Expand play-offs to Top Six argue Bath
TODD Blackadder has called on Premiership Rugby to expand the play-offs from four to six teams as a means of encouraging clubs to keep backing homegrown English talent.
Bath’s director of rugby claims international callups and heavy injury tolls mean under-pressure clubs are increasingly likely to look abroad for recruits in a bid to make the top four.
Blackadder believes the time is right for the Premiership to fall in line with other top leagues like the Top 14, PRO14 and Super Rugby, whose play-offs consist of six teams.
He told The Rugby Paper: “I think that would be hugely beneficial. The Premiership is tough enough as it is but there are two things that impact the league which are different to elsewhere: losing international players for big chunks of the season and high injury rates.
“You want to be investing in your development and future, but there are clubs like ourselves, Saracens and other bigger clubs who could be impacted negatively in time where they’ve got a lot of internationals away and are being hit by injuries as well.
“Some teams hardly suffer any impact from losing internationals and they almost contract players on that basis. You don’t want people you pay a lot of money to not being available for you, and that’s how some clubs are starting to look at it.
“I think that by opening things up a little bit and extending the play-offs to the top six, you would create an opportunity for clubs to maintain their philosophy towards homegrown players and have a better crack at winning the title.”
Meanwhile, Blackadder believes Bath’s gifted back rower Zach Mercer will react positively to being overlooked in favour of New Zealander Brad Shields, right, for England’s tour of South Africa.
Blackadder, who knows Hurricanes man Shields well from Super Rugby, explained: “Shields is one of the most dominant No.6’s in the game and he’s a big, aggressive guy, a good defender and he’s going to be a big player for Wasps next season. “It would have been nice to see him playing in the competition here before being picked and England need to be careful with the messages that sends to players in this country, but guys at Bath like Zach Mercer and Tom Ellis will draw motivation from this. “Zach’s a good rugby player who’s going to be a great one and he’s a natural with the ball in hand, very instinctive, who’s now built up some real toughness in defence as well. He’s going to be one of those names in English rugby that you’ll be seeing for a long time.”
Blackadder says he never allowed speculation over losing his job to affect him during a disappointing campaign that saw Bath scrape into next season’s Champions Cup.
The former All Black flanker said: “Worrying is just a wasted emotion. Worrying whether you have your job or not can often be translated into anxiety and pressure and that transfers to the team, which is the last thing they need when they’re under pressure.
“My job is to prepare a team to win and build strong relationships with my players, and the fact we snuck into the Champions Cup is something we can be proud of. My goal is to put us in a position where we can win some silverware.”