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'You can't keep a trophy if you're proven to have broken the rules'
There is more than a whiff of good versus evil surrounding Saturday’s long-awaited Champions Cup quarter-final collision between Leinster and Saracens. It’s 71 weeks since the duo faced off in the 2019 final in Newcastle. The English club were winners that day, their victory widely acknowledged as deserved for the bruising, clinical manner in which they turned a ten-point deficit into a win by ten.
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Since though, though, the world has changed. Not only has the coronavirus run riot through the sport’s sandcastle-like finances, with officials in Ireland on Friday the latest to paint a doomsday scenario, but the appreciation of Saracens’ trophy-collecting habits has also been reduced to rubble.
Whereas once Saracens were admired as the standard others should aspire to, the grubby salary cap scandal, which will see them relegated to the Championship for 2020/21 and unable to compete in the Champions Cup for the first time since 2009/10, has damaged their reputation in a devastating fashion as they head to Leinster.
Eight months after their relegation punishment was meted out, there are some who still feel they weren’t hammered severely enough. Take John Kingston, the former long-serving Harlequins coach who was at the helm when Richmond were dropped like a stone down the English pyramid system when they went into administration 21 years ago.
He told RugbyPass that English officials should have gone further and stripped Saracens of the trophies they won in the Premiership seasons there were found to be guilty of breaking the salary cap.
Leinster vs Saracens has a brief history but a memorable one. Who gets the win this weekend? #LeinsterVsSaracens #EuropeanChampionsCup pic.twitter.com/MRiFW3RHap
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 17, 2020
“I struggle to see the Saracens penalty is actually in line with previous stuff that has gone on where clubs have gone into administration because of maladministration of finances. Take Richmond – the consequences of that was (dropping down) nine divisions. You look at Saracens, where cheating has happened on a day to day, week to week basis, and it’s just one division. I’m struggling with that.
“I’m probably in a minority, but I also struggle with the fact the medals have not been returned. For me, it’s very simple: if you’re caught cheating, which is what it was, and you have won something then you’re disqualified and therefore you hand back your medals. It happened to Lance Armstrong. Go to Melbourne Storm and look at rugby league.
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“I was asked the other week would you really take a medal off Brad Barritt, what has he done wrong? I said I would because it wasn’t legal what was going on. I’m afraid if you were part of something where you win a title or a cup and you have broken the rules I don’t think history can allow you to continue to have done that.
“Take Bloodgate, for example. I lived and worked my way through that (at Harlequins) and the reality was rules were broken. It was wrong and if Quins had gone on and won the trophy that should have been taken away from them even though it would have been for something far less than the systematic day in, day out Saracens cheating. You can’t keep a trophy if you’re proven to have broken the rules.”
It’s a feeling of injustice that has drifted across the Irish Sea. If Saracens hadn’t broken the Premiership salary cap, would they have had such a strong squad at their disposal to help them win three Champions Cup titles in four seasons, largely at the expense of Leinster?
It’s another appetising reason why Leinster will be gunning to put Saracens to the sword at the Aviva Stadium. If Saracens’ 2018/19 Premiership tile is now tarnished due to salary cap breaches, so too surely is their 2018/19 European final win over the Irish province?
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To be fair to Leinster, there has been no Kingston-like outburst over what Saracens have gotten away with, but privately it must annoy them that they are only chasing a second European title in three seasons rather than entering Saturday’s encounter as back-to-back 2018 and 2019 champions chasing a hat-trick of titles.
Adding fuel to the fire is how it would be a killer if Leinster, unbeaten in the 71 weeks since that 2019 final in Newcastle, were to have their 25-game winning streak snapped by an old foe weakened by the loss of the suspended Owen Farrell.
Team news ?@JohnnySexton returns as captain for @leinsterrugby as they welcome @Saracens to the Aviva in a re-run of last season's #HeinekenChampionsCup final ?
Will the English side end their undefeated run so far? ? pic.twitter.com/Q2GDgokj2t
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) September 18, 2020
An Irish loss isn’t expected to happen, though. Whereas Saracens are finally paying a price for all their shady off-field dealings and are coming to Dublin with an XV that doesn’t possess the same level of suffocating clout their St James’ Park winners did, Leinster have moved their game on in the meantime.
They won their latest PRO14 title last weekend in a canter and the greater depth in their squad is illustrated by how Josh van der Flier, man of the match in that decider, is held in reserve this weekend, Will Connors joining Caelan Doris and Jack Conan in a back row they believe will the measure of Billy Vunipola and co.
It was Vunipola’s ball-carrying that extricated Saracens from their sticky situation 16 months ago and Leinster will be wise to the danger of allowing him to have a dominant say on proceedings here.
What has further steeled the Leinster mindset is how their PRO14 final performance wasn’t perfect, their misfiring lineout, for instance, resulting in the recall to Sean Cronin from the shadows for a rare start in recent times.
It’s illustrative of how the Irish have staved off any threat of complacency in their long unbeaten run. Selection rotation has served them nicely, but they now really need to endorse that excellence by giving Saracens the boot from Europe and exorcise the ghost of the 2019 decider, something which Leo Cullen alluded to in this week’s build-up.
“They [Saracens] have had plenty of change since then but they are still the champions, they are still the team we’re trying to beat because they are the ones with the European trophy in their cabinet at the moment and that’s what we’re all trying to go after at the moment. Yeah, it’s a game we’ve all been looking forward to for a long time.”
Haven’t we all? It should initially be a treat of a power struggle but it’s one that can ultimately go Leinster’s way in a comfortable fashion similar to how they dethroned Saracens at this same stage of the tournament in 2018.
"Do they play rugby in Barbados? I might play there"
– Maro Itoje has revealed he doesn't plan on being a one-club man and spending his entire career at Saracens w/@heagneyl ??? https://t.co/j12X7l29Us
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 18, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
After their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
3 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
2 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
29 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to comments