Worst performance by England since Eddie Jones took charge
With lots of razzmatazz last week, the clubs took over the headlines in the first of the Six Nations break weeks. And there were great results and a few disappointments as some clubs came to terms without having their Six Nations stars, and others sought to take advantage.
The highlights were Newcastle beating Bath and Worcester winning their local derby against Gloucester, two games where it would have taken a brave man to forecast the results but somehow would have been every neutral’s dream.
Newcastle, under Dean Richards’ watchful eye, are fast becoming the new Exeter, winning games that just a couple of years ago would have seemed impossible.
What they, Worcester and Exeter have proved is that it is possible for the dream of Premiership rugby to come true with the right leadership and planning, and yet we still have the call to halt promotion and relegation with a moratorium for an undisclosed period.
I have to say it’s a sure thing that any moratorium on promotion and relegation, no matter if for only a couple of seasons, was to take place, it would sound the death knell for any clubs hoping to join the Premiership in the future.
A moratorium would create a ringfence that would allow the Premiership to increase the massive advantage they already have over the rest of the game when it comes to RFU financing, and the ability to enforce restrictive standards clubs have to achieve before being allowed to enter the Premiership, even before a game is played.
It would also raise the question: why should the RFU continue to fund the Championship if there is no hope of any clubs reaching the Premiership? Particularly as the Championship cannot supply any players for the EPS or England team under the terms of the agreement between PRL and the RFU, no matter how good they are.
The idea that a moratorium would give clubs below the Premiership more time to prepare for the move up is a joke. Any club that has ambitions to play at the top of the league should be building a team capable of competing at that level even before they enter the Championship.
Indefinitely delaying promotion with a moratorium would only increase the financial burden on aspiring clubs making investment more onerous prospect for any backer.
Speaking of backers, the prospect of the Scottish Rugby Union buying a 20 per cent stake in Newcastle raises some serious questions.
Scottish players already play in the Premiership, Top 14 and PRO 14, plus Scotland already have a stake in a French lower league club (Lille Metropole Rugby Club Villeneuvois). Why are they desperate to get a foothold in the Premiership?
Yes, with just two professional teams, Glasgow and Edinburgh, I understand the need for more players to be exposed to a better standard of rugby, but the risks for Scotland are enormous.
Despite scouring the world for players whose parents may have once drunk a glass of scotch whiskey to bolster the ranks of their international squad, they have the smallest number of adult players in the Six Nations.
Newcastle already have a history of Scottish players playing for the club with no financial backing from the SRU, so I assume the reason for any investment would be to gain some influence on selection and place players in match day squads.
If so, I am sure that Deano would not take kindly to being told who he should and should not pick, but there is also another worry for Scotland.
Any player who hasn’t been capped by Scotland and has dual qualification or residency, and who is good enough, could be persuaded to play for England by the higher match day fees.
Scotland have already lost the likes of Gary Graham, son of former Scottish prop George Graham to England while playing for Newcastle.
I think Scotland would have been better to have kept their association with London Scottish, although the distance is considerably further and with little or no chance of promotion to the Premiership, it is no wonder they changed focus.
In yesterday’s internationals we again had controversy where in the Ireland/Wales game Keith Earls was taken out by Leigh Halfpenny while chasing a touch down from a kick ahead, but referee Jaco Paige just let it go.
If Ireland had lost they may well have asked World Rugby if the laws have been changed to allow tackling without the ball.
Meanwhile, England’s chariot lost its wheels in a heated Murrayfield where Scotland were the better team against all the odds. Eddie Jones said that England had trained like the All Blacks but they certainly didn’t play like them in a lacklustre performance that was probably the worst since he took over.
A litany of mistakes and the odd unlucky bounce saw England resort to trying to bully Scotland up front but that played into Scotland’s hands.
The Scots turned over four times as many balls as England and conceded fewer than half the number of penalties.
Jones and his coaches have a busy week in front of them to make this England team fit for purpose and playing winning rugby again.
The dream of winning a third Six Nations is still there but there can be no more slip-ups like yesterday if that is to come true.
“Worcester and Exeter have proved it is possible for the dream of Premiership rugby to come true”