First major challenge of Premiership restart arrives: will Bristol or Exeter regret their approaches?
New breakdown interpretations, empty stadiums and mid-season squad changes – it’s been a massive adjustment for Gallagher Premiership teams as they enter the brave new world of post-COVID rugby.
A massive challenge is now about to hit teams this week with the first double-up round of matches set to begin on Tuesday evening.
While the PRO14 have resorted to playing a pair of derbies before heading into the knockout rounds and Super Rugby required a complete reset, the Premiership has forged ahead with the intention of completing the normal regular season before the finals take place. That’s required a massive contraction of the time allotted between matches, however – which means after being eased into what’s almost a new season of rugby over the past two weekends, Premiership sides will now be playing two games every week.
It’s a unique situation. While fans of other sporting codes are accustomed to seeing their teams hit the pitch or court multiple times in a seven-day cycle, it’s a rarity for rugby. During the World Cup, nations will often have to cope with the odd short recovery period here and there but that’s still nothing compared to how Premiership players are going to be tested over the five remaining rounds of competition.
How coaches navigate the upcoming period will be crucial to who makes the playoffs – and how they’ll perform once they get there – and already we’re seeing contrasting approaches.
As it currently stands, Exeter Chiefs are eight points clear at the top of the table and it would take a massive fall from grace for Rob Baxter’s charges to miss out on the playoffs.
Baxter, however, is taking a long-term approach this week and has made 14 changes to the team that comfortably disposed of Sale over the weekend with wing Olly Woodburn the sole survivor.
“When you look at it, it’s probably going to be the first time where teams will genuinely make a lot of changes, because there are the regulations for these midweek blocks where you have that element of limiting game minutes for players and also that no players can start all three games,” Baxter said following the team naming.
“It will be interesting to see what teams do and how they approach it but at the same time, it’s also very exciting.
“The collection of points we’ve had helps ease the pressure, but we need to keep challenging ourselves.”
While all teams will have to adjust to the player welfare restrictions, it’s a considerably easier task for the Chiefs, given their massive lead at the top of the table. While they still won’t want to drop any fixtures, it’s not the end of the world if they do.
That’s a massive contrast to the other teams duking it out for playoff spots, because any loss could be the last nail in the coffin.
The Chiefs’ upcoming opposition, Bristol Bears, are sitting in second place and were it not for the changes to the competition’s structure caused by the mid-season interruption, rugby fans across the globe would be salivating at the thought of Tuesday’s clash.
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The Bears have to play four of the top five teams in their remaining matches so every point will be crucial – which is likely why Pat Lam is resting a number of players but not completely overhauling his team.
The likes of Steven Luatua, Callum Sheedy, Semi Radradra and Charles Piutau are all starting their third games on the trot and will likely need to sit out Bristol’s match against the Sharks over the weekend. Keeping a number of leaders on the field for the match with Exeter, then saving others such as John Afoa, Ben Earl and Siale Piutau for the weekend will ensure that there’s always a steady concentration of talent and experience on the park.
Assuming Exeter’s contingent do succumb to Bristol, they’ll still remain in pole position for the coming weeks and will need to book just three wins from their final matches to safely secure top spot – and that’s assuming their nearest challengers don’t trip themselves up.
Once the finals arrive, Baxter’s men will still be fit and fresh for the knockout rugby that lies ahead of them – but that won’t necessarily be the case for their rivals.
Lam will be targeting Bristol’s match with Worcester in a week and a half as the perfect chance to roll out the B-team, which will at least provide some relief for the men who have heavy workloads over the next two matches.
That’s a tactic that Wasps head coach Lee Blackett has implemented already. Blackett completely rotated his squad for Wasps’ opening two matches since the restart, with the back-ups comfortably accounting for the 10th placed Warriors over the weekend. Now, the Wasps coach has reverted to the same team from the opening game for Tuesday’s fixture with Sale which could see the two teams swap positions on the ladder if the Sharks score a win.
Like Bristol, Wasps and Sale will be carefully planning when they can afford to rest and rotate their players – but both teams have obviously identified their derby as a must-win, given the respective sides they’re choosing to roll out.
While Sale have mixed things up from their opening two games, that’s likely as much to do with trying to find a winning formula as it is to keep players fresh, following their two losses since the restart. The Sharks’ season would take a disastrous turn with another loss in succession and Steve Diamond will be desperate to bank some points this round.
All in all, we’re seeing some very different tactics from the coaches for what looms as the biggest challenge of the Premiership restart: keeping players fresh while not sacrificing an all-important spot in the playoffs.
Will Rob Baxter’s mass rotation come back to bite Exeter in the sudden death stages of the competition, or will his refreshed team be ready to push on for their first title since 2017? And will Pat Lam’s planning pave the way for Bristol’s first Premiership finals appearance since 2007?
Comments on RugbyPass
No question they were the better team. But that is the beauty of sport isn’t it!
95 Go to commentsEveryone is into Hurling in Ireland according to Porter, but only 11 of Ireland's 32 counties enter a team into the national competition. Same old blarney.
