1
The 'harsh conversations' of a rare away Premiership semi-final win
With only one of the last 14 Gallagher Premiership semi-finals won by the away side on the day, and with Saracens unbeaten in their last 15 home league matches in the league, Northampton must tear up the form guide in north London on Saturday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Taking a leaf out of the Harlequins playbook would be useful as it was Danny Care and co who secured that elusive recent away semi-final victory in 2021, coming from 28 points down to beat the table-topping Bristol 43-36 after extra-time.
That epic Ashton Gate story from 23 months ago has now been retold in the opening episode of the new Gallagher Making the Right Call video series that takes a closer look at the key decisions that shaped iconic Gallagher Premiership Rugby title-winning seasons.
Care is one of the main contributors in the five-minute, 20-second production and his reflections on Harlequins’ interval chat – they were 28-5 down at the time – stood out.
“At half-time, I remember we ran off the pitch to get into the dressing room. Some harsh conversations were had, to coaches, to players, but we were big enough to take it. And then when we started scoring a couple of tries in the second half the whole thing changed.
"We couldn't go out like this." ?
Find out how empowering player decision-making led @Harlequins to the 2021 #GallagherPrem Title, including that epic semi-final comeback in our new series, #MakingTheRightCall.
Episode 1 OUT NOW ??https://t.co/Mjkd7akRJz pic.twitter.com/IE1UOoWYFn
— Gallagher UK (@GallagherUK) May 11, 2023
“The momentum completely changed. You could see it in their heads, they were like: ‘Oh no, this is what Quins do’. And we were like, ‘Right, let’s build on that. Let’s ram it down their throats a little bit’. And then the tries kept coming: one, two, three, four, five… seven, in an unbelievable game.
“At no point did we believe we were out of it. When we get our stuff right on the pitch, we will cause any team problems – and we did. We pulled off one of the biggest miracles in Gallagher Premiership history. It was genuinely the best feeling I’ve ever had on a rugby pitch.”
ADVERTISEMENT
General manager Billy Millard explained that the style of Harlequins’ play was what made the seemingly impossible comeback win possible. “The decisions we made on that day (versus Bristol) were pretty much joined up between the players and the staff. When you have got an empowered culture and you have got players and staff, it’s about empowering them to make the decisions on the pitch.
We wanted to play this high-tempo fast game and Nick Evans and the coaching staff and the senior playing group, as well as our athlete performance department, implemented some new drills that definitely we could transfer into the game, more high-tempo drills.”
Skipper Stephan Lewies added: “What got us there is throughout the season was the coaches saying, ‘What do you guys want to achieve and how do you want to get there?’ And then we [the players] said: ‘We want to play an attacking brand of rugby’. Off the back of that, the coaches facilitated the training and so we trained accordingly to achieve that on match day.
“The way we prepared the whole season was playing with tempo and chaos. In that chaos, it was calm. The semi-final was obviously one of the best games I have ever been part of, for most of us. 28-0 down, to come back against a team like Bristol leading the table the whole season.”
- Gallagher is a global insurance broker, risk management services and consulting firm dedicated to helping business leaders make the right call. To find out more about Gallagher’s Making The Right Call video series, created in partnership with Premiership Rugby, visit: ajg.com/uk/making-the-right-
call
ADVERTISEMENT
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments