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Nick Mullins' Premiership preview - part three Sale to Worcester

By Paul Smith
Sale v Exeter (PA)

Over the course of the last decade, BT Sport’s Nick Mullins has become the instantly recognisable voice of rugby union in the British Isles.

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During approximately 40 matches per season – and upwards of 100 preparatory training ground visits – BT’s leading match commentator sees more Gallagher Premiership action than most.

As such he is ideally placed to assess the hopes of the 13 teams for whom the road to Twickenham next June gets underway this weekend.

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Matt Dawson and Mike Brown reminisce

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Matt Dawson and Mike Brown reminisce

Here is the final part of his club-by-club preview.

Sale Sharks

Last season: Third with 74 points (W16, D0, L6) then beaten semi-finalists

Top scorer: AJ MacGinty (188)

Top try scorer: Byron McGuigan (9)

Head coach: Alex Sanderson (appointed 2021)

Arrivals: Three including Tommy Taylor and Nick Schonert

Departures: Three including Jake Cooper-Woolley and Valery Morozov

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Most recent play-off season: 2020/21

Title wins: One

Nick’s verdict:

“The progress under Alex Sanderson during the second half of last season probably didn’t catch any of us by surprise but was no less impressive as a result and you can’t really blame them for running out of steam in the semi-final at Sandy Park.

“What I’ve loved about listening to how Alex is going to redefine the club is the responsibility he is giving the players to decide what kind of club they want to be.

“Their new signings – Tommy Taylor, Simon McIntyre and Nick Schonert underline what they want to be about.

“They absolutely deserved their place in the top four last season and with the quality of the coaching team they have, their new training centre and the feel-good factor around the club at the moment I’ll be really surprised if they’re not in the top four again at the end of this season.”

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Saracens

Last season: Promoted as Greene King IPA Championship winners

Top scorer: Manu Vunipola (98)

Top try scorer: Ben Earl/Rotimi Segun (7)

Head coach: Mark McCall (appointed 2011)

Arrivals: 12 including loan returnees Nick Isiekwe, Ben Earl, Max Malins, Alex Goode and Alex Lozowski

Departures: 10 including Michael Rhodes and Calum Clark

Most recent play-off season: 2018/19

Title wins: Five

Nick’s verdict:

“They’re my title favourites. Even thought their time in the Championship wasn’t the adventure they hoped it would be due to COVID-19 and the abbreviated season, they are back in the Premiership now and if any team has a better season than Sarries they will be very close to winning the title.

“We can all rattle off the names of the loan players they have back – perhaps the only question is how long it will take them to bed back in after not playing any games together last season.

“There might also be a small question mark over how long it takes their Lions players to get back up to speed but I suspect they will answer those questions pretty well and not having the Heineken Cup on their agenda this year makes the Premiership their big focus.”

Wasps

Last season: Eighth with 50 points (W9, D0, L13)

Top scorer: Jacob Umaga (98)

Top try scorer: Josh Bassett (9)

Head coach: Lee Blackett (appointed 2019)

Arrivals: 13 including Francois Hougaard, Elliott Stooke, Vaea Fifita and Nizaam Carr

Departures: 13 including Tommy Taylor, Will Rowlands, Kieran Brookes and Lima Sopoaga

Most recent play-off season: 2019/20

Title wins: Six

Nick’s verdict:

“I start every season by wondering what Wasps are going to do and again they are really hard to read.

“I’m a bit concerned that Joe Launchbury, Jack Willis and Paolo Odogwu will miss the first half of the season but like them having Nizaam Carr back and Elliott Stooke looks a hefty chunk to replace Will Rowlands.

“Francois Hougaard looks a clever signing who will work well with the young half-backs they have coming through while Alfie Barbeary offers plenty of hope for the future.

“I love watching Wasps – Dai Young used to hate me calling them rock stars but to a degree they still have that feel to them. What I suspect keeps the coaches awake at night is not knowing how they will perform from one day to the next but that’s what makes them so watchable.

“Who knows where they’ll finish this season, but it will be interesting to see!”

Worcester v Leicester (PA)

Worcester Warriors

Last season: Twelfth with 27 points (W4, D0, L18)

Top scorer: Billy Searle (63)

Top try scorer: Perry Humphries (5)

Head coach: Alan Solomons (appointed 2017)

Arrivals: 18 including Duhan van der Merwe, Rory Sutherland, Matt Garvey and Willi Heinz

Departures: 21 including Duncan Weir, Chris Pennell and Francois Hougaard

Most recent play-off season: None

Title wins: None

Nick’s verdict:

“With 19 players having gone they have been the ‘churnmeisters’ and if churn is the word for the club then patience is the key word for the supporters.

“I really hope they understand where the club are at the moment. Loads of us within the sport have so much time for Jonathan Thomas, he’s one of the smartest, most engaging young coaches in the Premiership.

“No relegation makes this the ideal time for a major stock take and I know JT is rebranding what they’re all about.

“I like the kind of player they’ve brought in – the likes of Willi Heinz, Duhan van der Merwe, Scott Baldwin and Rory Sutherland – and I think they’ll be tougher to beat next season.

“But everyone needs some realism around where they are – Jonathan Thomas is pointing them in the right direction but there’s a lot of work ahead.”

 

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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 3 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 5 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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