Duopoly is best thing to happen for league
Exeter and Saracens set standards of excellence which force others to try to match them
Has the Gallagher Premiership become too predictable, too repetitive, too boring? You might think so, given that Saracens and Exeter Chiefs are in the final again, facing each other at Twickenham on Saturday for the third time in four years. Eight of the past 10 finals have featured at least one of them, which makes it pretty much a duopoly.
Yet it is the best thing that could happen for the sport. No one bemoaned Tigers Woods’s dominance in golf, or Pete Sampras’s winning streak at Wimbledon or, for that matter, the All Blacks over the past decade. They have all set standards of excellence which the chasing pack have to emulate by striving not moaning, by aiming high rather than bumping along in mediocrity, by recruiting wisely and coaching shrewdly. All praise to Saracens and Exeter, hard-nosed, sharpwitted, setting the pace which others must follow.
All of which is possible. Northampton Saints are one of those left trailing in the wake of the “Big Two” yet if there is one key word to take from the semi-final defeats of Saints and Gloucester, it is “optimism”, as used by Northampton director of rugby Chris Boyd – optimism to believe in self-expression, to try to transcend, to dare to trust instinctive skill over pre-planned method.
Of course, it will take more than chucking the ball about with relish and abandon to dethrone either Saracens or Exeter, as Northampton have found out over the past fortnight (well beaten by the Chiefs in the regular league fixture as well as Saturday’s play-off). Yet that desire to explore every possible avenue towards success is what has to galvanise the other 10 Premiership clubs plotting their campaigns for next season. If they are not doing that already, they are doomed.
Even if there is a sense of deja vu about the Twickenham line-up, it should not indicate a weariness or a staleness about either the event or the league itself. There are signs that the other teams are getting their acts together, flickering indications that they have realised that belly-aching is self-defeating. Bristol Bears are building, so too Sale Sharks and even promoted London Irish. To gripe unduly about salary-cap dealings is to suggest that Saracens can never be caught.
Meanwhile, the north London club go about their business as they always have, nurturing the next generation as well as sending out scouts to spot the next one after that. And if money were the be-all and end-all, then how to explain Exeter’s rise? Again, it comes down to a sound business infrastructure allied to good coaching practice. Chiefs’ director of rugby, Rob Baxter – as with Saracens’ Mark Mccall – operates with a whistle rather than a magic wand, laying down game-plan foundations across a season and finessing them when necessary.
Chiefs are well aware that they need to take their game to another level if they are to prosper in the Champions Cup as Saracens have done. Boyd himself alluded to the Chiefs’ Achilles heel on Saturday, acknowledging their close-range power game is more than enough to account for most sides in the Premiership, but is limited when it comes to seeing off the Euro elite, such as Munster or Clermont Auvergne. But just as Saints have taken note of their failings against Exeter with a view to a more sustained challenge next season, then so have the Chiefs recognised they need more variety, more X-factor. The arrival next season of Stuart Hogg from Glasgow Warriors will certainly bring more elan and penetration.
Saracens have constantly evolved, as all great sides have to. In 2010, the first time they made it through to the final – where they lost to Leicester Tigers – they scored 39 tries in 22 league games. This season they scored 77.
Some say they kick too much, even though the most entertaining team on the planet in full flow, the All Blacks, also kick a lot. But it is not an aimless hit-high-and-hope ploy with a lung-busting chase. Saracens have refined the art by taking soundings from elite basketball coaches about how their teams gather rebounds. It was no fluke that they were first to virtually all the bobbing scraps on the floor against Gloucester at Allianz Park. They had planned for it, practised for it. The more they practised, the luckier they got.
Exeter acknowledge they will have to produce something special at Twickenham to conquer the European champions, but they have the wherewithal to do so. They took note of their loss to Saracens in last year’s final, topping them by eight points and scoring 12 more tries in the regular season. Chiefs got rid of any self-pity 12 months ago in the Twickenham changing room after their 27-10 loss.
They reset goals, upped training schedules and went again – as the rest of the Premiership now have to do. Saturday will be a time to applaud such distinction and it is up to the others to find a way to join such distinguished company.
If there is a sense of deja-vu about the final it should not indicate a staleness or weariness