Goodbye candyfloss rugby. Welcome to Europe and the real world.
There are precious few chances to defend out wide Investec Champions Cup to be accommodating as some have been in recent weeks in PREM. Although it is true that they attack aristocrats such as Stade Toulouse and Union Bordeaux The Begles could reward an open Fort Knox RFC, there is a sense that results will be a more conservative format during this opening weekend of the competition, a welcome boon to international coaches as they narrow their focus ahead of the month ahead Nations Championship games in November.
The dizzying scoreboards may be easy on the eye for the casual viewer, but they’re the stuff of defensive coaches’ nightmares. 18 tries were held at Franklin’s Gardens last Friday, with two of England’s best Northampton Saints and Bath Rugby, which shared 119 points, caused as much criticism as it did praise. For all the naysayers, there was a lot to take from Phil Dowson’s worldly view as he declared, “We don’t want it to be 99-88 … we don’t want it to be basketball,” before noting that basketball is actually one of the most watched sports in the United States, as well as around the world. It has to be done right.
And while there is a caveat that inflated rugby scores might point to defenders wearing matador robes rather than chains, it has to be said that ambition, imagination and power are welcome visitors to the English scene, especially if Steve Borthwick is to poke himself in the ribs on World Cup strategy as he ponders the game plan.
To reduce the argument to dangerously simplistic terms – it’s easier to train defense than attack. If PREM sides like Northampton and Bath want to shake up the prevailing European pecking order through the intricacies of their game, then all power to them. The last six Champions Cup titles have been won by French teams. To defeat them, you must join them. The meek don’t tend to inherit the rugby world, no matter what the Bible says.
French teams are better resourced than their PREM equivalents, a funding gap reflected in the quality of squad depth.
Of course, there are other reasons why the likes of Stade Toulouse, Union Bordeaux Begles and Stade Rochelais they have been so productive – something about the huge chunks of meat up front, allied with world-class pace players like Louis Bielle-Biarrey, half-backs like Antoine Dupont or Maxime Lucu with a sprinkling of top-class swashbucklers, Jack Willis with his brother, Tom, also now from Bordeaux currently the best on Rails, 14.
French teams are better resourced than their PREM equivalents, a funding gap reflected in the quality of squad depth. It is to be hoped that English clubs will have full metal jackets during this opening weekend, starting from Gloucester under the Kingsholm lights on Friday night when defending champions Bordeaux come to town. This should be a stunning test of Gloucester’s newfound form and identity, and hopefully there will be no chance for the PREM leaders to rest and rotate ahead of next weekend’s Western States derby against Bath. The integrity of their own position, as well as the Champions Cup, is at stake if teams have insufficient clubs at this stage of the season.
But back to the attitude. That increase in PREM results should be welcomed, not ridiculed. This Champions Cup adventure is the perfect starting point for England’s best – and Gloucester have been aiming to be in that group for some time – to show they can achieve the balance that is the hallmark of all top teams at both club and Test level, pushing forward in the match, and led by sharp-eyed, back-rowers who see what the front-rowers are playing at half-time. of them.
If this weekend turns out to be an old-school, full-on sequel weekend, then we’ll all be cheering from the rafters. The format has come under scrutiny and if it wants to go back to a stripped-down version where every match counts, then so much the better. It should also be a stepping stone in quality and intensity to rugby at Test level.
The real test of mettle for English teams is how they choose to attack the game.
In this regard, Section Paloise v Leicester The Tigers Pool 1 match should be revealing. Their meeting in the early days of the tournament in the mid-late nineties was the stuff of Anglo-French mythology with tales of brutality on the pitch, touchline kicks and rowdy behavior from the Stade du Hameau crowd. Dean Richards and his Tiger brothers were in their element, sticking together and defying all comers.
The game is quite a bit more sophisticated these days and while those of us of a certain age may babble on about the die-hard appeal of the Perpignan encounter, Shave and many other hostile locations in France, the real test of mettle for English teams is how they choose to attack the game. That will be the barometer to use in the coming days, at Kingsholm where Gloucester have such an opportunity to improve their status, and the Anglo-French challenges of Bath and Exeter Chiefs. These opportunities do not present themselves too easily to be willfully ignored.
There are other English clubs with whom he can prove himself Sale receiving Glasgow Warriors, Saracens traveling west Ireland to face Stuart Lancaster Connacht doc Bristol Bears go to South Africa and the Stormers. It is imperative that PREM sides treat the competition with the respect that the tournament deserved when it was first introduced. The allegation of inappropriate harassment on the road in Europe used to be a charge against French teams and it would be a huge boost for Borthwick and his coaches if there was positive news from all eight games involving English clubs. And, yes, wouldn’t it be nice if there were election cards to commemorate the Willis brothers too?
As it is, this early appearance in Europe of candidates for England’s November squad – Bristol Bears duo Gabriel Oghre and back-row forward Fritz Harding, perhaps – can only be a good thing for the selectors, regardless of how the results pan out.