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That was the Aviva Premiership season that was

By James Harrington
'Difficult' doesn't begin to describe Bristol's season in the English Premiership

The 2016/17 Premiership season is over, bar the playoff shouting. James Harrington runs the rule over the 12 clubs’ campaigns.

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Yes, there are three matches left before Saracens* are crowned Premiership champions again, but now the regular campaign is over, it’s time to issue those end-of-season report cards, in table-finishing order…

Wasps

Five seasons ago, Wasps avoided relegation by the skin of a Tom Varndell tackle, and bankruptcy by the width of a crisp new £5 note. Now, they finish the regular season at the head of the table, beat the defending champions at their relatively new home in front of more than 30,000 fans – and they are even starting to add some defensive devil to their attacking dare. This is the new Wasps, nothing like the old Wasps.

Exeter Chiefs

The RFU will be watching Exeter coach Rob Baxter, with one eye on the England job which is due to become vacant after the 2019 World Cup. Finishing the season with eight maximum-point wins and nine try bonus points in their last nine outings tells you what they’re all about. Only the rugby gods know how good they could be when everything clicks and they have a full complement of players to choose from.

Saracens

From the outside looking in, self-belief is often mistaken for arrogance – and the fact that Saracens rested plenty of first-choice players, including five Lions, for their final round trip to Wasps smacks of the latter. But the fact is they don’t care where they play, and that is all because they have boatloads of the former. They have Clermont in the Champions Cup final in Edinburgh next week, and Exeter at Sandy Park in the Premiership semi-final the week after. It will be a stupidly brave punter who bets against them winning both matches, then going on to lift the domestic title at Twickenham against either Wasps or Leicester. But, most likely, Wasps.

Leicester Tigers

Amid backroom carnage, Leicester still managed to make the Premiership play-offs for the 13th straight season. And that needs to be recognised. But they’re are not the perennial champions-elect anymore. And they should recognise that. New head coach Matt O’Connor arrived in April after the Tigers dumped their second head coach of the season. But his work really starts at the end of the season.

Bath

Yes, Bath are in next season’s Champions Cup. And, yes, they can point out that injuries have played merry hell with their season – but all is not entirely well at the Rec, and Todd Blackadder will have his hands full working to ensure that the quo’s status is much improved next season.

Harlequins

A mixed bag from Quins, who could hit the heights of their match against Wasps and the plumb the depths of their performance against Exeter in a matter of weeks – but there’s plenty of promise from the London side. And the signs are promising of more to come, as they return to the Champions Cup after a season away. But they’ll have to do it without either of the Nick Es – Evans and Easter – who called time on their careers during this campaign.

Northampton Saints

The cruellest of positions for the Saints, after the cruellest of final weekend matches. Seventh means no automatic Champions Cup place, but the possibility of a shot at a playoff, if Top 14 side Stade Francais beat Gloucester in Friday’s Challenge Cup final. In truth, it’s about the best Northampton deserve after a season in which their attempts at flattering to deceive flattered to deceive.

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Newcastle Falcons

When eighth out of 12 is a sign of progress, you know things haven’t been great at Kingston Park. Eighth is the Falcons’ best finish since 2006, and the first time they have finished outside the bottom two since they returned to the Premiership following a year-long Championship hiatus in 2012/13. But, in getting to eighth, they played some seriously good rugby. And their signings for next season suggest more serious rugby is on the cards. This may be just the start of something.

Gloucester

The Cherry-and-Whites now are where Saracens were in 2009. With the prospect of added Challenge Cup gilt to hide the problems. But they were the first visiting team to win at La Rochelle since, well, forever, and that man Johan Ackermann is on his way. Beating Stade Francais in Friday’s Challenge Cup final in Edinburgh will give Gloucester an unlikely route into next season’s Champions Cup. Whether that would actually be the right place for the club right now remains to be seen.

Sale Sharks

The Champions Cup was a competition too far for Sale this season, as they struggled for large portions of the campaign on not one but two fronts. For a brief period, they even risked being sucked into the relegation dogfight. It’s to their credit that they duked their way out of it, but Steve Diamond will expect better next season.

Worcester Warriors

No lack of effort this season from the grandly named Warriors, certainly not after Gary Gold arrived in January. And they could – on occasion – be inspired. But such moments were nowhere near enough to hide the fact that they were generally struggling up front. Gold will have to work hard over the summer break to build a functioning pack around prop Nick Schonert and old-timer Donncha O’Callaghan that will be worthy of the Warriors name.

Bristol

Megarich owner Steve Lansdown admitted recently that the other clubs in the Premiership were ‘miles ahead’ of Bristol this year. He’s right. He has also said he should have acted earlier. That would have made no difference. It’s not entirely their fault, but they struggled to reach the standards necessary for this class of rugby. A short spell in a newly playoff-free Championship to allow those big-name signings to bed should mean they’re better prepared the season after next when they, inevitably, return.

*probably

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Jon 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 4 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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