Managing Expectations

Back in October, I had a look at how the season had started for Gloucester Rugby and the other #glawsfamily clubs: Hartpury RFC and Gloucester-Hartpury Women. Back then, Gloucester were a familiar story: 8^th place in the league with a 100% winning record at home and 100% losing record away from home. Over the next few months however, the cherry and whites’ results improved and saw them break into the top 4, before a 25-15 loss at Worcester, 25-25 draw at home to Wasps and most recently this weekend’s 20-21 home loss to Newcastle have seen them drop to 6^th, 4 points outside the playoffs.

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed some negativity from fellow Gloucester fans on Twitter, and while I can understand fans’ disappointment, Gloucester are in a much better place than they have been in recent years.

Kingsholm is becoming a fortress again and though they may have dropped points in their last 2 home games, they were still the last team to lose their unbeaten home record in the Premiership this season. But for a couple of defensive lapses and missed kicks, both these matches could have been wins, and I would not compare the late try conceded against Wasps to the repeated late-match collapses of last season. Let’s not forget, Johan Ackermann only arrived from the Lions a couple of weeks before the season started following their run to the Super Rugby final, so imagine what this team will be able to do when they have a full offseason with him!

Ross Moriarty – a star of recent seasons – has barely featured, but with the form of Lewis Ludlow, Ruan Ackermann, Freddie Clarke and Jake Polledri (he needs to be playing for Italy!) he has not been missed as much as many fans would have feared. Polledri especially has been fantastic and I can not remember the last time I saw him pushed back in contact, while many teams have been caught out by his pace in open play. Lewis Ludlow on the opposite flank has been a tackling machine, while the second row is deeper than I can remember in years with Jeremy Thrush, Ed Slater, Tom Savage and Mariano Galarza and James Hanson has made an immediate impact at hooker, while Val Rapava-Ruskin will hope to put injuries behind him and show the quality Premiership fans have seen at Worcester.

In the backs, Willi Heinz and Ben Vellacott have both been great for Gloucester and their differing styles of play have created a great one-two punch at 9, while Billy Burns (who may have had a bad game off the tee against Newcastle but has been great all season) has really stepped up the the challenge set by the signing of Owen Williams and has earned the 10 shirt this season. Henry Trinder has stayed largely free of injury and has shown good consistency whether at 13 or on the wing, while the much-maligned Billy Twelvetrees appears to have his confidence back and is playing some of the best rugby I have seen from him in years. Moving on to the back 3 and Gloucester have not missed Jonny May as much as I feared, with Ollie Thorley, Henry Purdy, Trinder, David Halaifonua, Charlie Sharples, Tom Hudson, Tom Marshall and Jason Woodward all impressing at points in this season. Hudson runs such beautiful lines and looks to have reignited his career, while Woodward is something special and I would love to see Eddie Jones give him a chance in the England setup.

Yes it may be disappointing to see a couple of home games get away from the lads, but let’s not look at that in isolation and instead look at the season as a whole. In October’s piece I stated that as long as performances were improved I would be happy with finishing 6^th/7^th, especially when you consider they have not finished in the top half of the table since the 2012/13 season. If someone had told me back then that I would see my team in the top 4 for a couple of weeks this season, I’d have bitten their hand right off.

This is a minor rebuild under David Humphreys and Johan Ackermann, I truly think a top half finish is entirely possible this season. Next season? Well the future looks bright…

Eyes on: Aviva Premiership – Northampton v Gloucester

Northampton Saints got their first Premiership win since September at the weekend when Gloucester visited Franklin’s Gardens. Gloucester – in the top 4 and revitalised this season under Johan Ackermann – rested a couple of key players and never quite got hold of the game, but still went into half time 8-14 up, before John Afoa’s try extended the lead in the 53^rd minute. Nick Groom scored within minutes, however and Saints grew into the game, eventually getting a last minute penalty try as their line-out drive was brought to ground illegally to win the game 22-19.

This will be looking at the game from a Gloucester perspective. Sorry Saints fans, but I’ve not been following Northampton’s season that much and I didn’t feel there was much really worth noting other than Luther Burrell’s injury and another poor performance (and early substitution) for Dylan Hartley.

Improving, but not the finished article

If someone had told me over the summer that Gloucester would be sitting in the top 4 at this stage of the season, I’d never have believed them. I had faith that Ackermann would have an impact, but thought it would take some time to see considering his late arrival after the Lions’ run to the Super Rugby final. However after an up-and-down start to the season, the cherry and whites went on a run of great results towards the end of 2017, despite not yet having put out their ideal XV courtesy of a number of injuries – British and Irish Lion Ross Moriarty has only played 62 minutes in the Anglo-Welsh Cup!

