Afraid so. Fwiw I don't think we would have set the league alight. Noises were being made about us being a bit more pragmatic, and frankly there were better teams at doing that.
Yes we had a great back row, but so does everyone. Most teams had superb 8s coming out their arse.
Maybe now we would be challenging for top table, maybe not. Despite the obvious quality I suspect we would have been in the melee, not looking down from on high.
It still hurts, I honestly have been watching zero prem rugby, I don't expect others to follow my lead, but won't understand those who do. Currently watching a bit of pro 14, not a great competition, but it doesn't have cap cheats in.