Points hit on Chiefs is far too harsh – change it!
THE good news in Rugby Union as we move from the year of coronavirus lockdowns into 2021 is that the European Cup, which has shone like a beacon in the pro era, can still burn brightly. Even the vicissitudes of the flawed new format introduced this season has not derailed the tournament that has been a winner for players and fans alike since its inception in 1995-96 – and, hopefully, 2021 will see fans again free to travel to support their teams in stadiums at home, and on the continent.
The European Cup has provided a step-up in standard from the leading domestic club leagues like the Premiership, Top 14, and PRO14, by pitting the best against the best in matches that have started to rival international fixtures in intensity and quality.
The delayed 2020 European Cup final between Exeter and Racing 92, was a case in point, with the Devon side supplanting Saracens as double winners by becoming European and English club champions within the space of a week in late October.
The Chiefs’ 31-27 victory over the wealthy Parisian club after an epic toe-to-toe battle at Ashton Gate, in which they each scored four tries, ranked among the best in the tournament’s 26-year history. It emphasised the merits of the elite club game at a time when it is in a beleaguered state, with the financial ravages of the pandemic lockdown, and also the pro game living beyond its means due to selfinflicted salary inflation, combining to create a perfect storm.
For that uplift both clubs should take a bow, as should Saracens, Toulouse, Leinster, Clermont, Ulster and Northampton, who helped galvanise the knock-out stage at a difficult time for not just this sport, but society in general.
It reminded us that the European Cup must be cherished, and it has been reinforced because there is a clear danger that this season’s truncated, disjointed two pool format will undermine this edition of the tournament despite the quality of some of the matches.
The nub of the problem is that reigning champions Exeter are in serious peril of being denied a place in the quarter-finals because of a ruling by the tournament’s EPCR governing body on coronavirus cancellations which has hamstrung their chances.
The competition committee at EPCR came up with a punitive formula within the new structure of two enlarged pools, by allocating bonus point wins of five to the opposition if a club are unable to fulfil a fixture due to a coronavirus outbreak.
This means that although Exeter started their title defence with a resounding 42-0 dismantling of Glasgow in the opening round, the coronavirus infection which led to the cancellation of their away game against Toulouse last weekend saw the French side reap the full five-point dividend after being awarded a 28-0 win.
This is completely unjust, and given what we know now about the myriad difficulties in maintaining Covid-free ‘bubbles’, EPCR should have taken a much more balanced view, irrespective of all the participants agreeing to the skewed points penalty. The best solution would have been a point split with the non-infected club given a marginal cancellation advantage of three points to two. That would have given Toulouse eight points (instead of ten) and Exeter seven (instead of five), and left both of them in the chase for the quarterfinals. Given their relative strengths, it would be a fair outcome, and not one with which the other teams in their pool could quarrel.
We were told by EPCR that the whole point of the new format is a one-off solution to the fixture congestion this season – although there are concerns that the tinkering was also due to their desire to come up with a structure more appealing to broadcasters, including home and away quarter-finals.
What EPCR should do now is to have an immediate review to correct their bonus point balls-up, and have gumption to announce it by January 2 at the latest, giving clubs notice of the reallocated points a fortnight before they play the third round of the tournament.
This would involve Exeter – who announced this week that they are now virus free – playing Toulouse at Sandy Park on close to an equal footing, which accurately reflects the current status of both clubs. More importantly, it protects the integrity of the competition by giving the best teams in it the chance to progress.
However, after this 2021 edition is over, the new-fangled format should be unceremoniously ditched. Pro sports are only as good as their competitions, and the preexisting European Cup structure of five pools of four teams has helped to make it the most successful club tournament in the world.
The pool stage also has the benefit of being galvanised by the ambition of clubs to secure a home quarter-final, and although there has been criticism of the preponderance of home wins, last year both Racing 92 and Saracens registered away victories. There is also a strong argument that the historic lack of away wins is mainly a problem of referees subliminally favouring the home side.
Another threat to the European Cup that cannot be overlooked is that from Bernard Laporte’s plans for a world club tournament.
The FFR president/vice-chairman of World Rugby has got his sights set on an annual global tournament, which would see the eight European Cup quarter-finalists compete with eight teams from the Southern Hemisphere in a mini World Cup.
Laporte should be warned that the European Cup is not his toy, and that any world club event will not be played until Europe’s flagship tournament has completed its entire knock-out stage to produce a champion.
