'They had seven internationals playing with 165 caps': The Rugby Pod revels in Saracens' opening day Championship ambush
The Rugby Pod co-host Andy Goode has revelled in last weekend’s Championship opening round defeat for Saracens, the former out-half claiming the 25-17 win for Cornish Pirates at Mennaye Field was a sharp reminder to Gallagher Premiership clubs that it would be terribly wrong if they ring-fenced the top-flight long term.
There will be no relegation to the Championship from this season’s 2020/21 Premiership as the authorities have decided to instead run a 13-team league next term.
But the retired Goode, who numbers Saracens among his list of many clubs, is adamant the opportunity for outfits such as Pirates to aspire to get to the Premiership must not be killed off in the long-run by having a closed shop following this season’s promotion of one team.
Saracens named a starting XV that showed seven changes from the side which played in their last Premiership match 22 weeks earlier, a home draw with Bath on October 4. But even with the likes of Scotland wing Sean Maitland and World Cup-winning Springboks prop Vincent Koch involved, they still couldn’t get off to a winning start in the second tier.
“I had to have a couple of Cornish pasties to celebrate an amazing victory,” enthused Goode on The Rugby Pod at the expense of co-host Jim Hamilton, who finished his career with the London club when winning a second successive Heineken Champions Cup in 2017.
Don’t forget you can also catch Episode 28 over on our YouTube channel where we catch up with French legend Philippe Saint-Andre as the build up to Le Crunch begins!
?: https://t.co/RckBuYCxnX pic.twitter.com/wxJpOJBJu8
— The Rugby Pod (@TheRugbyPod) March 9, 2021
“People will say Saracens had all their internationals missing. No, they didn’t. They had seven internationals playing with 165 caps. Now, let’s not talk about Saracens, let’s make this all about Cornish Pirates. We have talked on here time and time again about ring-fencing. It ain’t going to be a walk in the park, Saracens, down in the Champo. You have seen they have lost to Ealing already in pre-season but here are the real games, the league has started.
“Tip the slipper to the Cornish Pirates. They are after a new stadium, they have got permission I believe. They want entry to the Premiership at some point. It’s an amazing result. Whether you’re a Saracens fan or not – and obviously Saracens fans are going to hate the fact that they lost down there – it’s amazing for the game that a Championship team can still compete with the big boys.
“Yes, there were a lot of players missing, don’t get me wrong, and there might be a big gulf over a season, but there is still potential for these teams to still want to play in the Premiership and that is why in the long-term we have to keep the door open in the Premiership to promotion and relegation.”
ICYMI: "Some hotels, especially the one in Dublin, Jesus Christ, honestly, it was something else. There was silverware at the tables"
Witty, charming, unabashed, Saracens prop & Durham lad @alecclarey is a breath of fresh air, w/ @heagneyl ???#ChampRugbyhttps://t.co/x5ePjGRcxz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) March 6, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
2 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments