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England's Italian job in Rome just got even harder
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Pat Lam rows in behind rival PREM club's plan to avoid blank weekends
By Neil Fissler
Pat Lam has thrown his weight behind an idea from Exeter Chiefs boss Rob Baxter for a finals day in the PREM Cup to avoid clubs potentially having two or three blank weekends.
The Chiefs, had they not beaten Bath last weekend in their final group game to qualify for next week’s semi-finals, would have been looking at three weeks without a fixture before the Gallagher PREM returns at the end of next month.
He says that they could have then potentially been scrambling around trying to fix up a game, and Baxter’s idea is for the ten teams to play off for final positions, which Bristol Bears boss Lam supports.
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Clubs are set to find out, within the next few days, the format for next season’s competition, and Lam is keen for them to keep the PREM Cup outside pre-season.
“I think that would be a good idea. Very similar to the under-18s we just watched. You know, you could have a day at whatever stadium, because we just had that when I went to Kingsholm.
“All of the teams were playing all the way to first and second. So you could have one of those days, or you just play at home grounds, of course. So, yeah, definitely you could do that to give you an opportunity.
“I think that would be a good idea. The one thing I wasn’t a big fan of in this cup, and I did voice our concerns about it, was playing the Prem Cup in pre-season.
“Because in pre-season, as you prepare for the Prem, which we want to be the best in the world, and if you’ve got a big squad when you go into pre-season games, you normally take squads of 30 or 32 players.
“If there’s a niggle, take them off. But when you’re down to 23, you’re forcing guys to go 80 minutes. So my main feedback was to try to take the Prem Cup out of the pre-season window,” he said.
Lam says he would also like to see the Under-18 and Under-20 Six Nations moved so they don’t clash with the PREM Cup, enabling clubs to blood some of their very best youngsters in the first team.
“In this window, all our under-18s and under-20s are involved in those Six Nations competitions. There are a lot of players in that team who should be playing the Prem Cup.
“So, trying to move the under-20 Six Nations to outside this window would be good because that’s their chance to play for the Prem teams.
“But they’re all playing for England, Scotland, Wales, so ideally, that moves as well. So there are lots of different things that would make it better.
“But hey, all I can do is give feedback, and I just go with whatever’s decided and then adjust and adapt on that,” added Lam.
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