Hernandez and Luke McAlister amongst those to head for pastures new - stripped of such talent any team would struggle.

But new boss Kingsley Jones has made a couple of astute signings in the form of Jason Robinson who joins his backroom staff and winger Ben Cohen with the Rugby World Cup winner returning to the Premiership after a spell with Brive across the Channel.

Gloucester imploded at the end of last season and that resulted in Dean Ryan ending a seven-year relationship with the club. Head coach Bryan Redpath has been tasked with revitalising a team that has lost centre Anthony Allen and fullback Iain Balshaw in the rush for the exit. But fly-half Carlos Spencer and former Wasps wing Tom Voyce bucked the trend by committing to Kingsholm.

London Wasps failed to live up to their own high standards last season - failing to produce the late run that has propelled them to success in recent years. Tony Hanks has now taken the reins with ex-director of rugby Ian McGeechan bowing out at Adams Park but he was not the only one.

Centre Riki Flutey, flanker James Haskell and lock Tom Palmer are all now plying their trade in France's Top 14 and Raphael Ibanez and Josh Lewsey decided to hang up their boots. But in their place come the formidable presence of amongst others wingers David Lemi and Tom Varndell, former Leeds Rhinos star Lee Smith and a resurgent Dan Ward-Smith. Add a fit and raring to go Danny Cipriani into the mix and Wasps are surely set to challenge for honours once again.

Northampton safely cemented their Premiership status on their return to the top flight but will be looking to kick on this season - spurred on by their European Challenge Cup success. Shane Geraghty will no doubt add to their attacking options with former Newcastle backrow Phil Dowson, Springboks prop Brian Mujati and ex-Wallabies lock Dan Vickerman set to underpin their forward effort.

Saracens' evolution has continued apace since last season's injection of South African investment with Brendan Venter now in charge at Vicarage Road. There is no doubting that the club now has a South African flavour but Venter also has a number of talented youngsters such as Noah Cato at his disposal.

Newcastle flirted with relegation for much of last season and director of rugby Steve Bates has re-built his squad over the summer with the notable signings of Kiwi fly-half Jimmy Gopperth and Springboks centre Gcobani Bobo.

Worcester have also under-achieved on the Premiership stage and have been relatively quiet in the transfer market with the permanent acquisition of fly-half Willie Walker from Gloucester set to light up a back line that will also feature fit-again fullback Chris Latham and centre Sam Tuitupou. Skipper Pat Sanderson recently re-signed with the club and will be key to their aspirations.

Rounding out the cast for this season are Leeds Carnegie who return to the Premiership after a one-season absence. Former Tigers stalwarts Neil Back and Andy Key will guide the team with survival surely their first aim.