Former England and Lions star Guscott is a BBC rugby union pundit

Former Bath, England and Lions centre Jeremy Guscott answers your questions after the first week of action in the new domestic season.

Some of the topics Jerry addresses this week are:

- Exeter's chances of surviving in the Premiership after their stunning debut win over Gloucester

- Which team has the most threatening backline in England's top flight

- Whether he agrees with Sir Ian McGeechan's call to scrap relegation from the Premiership

- How Wales will fare under the new law interpretations favouring the attacking team

If you have any questions for Jerry, please use the postform on this page. He will answer as many as possible next week, but unfortunately not every question submitted can be used. This week's answers appear below.

As an ardent Exeter fan, I expected us to push Gloucester all the way, but didn't expect the victory that we gained. What do you think of their chances of staying up? And how crucial is the game against Newcastle in two weeks?
Robert Sinden, England

Exeter are flying high at the moment but will they fall to earth?

Hi Robert, firstly, what a great result - fully deserved on performance and commitment.

Exeter will do extremely well to stay up because everything is stacked against them. They're new to the Premiership, have less funding than other teams and had less preparation time because of the ridiculous play-off system in the Championship.

For Exeter to stay up you will have to target winning games at home, and away games where teams might be weakened by players representing their countries. Worcester were relegated last season with 28 points, I would say Exeter have to have a target of 30 points plus to be in with a chance of survival.

The Newcastle match is at home and I'm sure it is one that coach Rob Baxter has targeted as a must-win game. Leicester next week away will give Exeter a real measure of what standard is required to survive in the Premiership.

Given the performance of Exeter this weekend, do you still see them as the whipping boys of the Premiership or will they prove to be the thorn in the side of many teams?
Peter Covington, UK

Hi Peter, in my preview piece for this season's Premiership I said that for Exeter to survive their forwards will have to perform week in week out, and fly-half Gareth Steenson will have to kick his penalties - it is a case of so far, so good on that front.

Worcester only won three games last season, drew four and earned eight losing bonus points to total 28 points. I believe Exeter can do better if the forwards step up. After the performance against Gloucester other teams will now know the Chiefs are not going to be a pushover.

If you don't mind me saying, you seemed very overly critical of London Irish last season. Their form was bad at the end of the season but they did have a lot of injuries and they don't have a very deep squad.

But having probably 'surprised' Saracens on Saturday do you think there could be more to come from them this season? Maybe even a play-off spot?
Ben Davy, England

Hi Ben, I was critical of Irish because they proved in the 2008-9 season they had what it took to get to a final, but didn't learn from that experience and fell away badly last season.

At the weekend they took what Sarries had to throw at them and then took full advantage of Alex Goode being sin-binned, which is smart play.

Scrum-half Paul Hodgson played a key role. He was buzzing from the off and energised his team, he needs to perform like that all season. It's too early to say if they will make the play-offs, but they look in good shape and the refereeing of the breakdown this season should help an attacking team like Irish.

After seeing London Irish put four past Saracens, Bath cruise to a win against Leeds and the backs of Northampton, which team has the most potent attacking backline this year?
Morgan, England

Hi Morgan, Irish's back three of Sailosi Tagicakibau, Delon Armitage and Topsy Ojo are as good as any back three in the Premiership and will severely test all defences. When it comes to the most potent attacking backline overall, I think several teams are very close to each other in terms of the threat they pose.

Youngs (left) and Flood are among the very best in the Premiership

What will set teams apart will be how the half-backs deliver ball to their backs. The class nine-10 combos are playing at Leicester and Bath in the shape of Ben Youngs and Toby Flood, and Michael Claassens and Butch James respectively.

Close to these are the Danny Care-Nick Evans combination at Harlequins, the London Irish duo of Paul Hodgson and Ryan Lamb and Northampton's Lee Dickson and one of either Stephen Myler or Shane Geraghty.

Jerry, how do you think Andy Powell will fare with Wasps?
Hugh, UK

Hi Hugh, Powell played reasonably well in his first Premiership game despite wearing white boots! He will find it markedly different to playing in the Magners League, every side's forwards are hard work in the Premiership and there are no easy games for the big boys.

In addition, he's a name and everyone will be out to put one on him. He has the ability to be very good indeed - he just has to deliver every time he pulls on that Wasps jersey.