1 Go to commentsLet’s be honest. The draw and scheduling in the World Cup was a joke but South Africa found a way after having to go the hard (nearly impossible) way to the Cup Final via France and England. NZ had a hard game against France (lost) and had 5 weeks to prepare for the Quarter, 3 weeks knowing it was Ireland. NZ theerfore had to win one big game against an Irish team who played SA and then Scotland 7 days before. They won and it was de facto a semi final because they were playing a relatively weak Argentina team and it was a walk over. In the final a very rested NZ team was playing a very tired SA team and still lost. They couldn’t score more than 11 points. Put another way SA had to find a way to win while tired and they achieved that. NZ should thank their lucky stars that they fixed the scheduling in 2015 otherwise they would be dealing with a Bok treble.
95 Go to commentsPerhaps if Bongi wasn’t targeted and removed from the game in the first 3 minutes it would have been quite a different game. Maybe if NZ also faced the same competition the Boks faced to their win NZ would have looked quite different. The final score shows who outplayed who.
95 Go to commentsRubbish article! Abuladze played most of Exeters matches when fit. He got injured against Glasgow a while ago and is out for the rest of the season, thats why he hasnt played for Exeter and Georgia recently. Do some proper research next time!
1 Go to commentsGotta love it when kids throw their toys out the pram and can’t hack it with the grown ups debate. Here’s looking at you turlough! 😉🤣
147 Go to commentsThey lost the game period move on
95 Go to commentsSpringboks won! Stop winging. You can change the game however much you and your rugby colonizing IRB want to and the Springboks will win you at that too. Your mind is colonized my friend get a life
95 Go to commentsBen, nobody gets fooled anymore by selective and biased data to support an hypothesis. Games are decided on such small margins these days that you win some and lose some, and dominance is a thing of the rugby past. Look at the RWC circle of fortune…. Ireland beats SA who beat France who beat NZ who beat Ireland. And so it goes on. Match officials help to eliminate real indiscretions. If they had been with us years before, no doubt results would have been different. Remember Andy Haden’s dive from a lineout in 1978 for which a match-wining penalty was awarded? Wales should have beaten the ABs that day. They took the loss like the gentlemen they were.
95 Go to commentsWith all the analysis and how good the all blacks were.The fundamental mistake with the ABs is that this is a test match and not an exhibition.There is no better team(country) in world rugby than the Boks that knows how to win a test match(we are post masters at this).We know our rules, we have the discipline, we tackle like beasts, we take our points and we never give up.I now have educated the ABs supporters(at least say thank you).Please stop “bitching” , accept what the outcome is and move along swiftly.
95 Go to commentsAnd they came from behind to win two big games before the final. No one can say what would have happened. Had the boks gone behind the game plan changes and the result may changes. Ifs and ands are irrelevant. The boks won. Neutral critics enjoyed the games they played. Its not a popularity contest. Get over it and move on.
95 Go to commentsI'm happy for the people of SA to get a second WC. And I mean that. I was very disappointed with this man's “stand on the hand” incident with Josh Van Der Flyer (Ireland). Ireland's downfall in the last WC was they did not rotate their first 15 as the head coach probably should have. That said, I'm happy for SA and genuinely hope it lifts the mood in their country. Ireland did beat them in the first match of the tournament. And before the trolls start trolling ….. please don't bother. Etzbeth said recently that the Irish players said after the match “see you in the final”…..this was actually wishing the SA team the best of luck in the rest, the Irish team were not dismissing the AB’s. This is what Etzbeth was implying. But he was wrong. I no longer live in Ireland. But I hope to see them lift that cup before I pass. Anyway, congratulations SA. 👍
12 Go to commentsMore bloody click bait. Dan Carter has said absolutely nothing. As he should do. Poor journalism again from a site that should know better
9 Go to commentsOh god please help these loosers get over it!!!! You lost. Doesn't matter how many times you dummies are gonna analyse the game, you still lost and we are still Rygby World Champions….get over it, you lost.
95 Go to commentsThe next Willie le Roux. SA are made not to use him.
3 Go to commentsDan has always been as controversial as tea with milk so we were never going to get any definitive answer. So DMac for the win.
9 Go to commentsGoodness. When are the All Blacks and New Zealand commentators going to stop complaining about how they could have won and just try to win next time 😂. In South Africa if you lose you get up and try again. Get over it.
95 Go to commentsHonestly, it doesn’t matter a whole lot. RSA has a ton of experienced talent in its leadership group. I am more interested in who is the new 8 man/8 men and the younger props. The captain may change but the system does not
1 Go to commentsBen, you are one of the most arrogant and self opionated rugby critics I have ever come across (next to Keohane). I hoped that after SA beating the best ranked teams in the world on their way to the WC (something not done before) that you might have the grace to admit that this is a special team that deserved the accolades coming their way. You have no humility and as has been been already pointed out, merely a troll to attract audience numbers. Count me out in the future.
95 Go to comments‘War of independence’. Such a grand name for a few skirmishes. Where were all the great battles of this ‘war’ ? Smith got goosebumps as he was being emotionally manipulated, another mushroom.
1 Go to comments