England Invades the US For Historic Aviva Premiership Clash
A change is as good as a rest, or so the saying goes. London Irish and Saracens will hope it rings true this week as they embark on their American adventure, writes Martyn Thomas.
London Irish and Saracens have decamped to New York as they continue their preparations for this Saturday’s historic Aviva Premiership clash at the Red Bull Arena.
Exiles, as hosts of the first ever English top flight game to be played on foreign soil, are aiming to capitalise on the large Irish population in the Big Apple and give their fight against relegation fresh impetus.
Demotion is not something table-topping Saracens have to concern themselves with, yet the trans-Atlantic trip might just have arrived at the right time as they look to emerge from a mini slump that has yielded just a single victory from their last four outings.
All of which means that rugby fans stateside are guaranteed a full-bloodied taste of Premiership rugby, which will come as music to the ears of Nigel Melville.
USA Rugby’s CEO has stressed the importance of taking a meaningful game to the States as his organisation attempt to continue the game’s encouraging growth in America.
Indeed, Monday’s announcement that NBC has signed a three-year deal to broadcast Premiership matches from next season is just the latest sign that rugby is starting to take hold in the land of gridiron.
Since it was revealed last October that Irish and Saracens would face off in New Jersey, a professional North American league has been founded, the Americas Rugby Championship has kicked off and Ireland have agreed to play New Zealand in Chicago this November.
The USA Eagles might have lost to both Brazil and Uruguay in recent weeks, but in terms of popularity in the States, it is clear that progress is being made.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the team that’s calling the Red Bull Arena home this week. Irish began this season with genuine hope that a corner could be turned.
But despite investment in their playing ranks, and a run of three successive home wins at the turn of the year, the campaign has played out to a familiar tune. Albeit one that has lost any hint of vibrancy.
Saturday’s defeat to Bath has left the Exiles stranded at the foot of the table. Worcester’s win at Newcastle on Friday night had given Tom Coventry’s men a chance to close the gap to safety, but it was not taken.
Bath have struggled to replicate the form that saw them reach last season’s Premiership final, yet they found it all too easy to cut through their visitors at the Rec and secured a try-scoring bonus point with 20 minutes left.
Coventry’s side did rally towards the end, but despite Alex Lewington’s late try, an opportunity for a losing bonus point was spurned as Greig Tonks struck a post. How costly could that miss prove come the end of the season?
Irish have amassed just one bonus point in a paltry 13 points from 15 games. Newcastle, 11th of the 12 Premiership teams, have 21 points, Worcester are a place and point further out of reach.
In the last decade only two teams have survived with less than 32 points. With seven games remaining, London Irish need to start winning, and they need to start now.
On the face of it, then, the Exiles could hardly have picked a tougher test than that provided by Saracens, a team they’ve beaten just once in their last five attempts, while conceding 137 points.
Their last victory came more than two years ago, during James O’Connor’s brief stint at the club, but there is hope for those travelling to New Jersey wearing green.
The Premiership leaders have not been at their fluent best over recent weeks, and come into Saturday’s game having won just once in their last four matches.
On the weekend Mark McCall’s side missed the steadying influence of veteran fly-half Charlie Hodgson as they slipped to a home defeat against Northampton.
Saracens lost control of the contest when scrum-half Ben Spencer went to the sin-bin, while Hodgson’s understudy, the experienced Nils Mordt, inexplicably booted the ball into touch with time over and the hosts just five points behind.
Irish cannot expect their London neighbours to be quite as accommodating this Saturday. Especially not when they have a couple of Eagles in their ranks.
Hayden Smith and Chris Wyles will both be keen to put on a show and further help raise the awareness of union in their home country.
“From my perspective I just want USA rugby to continue to grow because the fans are so passionate and there’s a huge amount of room for development in the States,” Wyles said.
“With the amount of amazing stadiums in the States, if rugby continues to grow then for the Premiership to play over there every year would be a no-brainer really.”
For Irish to remain part of that equation, victory is a no-brainer too.
Comments on RugbyPass
I certainly don’t miss drinking beers at 8am in the morning watching rugby games being played in NZ.
1 Go to commentsThis looks like a damage limitation exercise for Wales, keeping back some of their more effective players for the last 20/25 minutes to try and counter England’s fresh legs so the Red Roses don’t rack up a big score.
1 Go to commentsVery unlikely the Bulls will beat Leinster in Dublin. It would be different in Pretoria.
1 Go to commentsI think it is a dangerous path to go down to ban a player for the same period that a player they injured takes to recover. Players would be afraid to tackle anyone. I once tackled my best friend at school in a practice match and sprained his ankle. I paid for it by having to play fly-half instead of full-back for the rest of that season’s fixtures.
5 Go to commentsJust such a genuine good bloke…and probably the best all round player in his generation. Good guys do come first sometimes and he handled the W.Cup loss with great attitude.
2 Go to commentsWord in France is that he’s on the radar of a few Top14 clubs.
2 Go to commentsGet blocking Travis, this guy has styles and he’s gonna make a swift impact…!
1 Go to commentsWhat remorse? She claimed that her dangerous tackle wasn’t worthy of a red! She should be compensating the injured player for loss of earnings at the minimum. Her ban should include the recovery time of the injured player as well as the paltry 3 match ban.