Do you agree with Sir Ian McGeechan's views of scrapping relegation and turning the Premiership into a 14-team league?
Gregor Lawrence, Northampton, England

Hi Gregor, great question. I don't agree with McGeechan, sport is about winning and losing and promotion and relegation go hand in hand with that. Without relegation in the Premiership a lot of games from January onwards would have nothing at stake and would effectively be dead rubbers.

I understand the call for no relegation from a business point of view, there has been a lot of investment in the clubs, particularly in the form of ground improvements, and the threat of relegation is a risk to that investment. With no relegation it could also make the teams in the Premiership stronger because it would give them time to build up squads of real depth and develop young English players. It would also, without doubt, improve the quality of the English national team.

However, a Premiership without relegation would be toothless, like the Super 14. There would be some good games at the beginning but come the middle and end of the season there would be too many games that have no meaning whatsoever!

Jeremy, I have just finished watching the highlights of the weekend games. I am impressed by the change from 12 months ago when the first weekend was duller than watching paint dry. The teams seem to be trying to win, rather than not lose.

The new rules seem to have bedded in, do you think the International Rugby Board (IRB) will be able to resist the urge to tinker with the rules for at least four consecutive seasons?
Stuart, England

Hi Stuart, I hope the IRB continues to make any necessary changes in interpretation of the laws, but stays away from ridiculous changes like the Experimental Law Variations. The games we watch are as good as the refs that are controlling them, and the players' interpretation of the laws also contributes - consistency from all parties always helps.

My concern after this weekend would be about some of the yellow cards dished out. Some cards will always be contentious, were they deserved or not? I hope sides don't fear competing for the ball at the breakdown. It still should be a very confrontational area of the game, and even more so now the tackler really has to smash into the attacker to stand any chance of turning the ball over.

Keeping possession and getting on the front foot has never been more important than it is now and we are in for a cracking season of rugby.

Although I respect Martin Johnson and think he is a man of principle, I can't help but think England have let the next superstar slip through their fingers in Danny Cipriani (DC). If you were the England coach three years ago, how differently would you have handled him?
Charlie Garner, England

Hi Charlie, it's an impossible question to answer but I have some thoughts. From what we hear DC is quite a difficult individual to deal with and you can't have energy sappers in teams, unless they deliver and win you games.

DC was running high, playing and performing well, but it all went a bit wrong. He had a terrible injury that left him wondering about his ability and has struggled to play consistently well ever since - he started getting kicks charged down and missing tackles.

I've always believed that the best will always come through but although Cipriani was the best some time ago he let it go - I hope he rediscovers himself in Australia. Finally, our next superstar is Ben Youngs.

Munster began their season with victory over Italian new boys Aironi

Munster looked good against Aironi yesterday despite fielding a weakened side. What do you make of their chances in this year's Heineken Cup and Magners League, with their stars getting on a bit in years? Also, how do you think Ulster will fare having finally brought in some stars from South Africa? I thought Pedrie Wannenburg looked a fantastic signing.
Jack, Ireland

Hi Jack, Munster have predominantly concentrated on the Heineken Cup rather than the Magners League and this season will be no different. They are in a tough group with Irish, Toulon and the Ospreys.

It's not going to be easy but only a crazy person would bet against Munster not being in the mix come the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup.

Ulster will always be hard to beat at home, they need to show us how good they are by winning the tough away games.

This year they have a good opportunity to get to the quarters of the Heineken Cup if they can perform away from home against Bath and last year's finalists Biarritz. Ulster also possess the best back rower in the UK and Ireland in Stephen Ferris.

With the new laws being brought in around the breakdown, a lot of people have been saying it will free up Wales to play a more expansive game. Will this have a negative effect on more powerful forward teams like England?
Hugh Sharples, North Wales

Hi Hugh, Wales and boss Warren Gatland will like the new interpretation of these laws but a team still has to be capable of retaining possession and breaking down the defence with intelligent play to score. New Zealand don't have extremely big forwards but are able to play with more speed, a higher skill level and superior fitness to others.

Wales have to improve their skills and fitness, because fitness is key to playing the way we have seen the best teams perform since the new interpretations came in. Sides that have been forward orientated will have to adapt; just look what has happened to South Africa.

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