Ackermann used this game to rest some players who have been playing a lot of rugby recently, allowing some players like Ben Morgan to make their way back from time out.

lout — Gloucester were turned over going for a bonus point try and also lost a few line-outs against the throw in the final quarter

The impact of some of these selections could be seen on the performance – the back line did not appear to have the same chemistry with both Billy Burns and Billy Twelvetrees missing – but the performance on the whole was still good enough for the team to win. However this team are clearly not completely past the errors of previous systems and once again surrendered a promising lead in the latter quarter of the game, losing to a late try. This was probably not helped by a stomach bug that hit the team the night before (though credit to Ackermann not using this as an excuse) but it was an all-too-familiar sight for Gloucester fans.

The line-out which had functioned so well in the first half (including a 20m driving maul for a penalty try) fell apart after James Hanson was removed and allowed Northampton to get the territory to cause problems. A kickable late penalty was turned down in favour of a kick to the corner, but the maul was poorly controlled and turned over by Northampton. Nick Groom’s try also came from Gloucester not dealing with the restart following John Afoa’s try, while Owen Williams missed a couple of kicks at goal.

A couple of late decisions from Ian Tempest certainly didn’t help Gloucester – Jason Woodward’s fumble of a high ball clearly went backwards and I’m still to see an angle that convinces me Henry Trinder was offside for the penalty that led to Northampton’s winner – but I agree with Ackermann’s assessment that Gloucester’s indiscipline and mistakes lost them the game rather than Northampton winning it.

Rising star

What a signing Jake Polledri has been for Gloucester this season! Last year, the young flanker was playing in National League 1 (the 3^rd tier of English rugby) with Hartpury RFC, this year he has been tearing things up in the top flight. He has such strength, he always seems to make at least a couple of metres with every touch of the ball and it generally takes a couple of men to bring him down, creating space for others. He is still not the finished article, but has clearly taken advantage of Moriarty’s injury issues and become a vital cog in the back row alongside Ruan Ackermann and Lewis Ludlow.

He may have been a bit lucky to avoid stricter punishment for his reaction to Campese Ma’afu holding him beyond the ruck, but he will learn from experiences like this and be a better player for it. With his form at the moment, you have to imagine Conor O’Shea has a close eye on him and I wouldn’t be overly surprised to see him involved in the Italian squad for the 6 Nations.

Expanding your skills

prem tab — Gloucester remain in the top 4 but will consider this a missed opportunity to push for a playoff spot – From http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport

Ben Vellacott is a fantastic young scrum half and I can’t speak highly enough of him and the impact he has had on the senior team. A former Scotland U20s player, he qualifies for England on residency and is believed to have caught the eyes on the England selectors. He brings such quick ball to the game and is always a danger at the back of a ruck or looking for a quick-tap penalty.

The one big area he needs to work on is his kicking game. In the first half against Saints, Willi Heinz was doing a great job of kicking Gloucester into the right areas of the field, but as Gloucester came under pressure in the final quarter, this territorial game was missing as this is not a strength of Vellacott’s game at the moment. While I love the impact that Vellacott can have on a game, there will be times when what is needed is a calm head and a mind-set of playing for territory. I’m not saying he needs to have a kicking game to rival Conor Murray or Richard Wigglesworth, but if he can learn from Heinz and expand that aspect of the game, he could arguably develop into one of the best 9s in the Premiership.

The Man in the Middle

Congratulations to Wayne Barnes, who will tonight break Chis White’s record for refereeing the most Premiership games. Since turning professional in 2005, he’s reffed 7 Premiership finals and 77 Tests, including matches in 3 World Cups.

I wasn’t always a fan of Barnes, but over the years as I’ve started watching more rugby I’ve become very impressed with him and would argue that he is up there with Nigel Owens as one of the 2 best referees in the world.

He may not get every decision right – though I would argue that he does better than many – but what makes him really stand out to me is how well he communicate, not just during play but also explaining his decisions to players and discussing incidents with the TMO and his assistants. I’m also always impressed when he makes an appearance on Rugby Tonight to discuss a certain area of the law and to review recent incidents as he breaks it down in a clear manner that allows everyone to clearly understand.

In recent matches that I’ve watched hi referee, he is clear and does everything he can to help the players and keep the game flowing as best as possible. Look back to the final Bledisloe Cup game of 2017, when he tried to communicate to Bernard Foley that the ball had been touched in flight so could not be kicked out on the full – I assume Foley’s ears were still ringing following the huge hit from Ofa Tu-ungafasi as he kicked it straight out – or more recently, Rory Kockott’s yellow card against Racing 92, where Barnes blew his whistle seeing the danger of playing on with Kockott lifting a player upside down and promptly gave him a yellow as the situation would not have ended well, then he communicated well with the TMO to ensure there was clear evidence of Juan Imhoff’s headbutt making contact before giving him a red card.

If Barnes carries on I can see him breaking other refereeing records as well and they would be well deserved. In terms of his quality I feel he should ref a World Cup final, unfortunately I will hope never to see this as it means England have not made the final!

Congratulations Wayne and good luck moving forward!

