The Premiership's Champions Cup annus horribilis - why?
The ink was barely dry on the quarter-final match-ups of the Champions Cup this past weekend before the public dissection of the Premiership’s annus horribilis in the competition began.
With Saracens the sole team from England making it out of the pool phase, it is the first time since the 2011/12 season that the Premiership has not had multiple representatives in the knockout rounds of the top tier European tournament.
Predictably, the threat of relegation has been floated as one reason for the Premiership clubs’ struggles and that has thrown petrol on the already blazing fire of potentially ring-fencing the competition.
There is merit to that idea, especially with an enlarged, two-conference format, also including Bristol and Yorkshire Carnegie, but the idea that it will bring about improved fortunes in European competition is a stretch.
Let’s be honest, no English side went into the Champions Cup this season fearing relegation. There were no conscious thoughts in the opening two rounds from Premiership directors of rugby of resting players in Europe so that they were better prepared for the Premiership.
In the Challenge Cup? Sure.
In the Champions Cup? No chance.
Admittedly, as the tournament progressed, Northampton Saints found themselves in an alarming position in the Premiership and, perhaps, thoughts of a relegation battle entered their mind over the last two rounds of European rugby, but the reality is they were eliminated from the competition before that, in the third round, when they lost at home to the Ospreys, on the back of a thumping at home to Saracens and a loss away at Clermont.
Credit should actually be given to Saints for rousing themselves in round five of the competition and beating Clermont at Franklin’s Gardens, but regardless, they are the only side who can use the spectre of relegation as any kind of mitigating factor this season.
Harlequins and Leicester Tigers both currently sit 22 points above bottom-placed side London Irish in the Premiership table, whilst Saracens, Exeter Chiefs, Wasps and Bath are all in the top five and competing for playoff spots come the conclusion of the regular season.
The scrapping of relegation is not going to change the approaches of teams battling it out in the top half of the table. They are still going to pick strong teams in the Premiership, with the intent of making it into the playoffs with as favourable seeding as possible.
Scrapping relegation is a solution if you believe the developmental nature of the Challenge Cup – I don’t – is a problem.
To be honest, even that isn’t a primary motivation behind scrapping relegation.
The desire for improved financial security of the established Premiership clubs is the driving force.
So, if the threat of relegation didn’t bring about this near no show for the English sides in the knockout rounds, what did?
The playing time of England internationals, following a British and Irish Lions year where the invitational side leant heavily on them, has also been mooted, with terms like burnout and flogged being bandied about.
There’s no doubt that the likes of Mako Vunipola, Dan Cole, Maro Itoje, Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson have all played a lot of rugby over the last 18 months, but if you look individually at their performances in the Champions Cup, have they underperformed?
Maybe Itoje has been a little quieter for Saracens in their matches than he was in last season’s competition, something which could be attributed to an early season injury, but both Vunipola and Farrell have been consistently high class. Cole and Lawes have stood up strongly in teams that have been outclassed this season and both Joseph and Watson enjoyed good campaigns with Bath.
They have played too many games and the management of their workloads, which had looked to be improving in recent seasons under the new club-country agreement, has certainly taken a backward step in a Lions year, but again, that has not looked to be a significant factor in the Premiership sides’ European shortcomings. The key players stood up throughout the pool stage.
Farrell certainly hasn’t been flagging from a year of non-stop rugby
Rugby fans. We’re a reactionary bunch, you know.
Back in the 2015/16 season, five English clubs made it to the quarter-finals. They were joined by three French clubs. There was no Guinness PRO12 representation.
It was, apparently, the beginning of the end for the Celtic sides in Europe.
Fast-forward two seasons and there are three, now PRO14, Celtic sides in the knockouts, with Leinster in tremendous form and arguably favourites for the trophy and both Munster and Scarlets have winnable, home quarter-finals.
Things change quickly in rugby.
Is there really more at play here, this season, than the Premiership clubs simply being beaten by savvier and, on the day, better opponents?
Just one team in the quarter-finals is of course a poor return for the Premiership but look closer at the fortunes of each of the seven entrants this season and the picture is far less gloomy.
