Try these hidden joys of the Championship
THERE has been plenty of flack flying about recently for rugby administrators as they struggle to find a way through the Covid maze but a hat tip to all concerned for keeping the faith and coming up with an attractive looking format for an abbreviated Championship which, touch wood, will get under way early in March, a year after the action ground to a halt.
The format is simple, as fair as possible and all it needs now is a little luck with Covid issues. Two conferences of six based on last season’s finishing positions with a two-legged play-off between the two conference winners to decide the champions who then get promoted to the Premiership.
In a world in which the only certainty is the next Government U-turn nobody is counting their chickens but that seems workable and flexible, it could be moved back a few weeks more if needed without jeopardising the ability to finish the competition.
Although the clubs haven’t given up yet on being able to welcome some sort of crowd back to their grounds, getting the fans in could still be a long shot given the vagaries of the Tier system.
The good news, though, is that there are plans for every game to be streamed. Give it a go, you will be surprised at the high quality of much of the action. If you can sit through the Autumn Nations Cup, the Championship will feel like a breath of fresh air.
It’s a vibrant league and as I have consistently argued there is no reason why it should not match the Pro D2 in France given a little TLC, but what it has desperately lacked over the years is exposure and proper TV coverage.
One of my secret pleasures in recent years has been to go on the Green King IPA twitter handle on a Tuesday or Wednesday to view the Championship tries of the week. There have been some absolute crackers and some clever stuff as
well – you see many more innovative lineout moves and tapped penalties in the Championship compared with the Premiership.
Best try last season went to Nottingham wing Jack Spittle for his 110-yard length-of-the-field effort against Leeds Carnegie which just got the vote ahead of brilliant scores for Ryan Hutler (Bedford Blues), Jack Stapley (Jersey Reds) and Nicolas de Battista (Cornish Pirates). Spittle was on fire that day scoring five tries in total.
As if to emphasise for the umpteenth time the quality of some of the ‘undiscovered’ talent in the Championship, Pirates stalwart Kyle Moyle has been the stand-out Gloucester back in recent weeks since coming in on loan to help out with their injury problems at fullback.
His transition has been seamless
and there are plenty more where he came from.
In passing you do sometimes wonder what happens with the Premiership scouting operations when such a thoroughbred operator as Moyle, no spring chicken, has been allowed to escape the net.
Of course whether Premiership Rugby actually want a vibrant successful professional second tier getting more exposure is another matter altogether. Many, having made their way out of the Championship or enjoyed a season or two working their way back to the Premiership after relegation, now disgracefully want to pull up the drawbridge. Exeter supremo Tony Rowe heads that list of hypocrites and should know better.
The presence of Saracens this season will spread a little stardust with each match against them a
David v Goliath encounter and you can expect players from all opposition teams to raise their games like never before. The media will be in constant attendance and although the focus will be on Sarries and their big names it will be an opportunity for others to shine. A young fly-half going up against Owen Farrell or a No.8 locking horns with Billy Vunipola could make his reputation in just one afternoon.
Can anybody possibly challenge them? No, is the short answer but the quickfire nature of the competition will have Sarries a little more on edge than they might have been and their Conference visits to Jersey and Cornish Pirates will present proper rugby challenges. You would expect ambitious Ealing Trailfinders to top the other Conference and they certainly won’t roll over in the twolegged final either.