The European Cup has been a huge success, and no tinkering or empire-building by TV broadcasters or administrators must be allowed to put it in jeopardy, either this New Year, or any other.
2020 - The Good, the Bad, The Ugly The Upside of the Concussion Crisis
Steve Thompson has said he wants there to be a positive outcome for player welfare, and for the game at large, despite the desperate news that the former England world champion hooker is suffering from early-onset dementia, along with fellow internationals, Alix Popham and Michael Lipman. We owe it to these players to make that wish come true by de-powering the game and returning it to its roots as a more aerobic 15-man contest in which the ruck had an important place, and the only replacements allowed are for injury.
Jonny May as Captain Marvel
You cannot help but reflect that if Jonny May was French or Welsh, rather than English, the legion of Francophile rugby fans on both sides of the Channel, or those on the other side of the Severn Bridge weaned on Wales 1970s glory days, would be waxing lyrical about his outrageous ‘flair’.
May’s second try against France in Paris last February was superhero stuff, as he scored a brilliant solo try which left a vapour trail of four French tacklers in his slipstream. He repeated the trick in the Autumn Nations Cup, with another breathtaking touchdown, this time an end-to-end effort which left Ireland, and everyone watching, mesmerised.
Farewell Nigel Owens, first centurion ref
The first to referee 100 Tests, and unquestionably one of the best whistlers of the pro era, the Welshman has a true empathy for the game, and missed very little. He likes the bright lights of celebrity, and had a reservoir of sharp oneliners for offenders – and for the benefit the TV audience. Jt of ing by results, Ow had a clear, uncon scious leaning towards home sides, but the positives in his officiating far outweighed the negatives.
Myners stumbles across the real story
No sooner had Saracens been relegated for salary cap breaches by PRL, despite there being no regulations in place to do so – and against the advice of the head of the disciplinary Premiership panel, Lord Dyson – than the invited Lord
Myners to conduct an independent review of their regulatory system.
In the process Myners said he met one manager of a club – almost certainly not Saracens – whose opening line was: “I’ve invented nearly all the ways of getting around the salary cap in the past, and I’m very confident that whatever you will recommend, I’ll still be able to find ways around it.”
Myners was shocked by how proud he was of his - subterfuge – others were not.
England’s new midfield hope
Ollie Lawrence was an Aston Villa academy footballer and a big hitting young teenage batsmen for Warwickshire, but following the hole left in England’s midfield carrying department by Manu Tuilagi’s injury, the powerful young Worcester centre could find his skills as an all-rounder in demand in the forthcoming Six Nations. More’s the pity that England coach Eddie Jones did not give him more of a run during the Autumn Nations Cup.
The Dupont Factor revives France
ENGLAND may have won the 2020 Six Nations title, but the individual laurels went to French scrum-half Antoine Dupont, who was given the Player of the Championship award.
Dupont deserved it, because overall France played the best rugby, and no player has done more to galvanise them after their long stint in the doldrums.
The nuggety 23-year-old
Toulouse dynamo also reminded us just how influential a position scrum-half is, with his Gareth Edwards-like power and pace around the fringes and great support running, as well as his tactical nous and impressive kicking skills.
It means Dupont is always in the game, and if England are going to keep their title they are going to have to find a way to keep him quiet when the teams meet at Twickenham in the 2021 Six Nations.
Strange Exits
Two of the stranger exits from the game this year have been the recent departures of Sale Sharks director of rugby Steve Diamond, and World Rugby’s chief executive, Brett Gosper.
Diamond left Sale abruptly having played the lead role in assembling an all-star squad from all over the globe, including a franchise-full of South Africans, led by World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager, as well as England star Manu Tuilagi. Diamond’s departure is still shrouded in mystery, with the club using the usual catch-all of ‘personal reasons’.
Gosper’s nine-year tenure at World Rugby has not been especially notable, with many of the major issues on the governing body’s urgent agenda left in stasis too often. There has been little progress in resolving a coordinated global season, while the laws committee are guilty of doing too little, too late on crucial issues like the scrum, substitutes, and international eligibility.
Gosper is becoming head of the NFL in Europe and the UK. World Rugby might reflect that the NFL is a competitor, and even a chief executive with a mixed track-record might have some insights that should not be shared with them immediately.