Probyn: Exeter’s Euro victory rewards their Academy policy
As much as I am thrilled at Exeter and Bristol’s European victories last week I can’t help but think, during an ordinary season, would they have won? What with all the disruptions and breaks in play moving the finals of last season’s competitions to after the start of the new French season, I wonder if Toulon and Racing really had their hearts in those finals.
If we are harsh but honest, we all know that the Challenge Cup is a nothing competition that is designed so the clubs that fail to make the Champions Cup have something to do on the weekends when it’s being played.
Most clubs rest players and experiment with young players, only taking the final stages semi-seriously if they have no chance of making the next season’s Champions Cup by their league position.
As for Bristol, this year’s winners, although they spent a lot of money putting their team together to gain promotion to the Premiership in the 2018/19 season, they have had an even more meteoric rise this season.
Finishing in 9th position in their first Premiership season, Bristol made it to the top three in this, their second season, something that took Exeter six seasons to achieve after their promotion.
Bristol’s Challenge Cup win is something that Exeter have never managed to achieve while taking a slow and steady approach to building long-term consistent Premiership success.
I believe this shows that for the Chiefs winning the weekly club games was the most important element in building the club a solid future at the top of English club rugby.
For both clubs, their piece of European silverware marks a step in their history but personally I feel that only Exeter have earned that accolade because, unlike Bristol, whose billionaire owner has virtually bought the club’s success, Exeter have developed young players over time who have moved through their
Academy into the senior side.
Exeter have shown their credentials by finishing in the top two of the league for the past five seasons and have claimed pole position three times, even though they may not have won the play-off finals. Now, it’s up to Bristol to show they can do the same when we are back to normal and have a proper full season once again.
Today’s game at Twickenham between England and the Barbarians has had to be abandoned as the result of a group of players probably doing what all have done since the restart of the game, going out in the week before playing the game.
However, if they followed government rules and wore masks in public and used social distancing at the restaurant they visited, would there have been a greater risk of infection than staying in the hotel and using the public areas?
“Bristol’s billionaire owner has virtually bought the club’s success”
It’s devastating that the first ‘international’ since the start of lockdown had to be cancelled as it was the only chance Eddie Jones had to see if there are any young players coming through to challenge for a place in the full England side before the restart of the end of the Six Nations.
With England facing Italy next weekend, Jones needed to know if he could have rested some of his established players in preparation for the new competition this autumn.
Losing this game is bad news for the RFU and the Barbarians, as it would have been the first game to be held at Twickenham since the
start of lockdown and the first televised international.
It would appear that the usual visit to a local restaurant with wine and a few beers is still ‘de rigueur’ for some of today’s professional team but it has caused a huge problem that will sadly see Chris Robshaw, left, miss the opportunity of a final Twickenham appearance. One positive to come out of this mess was the
response of a number of Premiership clubs offering players to replace those who burst the Barbarians’ bubble which hopefully will help the next time the Barbarians need to raise a squad.
Meanwhile, we have the Lions calling on the Premiership to release players early so they can prepare and play in the pre-tour game against Japan before their tour to South Africa.
They have even made a string of offers including payment directly to the clubs, which would be a first.
Even so, it is highly unlikely that the Lions will get the Premiership to agree to their request and Warren Gatland will not be able to call on any Premiership players before the tour starts.
This is simply because the special arrangement between the Premiership and the RFU could be in jeopardy should the Premiership clubs release any players outside the international windows to the Lions or any country other than England.
It is for the exclusive release of players outside the official World Rugby international windows that the RFU pay a large amount of the money to the Premiership.