Saracens are in the quarter-finals despite enduring a run of bad form that was the worst the club had seen for over a decade. That is pretty remarkable, and they now, to the annoyance of Leinster, look to be finding their groove once more.
As for Wasps, Bath and Exeter, they were all in with a shout of qualifying in the final round of pool games.
Exeter lost their double-header with Leinster – hardly damning given the form of the Dubliners – which put them in a hole, but their destiny was still in their own hands going into the final match of their pool with Glasgow. They were comfortably outplayed by a Stuart Hogg-inspired Warriors side.
Fair enough. Glasgow have been doing that – even without Hogg – to sides in the PRO14 all season.
Bath had a good run and can feel unlucky. They did the double over Benneton, beat Scarlets away from home and saw off Toulon in Bath. Aside from their home fixture with the Scarlets, they played well in their five remaining pool games and though they will rue not getting a try bonus point at home to Benneton and narrowly losing at the Stade Mayol, two factors which, had they been reversed, would not only have seen Bath qualify, but also qualify with a home quarter-final.
It’s a game of inches and Bath fell just short, but they can certainly be proud of their efforts.
Wasps had a similar campaign to Bath, really. When Bath lost at home to Scarlets in round five, Wasps fell short at the Stoop against Harlequins, a game which everyone had Wasps slated to win and go forth from as a strong candidate to fill one of the eight knockout berths.
With Quins missing plenty of first team players in that fixture through a mix of injury, suspension or rotation, it’s a game you would have backed Wasps to win eight or nine times out of 10.
Admittedly, Quins, Leicester and Northampton had European seasons to forget, but Wasps, Bath and Exeter were all there, right on the cusp of qualification.
The bounce of Anthony Belleau’s grubber at the Mayol against Bath or Danny Care turning into some sort of Aaron Smith-TJ Perenara hybrid for 80 minutes in January. These were the microscopic – relative to an entire six-game pool stage – differences which cost them qualification.
And little errors.
Whether they were tactically outthought, lost focus for brief periods or approached games in the wrong way, it all combined to be enough to see them just miss out on the quarter-finals.
From Bath and Exeter trying to overpower and outmuscle Scarlets and Leinster respectively, to Wasps going through the motions against Quins, these are all things which can be tweaked and rectified. They are not systemic issues relating to the Premiership, it’s structure or perceived benefits the Celtic nations may have from central contracting.
There is no reason why those three sides can’t be in the quarter-finals at this stage of next season.
Quins, too, will be a stronger outfit next season as they evolve
See. React. Blame.
It’s a horrible yearly cycle that follows the conclusion of the pool stage, but thankfully one which will not be going on at those clubs, or any of the other sides that failed to qualify for the knockout rounds this year.
Those directors of rugby and coaches will be looking at ways they can ensure this doesn’t happen next season, rather than coming up with excuses.
Is our recruitment balance, between improving the first XV and bolstering squad depth, right?
Tactically, how could we have been better prepared for our opponents?
How can we make our players more adaptable to the differing interpretations of the laws that we will see from cross-competition referees?
If our players were flagging, which Premiership games can we target for them to be rested in and hand our academy players valuable playing time?
Or, should we allow our players a longer offseason than the five-week mandatory period written into their contracts?
There is no reason why the Premiership clubs can’t come back from this season with renewed vigour in Europe in 2018/19. After all, that’s exactly what the PRO14 sides did after their very own annus horribilis during the 2015/16 season.
Just please, stop the excuses, apportioning of blame and agenda-driving.
After all, pool stage exits, relegations and disappointing seasons, all they are are opportunities to re-evaluate and then rebuild something more impressive than what came before.
Take this as the opportunity it is.