5 Go to commentsArdie is a legend. Finished and klaar. Two things: “Yeah, yeah, I have had a few conversations with Razor just around feedback on my game and what I am doing well, what I need to improve on or work-ons. It’s kind of been minimal, mate, but it’s all that I need over here in terms of how to be better, how to get better and what I am doing well.” I hope he’s downplaying it - and that it’s not that “minimal”. The amount of communication and behind the scenes preparation the Bok coaches put into players - Rassie and co would be all over Ardie and being clear on what is expected of him. This stands out for me as something teams should really be looking at in terms of the boks success from a coaching point of view. And was surprised by the comment - “minimal”. In terms of the “debate” around Ireland and South Africa. Nice one Ardie. Indeed. There’s no debate.
2 Go to commentsThere’s a bit of depth there but realistically Australian players have a long way to go to now catch up. The game is moving on fast and Australia are falling behind. Australian sides still don’t priories the breakdown like they should, it’s a non-negotiable if you want to compete on the international stage. That goes for forwards and backs. The Australian team could have a back row that could make a difference but the problem is they don’t have a tight five that can do the business. Tupou is limited in defence, overweight and unfit and the locks are a long way from international standard. Frost is soft and Salakai-Loto is too small so that means they need a Valentini at 8 who has to do the hard graft so limits the effectiveness of the backrow. Schmidt really needs to get a hard working, tough tight 5 if he wants to get this team firing.
3 Go to commentsSorry Morgan you must have been the “go to for a quote” ex player this week. Its rnd 6 and there is plenty of time to cement a starting 15 and finishing 8 so I have no such concerns.
2 Go to commentsGreat read. I wish you had done this article on the ROAR.
2 Go to commentsThe current AB coaching team is basically the Crusaders so it smacks of wanting their familiar leaders around. This is not a good look for the future of the ABs or the younger players in Super working their way up the player ladder. Razor is touted as innovative, forward looking but his early moves look like insecurity and insular, provincial thinking. He is the AB's coach not the Golden Oldies.
10 Go to commentsSimple reason for wanting him back. Robertson wants him as captain. Otherwise he wouldn’t be bothering chasing him. Not enough reason to come back just to mentor.
10 Go to commentsI had not considered this topic like this at all, brilliant read. I had been looking at his record at the Waratahs and thought it odd the Crusaders appointed him, then couple that with all that experience and talent departing and boom. They’ve got some great talent developing though, and in all honesty I don’t think anyone would be over confident taking them on in a playoff match, no matter how poor the first half of their season was. I think they can pull a game out of their ass when it counts.
2 Go to commentsNot a bad list but not Porecki and not Donaldson. Not because they are Tahs, or Ex Tahs, they are just not good enough. Edmed should be ahead. Far more potential. Wilson should be 8 and Valentini 6. Wilson needs to be told by his father and his coach, stop bloody running in to brick wall defence. You’re not playing under the genius Thorn any more. He’s a fantastic angle runner. The young new 8 from the Brumbies looks really good too. The Lonegrans are just too small for international rugby as is Paisami, as is Hamish Stewart at 12. Both great at Super Rugby level. Stewart could have been a great 10 if not for Brad Thorn. Uru should be there and so should Tupou. Tupou just needs good Australian coaching which he hasn’t been getting. I don’t think Schmidt will excite him.
3 Go to commentsIf he wants to come back then he should. He will be a major asset to the younger locks and could easily be played as an impact player off the bench coming on in the last 30. He is fit, strong and capable and has all the experience to make up for any loss in physical prowess. He could also be brought back with a view to coaching within the structures one day. Duane Vermeulen played until he was 37 or 38. He is now a roaming coach within the South African coaching structures. He was valuable in the last world cup and has been a major influence on Jasper Wiese and other young players which has helped and accelerated their development and growth. Whitelock could do the exact same thing for NZ
10 Go to commentsBrett Excellent words… finally someone (other than DC) has noted that Hanigan is very hard and very good at doing what Backrow should do… his performance via the Drua sauna was quite daunting for those on the other side… very high tackle count… carries with good end result… constant threat to make a good 20-25 meters with those long legs… providing his mass effectively to crunching the Drua pack… Finally he is returning to quality form… way to much injury time over the last 2 years… smart-strong-competent in his skills… caught every lineout throw aimed at him and delivered clean pass to whoever was down below… and he worked hard for the whole 80 minutes… Ned has to be in the top 5 for backrow honors… He knows what is required as he has been there before…
20 Go to commentsI think Sam Whitelock should not touch a return with a bargepole. He went out on a high, playing in the RWC Final. He would be coming back into a team that will be weaker than last years, and might even be struggling to win games, especially against the Boks. Stay in France, enjoy another year with Pau, playing alongside his brother.
10 Go to commentsRyan Coxon has been very impressive considering he was signed by WF as injury cover whilst Uru has been a standout for QR, surprised neither of those mentioned
3 Go to comments