How to beat the salary cap and still be successful in Europe
Salary cap means that success in Europe takes a huge effort from top to bottom as resources can be stretched
It is difficult for Premiership clubs to compete on two fronts with the salary cap that we have in England. If you get a couple of injuries in certain positions, you will be struggling in Europe. The front row, for example, is so important and French teams seem to produce scrummaging props so consistently.
At Gloucester we have lost Ed Slater and Franco Mostert is away, so we are stretched in the second row. For us, it will be about boxing clever against Toulouse at Kingsholm tonight, using a playing style that will allow us to trouble a team who are physically bigger than us.
It takes a director of rugby three years to build a squad, because while you are honing the first team you are also developing the academy players so that they are capable of stepping up when needed.
That requires such a big effort from top to bottom, ensuring that the coaching is right and the same playing philosophy filters throughout the club.
Exeter do a very good job with that. When they are picking up young players from in and around the area, they clearly have a certain modus operandi in mind, a mould that they want individuals to fit into.
Even with everything Saracens are going through, we cannot forget the great academy system and excellent recruitment process they have put in place.
Look at someone like Christian Judge, the tighthead prop.
Saracens found him in the Championship at Cornish Pirates. He suited their requirements and they trusted that their coaching staff could get him to a certain level.
Judge came in on a three-week loan but stayed on and contributed to a Double-winning season. On the back of that, he has signed a tidy deal at Bath. That is testament to the Saracens environment.
Things can flip quickly in Europe. Last season, we beat Exeter at Sandy Park but then lost to them at home. There was still a decent chance of going through until Munster turned us over at Kingsholm.
In our league, every squad is juggling – juggling when there are injuries or when the best players are away, making sure that everyone is up to scratch and ready to pull on that first-team shirt.
Bringing in youngsters and giving them Premiership minutes is tough.
A fixture like an away game at Worcester does not feel like an opportunity to rest anyone any more. Look at last weekend – they beat Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop.
This season’s Champions Cup campaign feels like uncharted territory. We had a block of six Premiership fixtures before the first European games last year. This time, even though we are in the middle of November, we have had only four Premiership matches.
And now we are into games that are – as the cliche goes – up there with Test-match intensity.
Although we are finding our feet and figuring things out at Gloucester, I would say that we are in a better place now than we were at this point last season.
Rory Teague has arrived as an attack coach and is really challenging players.
Toulouse are Top 14 champions and seem like they have a powerhouse pack – like the old days. I remember watching the 2004 Heineken Cup final, when Rob Howley scored that famous winning try for Wasps against them at Twickenham.
Toulouse were massive, with the Maka brothers, Finau and Isitolo, in their squad.
At that point I would have been 16 and coming into Wasps once or twice a week from school to get used to the first-team set-up. The current Toulouse have a similar blend of foreign players and talented young French guys such as Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack.
Tonight, we will have to be on it tactically but also be present enough to change things on the run if it is not going our way.
Every squad is juggling – when there are injuries or the best players are away, keeping everyone up to scratch