Comments on RugbyPass
Not sure the Bulls need another average utility back in their ranks. Chamberlain has been ok for the Sharks but is by no means an X-Factor player. Bulls bought several utility backs which they barely use. A typical example would be Henry Immelman who plays mostly Fullback. The Bulls however have rarely played him this year and he has played wing or centre. Bulls want to build depth but seems like they have too many surplus players
1 Go to commentsABs lost against a side playing without a hooker - The guy playing, had one shoulder. Line outs were a gimme for the ABs, and the last 8 minutes 14 played 14 against a team that had been smashed 3 weeks in a row… Yet with all that possession, with all that territory, with all the advantages they actually had, especially in the last 8 minutes, they couldn’t buy a point. Those last 8 minutes determined if they outplayed the Boks or not. History will show that the Boks completely outplayed the ABs, especially in those last 8 minutes, the business end of any rugby match
225 Go to commentsWould’ve, could’ve, should’ve, didn’t.
225 Go to commentsKok will become a fan favourite
1 Go to commentsI am really looking forward to Leigh Halfpenny playing his first Super rugby game for the Crusaders Playing a long side his former Welsh and Scarlets team mate Johnny McNicoll.Johnny has been playing great, back in a Crusaders jersey.The attack has strengthened big time. Also looking forward to David Havili at 10. David is a class act, it also allows Dallas McLeod to remain at 12. A good thing.
1 Go to commentsIf he had stopped insisting on playing in the backrow, instead of wing, where everyone told him he should, he would have been a Bok years ago….
11 Go to comments‘Salads don’t win scrums’ 😂 I love that.
19 Go to commentsCan’t wait for the article that talks about misogyny in Ireland. Somehow.
16 Go to commentsI would like to see a rule change, when the attacking team is held up over the try line, by allowing the defensive team to restart a goal line drop out releases the pressure for the defensive team, but what if the attacking team had to restart a tap 5m out from the defensive team it gives the attacking team to apply more pressure, there are endless options for the attacking side and it will keep the fans in suspence.
2 Go to commentsLess modern South African males predictably triggered.
16 Go to commentsMy heart is with Quins, but the head is convinced Toulouse have too much. Ntamack is back, his timing and wisdom has been missed.
1 Go to commentsWow, what a starting line up for the Sharks) Tasty up front,kremer vs Tshituka or venter …fiery ,,Lavannini ,,will he knobble etzebeth? Biggest game for belleau?
1 Go to commentsIt was rubbish to watch, Blues weren’t even present. Did what they had to do, nothing more. Should be better next week against canes.
1 Go to commentsI’ve just noticed that this match has an all-French refereeing team. Surely a game like this ought to have a neutral ref? Although looking at the BBC preview of the Saints game, Raynal is also down as reffing that - so there may be some confusion about who is reffing what.
1 Go to commentsIf Havili can play anywhere in the back line, why not first 5. #10.
11 Go to commentsThe dressing room had already left for their summer break before they ran out in Dublin that year, and that’s on the coach. Franco Smith has undoubtedly made progress, particularly their maul, developing squad players and increasing squad depth. And against a very tight budget too. That said they were too lightweight last year and got found out against both Toulon and Munster in consecutive games. Better this season so far but they’ve developed something of a slow start habit occasionally, most notably losing at home to Northampton who played them at their own game. Play offs will ultimately show whether there has been tangible progress on last year, or not…!
2 Go to commentsAustralian Rugby has been a disaster, by not incorporating learning from previous successful campaigns. QLD Reds 2011 - Waratahs 2014. Players, coaches and administrators appoint there representatives for scheduled meetings, organisation’s agreement’s assessments and correspondence. This why a unified Rugby Union under one entity works. Every Rugby nation has taken that path. Was most difficult in the Northern hemisphere with over 100 years of club rugby before the game become professional. Took a lot of humility for those unions to eventually work together.
7 Go to commentsThough Wilson’s sacking was pretty brutal, it wasn’t just down to that Leinster game; Glasgow had a lot of 2nd half collapses that season, in the URC and Europe, and only just scraped into the playoffs. Franco Smith has definitely been an improvement, some players are delivering far more than they did under Wilson.
2 Go to commentsjesus - that front 5!
1 Go to commentsShould be an absolute cracker of a game! Will be great to see DuPont & Ntamack in tandem once again🔥
1 Go to comments