GLASGOW can reclaim the PRO12 title this year, the Warriors’ head coach, Gregor Townsend, said last week. Edinburgh can get into the top four - at least - the capital team’s prop, Rory Sutherland, said this week.

Similarly optimistic statements are being made by coaches and players about their own clubs in Ireland, Wales and even - albeit in more muted fashion - in Italy. And why not? If you cannot be optimistic about your own team at the start of the season, you really should consider taking up a different line of work.

But if we leave optimism to one side for a moment, and try to look at the coming campaign in a more coldly realistic mode, what should we expect? A competition that is more open than it has been for at least a couple of years, according to Townsend.

“I see this PRO12 being more competitive than the last two, which were already pretty competitive, with four or five teams pushing right to the wire,” said the coach, who is about to begin his final season with Glasgow before taking over Scotland duties from Vern Cotter. “I can see seven or eight teams this year in the mix. I genuinely mean this - any one of seven or eight teams could win.”

This projected levelling up of standards should be a consequence of the fact that coaches will have their whole squad available for far longer. Last year, the Rugby World Cup deprived teams of their best players for much of the autumn, almost inevitably leading to widespread inconsistency as selectors were forced to chop and change.

The Warriors, with more than a score of men absent on international duty, were the most badly affected of the dozen teams in the league, and it was no coincidence that their best spell of the season, an imperious run of results that propelled them from eighth right up towards the top of the table, came in the spring when the entire squad had reassembled at Scotstoun.

Nor should it have been a surprise that Connacht, with relatively few absentees, were among the pace-setters in the autumn. What was a shock to everyone - with the likely exception of the province’s unflappable coach, Pat Lam - was how Connacht kept up that pace all the way to the final at Murrayfield, where they beat Leinster to lift the trophy for the first time.

By becoming champions out of nowhere, having not even previously finished in the top six since the competition began its current format, Connacht became the exception to what had become widely accepted as a PRO12 rule: that you have to build gradually, learning what it is like to lose in the play-offs before finding out how to win them. That smooth, steady progress was epitomised by Townsend’s Glasgow over the past five years, and it will be fascinating to find out how many teams take inspiration instead from Connacht and have a real crack at the title after being utterly out of contention in seasons past.

That inspiration is one explanation for Townsend’s argument that it is possible for seven or eight teams to win. Having said that, it is probable that a considerably smaller number will produce the consistent form needed to have a genuine chance.

The Warriors have to be regarded as part of that number. They will miss Leone Nakarawa, now with Racing 92, but have high hopes for his replacement at lock, Tjiuee Uanivi. On the wing, newcomer Leonardo Sarto may not have the hulking menace of his predecessor, Taqele Naiyaravoro, but he can be relied upon to play at a higher level far more regularly.

Having finished in the play-off places for each of the past five years, the Warriors know exactly what it takes to succeed in this competition. So too do Leinster, who get the season under way tonight with a home game against Benetton Treviso, and who have made it to the last six finals. Such a proud record will have to end sometime, of course, but it would be foolhardy to bet on it coming to a conclusion this season.

So Glasgow and Leinster look the most likely teams to make the play-offs, but the identity of the other two is harder to predict. Connacht proved that you write them off at your peril, but after losing Aj MacGinty, Aly Muldowney and Robbie Henshaw, they could become victims of their own success.

If Connacht falter, Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys - who begin this evening with a home banker against Zebre - should be the beneficiaries. Scarlets have a fine back division - the best in Europe on its day, according to Townsend - but there are concerns about their strength in depth. Cardiff only came seventh last season, but finished strongly and have since made some useful signings, notably Willis Halaholo from the Hurricanes.

The Ospreys are also on the way back after a couple of underachieving seasons, and should finish just behind the Blues. By contrast, the fourth Welsh team, the Newport Welsh Dragons, again look set to finish some way behind not only their own compatriots, but also every other non-Italian team in the league. In fact this time the Dragons, who visit Ulster in this evening’s other match, may find that Treviso pip them for tenth, with Zebre being the only team below them.

Teams outwith the top four still have the incentive of a Champions Cup spot to keep them going, and that should be enough to spur on Ulster, Munster, Edinburgh and the Scarlets as well as Connacht. Sutherland’s ambition is admirable, but in such company Edinburgh will be doing well to force their way into the top six.