Keeping Up with the Glaws Family

The Glaws family has been growing in recent years. As well as the main team, the academy has been going from strength to strength and one of the big benefits of this has been Hartpury RFC, who will generally have a couple of Gloucester players registered to play for them and last year won promotion to the Championship following an unbeaten campaign. Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s RFC were also formed in 2014 and have been included in the new Premier 15s competition.

With all 3 leagues now well underway – and the first break of the season coming up for the men’s leagues for Europe and the British & Irish Cup – I thought that this would be a good chance to look at how each of the teams are doing this season.

Gloucester-Hartpury

The first season of the Premier 15s could not have gone much better for the women so far. 4 rounds of matches see Glos-Hartpury sitting 4^thin the league with 3 wins and 1 loss, with a points difference of +54. They have also scored 3 try-bonus points to total 15 points so far. They have won against Richmond, Wasps and Darlington Mowden Park Sharks, and even their loss was a narrow 28-20 defeat at Bristol.

Prem15s — The Premier 15s table after 4 rounds. From http://www.premier15s.com

Considering they are such a new team and had been playing in a league below most of their opponents, I thought that this season may be a struggle for them, but they have recruited well and boast a number of players capped by England, including WRWC2017 squad members Zoe Aldcroft and Sarah Bern, Bianca Blackburn, World Cup winner Ceri Large and Megan Goddard, who has been named in the first ever Barbarians women’s squad.

It is still early days and they still need to play the early leaders Harlequins and Saracens – who are both currently unbeaten – but I feel that Glos-Hartpury have the ability to finish at least mid-table and perhaps even hold onto a top-4 spot.

Hartpury RFC

Despite going unbeaten – and getting try-bonus points in all but 2 – in National League 1 last season, I was worried that Hartpury may struggle with the jump up to the professional RFU Championship. So far those fears seem largely unfounded, as they have won 2, drawn 1 and lost 3 of their opening 6 matches, leaving them 7^th in the table with 16 points. They may currently have a losing record, but even their losses have been close affairs: 31-28 at Nottingham, 19-20 against Jersey and the season opening 26-15 at Bristol. This Bristol team are probably one of the strongest teams to feature in the league in modern rugby, yet from what I’ve heard Hartpury were unlucky with a couple of decisions in this game that could have easily resulted in them stealing the win.

The Championship table after Round 6. From http://www.championshiprugby.co.uk

Hartpury have a pair of experienced Premiership props in former Gloucester players Rupert Harden and Dan Murphy and also have a couple of capped internationals in Rhys Oakley and Robbie Shaw. But where Hartpury should be really excited is in their young players, and their links with Gloucester Rugby. Maliq Holden looked an evasive runner in the BUCS Men’s Rugby Championship Final in April, and Gloucester have also supplied 4 academy players this season: Charlie Chapman, Alex Craig, Harry Randall and Alex Seville.

I am a massive fan of former Hartpury and Gloucester scrum half Dan Robson and think he should be given the chance to start for England. But I am really excited by Harry Randall and honestly think he will be the starter for England in the future. He has really impressed me whenever I have seen him play, whether for Hartpury or the England U20s. When I went to Kingsholm for the Charlie Sharples Testimonial – 2 pre-season friendlies for Gloucester against Hartpury and Scarlets – my uncle and I came away both saying that Randall was the best 9 on the pitch that evening! He may not look like a stereotypical modern rugby player – he often looks dwarfed by the players around him – but he reads the game well and reacts quickly to take advantage of any gap in the defence. I can’t wait to see him featuring for Gloucester in future years.

Gloucester

We may have to go back to the 2012/13 season to find the last time Gloucester finished in the top half of the table, but the arrival of Johan Ackermann from the Lions have given fans hope that a return to the top could soon be on the cards. So far it has been a mixed bag for the cherry and whites: they have won all 3 of their home games – including the season-opener against the defending champions – but have lost all 3 away games and currently sit in a familiar 8^th place with 14 points. The 57-10 loss at Sale a few weeks back has been a huge downer for fans but on the whole even if the results have not always been there, there has been evidence that things are picking up at the club. Kingsholm once again looks a fortress and there is some great attacking play coming from the team, so it is only a matter of time before the results start coming on the road.

The Premiership table after 6 rounds. From http://www.englandrugby.com

Like many teams, Gloucester are down a number of players at the moment through injury: Tom Marshall and Ross Moriarty are both likely to be regular starters yet neither has featured yet this season. Other expected regulars Charlie Sharples, Matt Scott, Mark Atkinson, Ed Slater, Billy Burns and Owen Williams have all missed time too. Combined with that, they lost star winger Jonny May late in the summer to Leicester and also lost Carl Fearns after protracted negotiations. Considering all these losses, and with the Lion’s run to the Super Rugby Final delaying Ackermann’s arrival until 3 weeks before the start of the season, I think that 3 wins from 6 and 2 bonus points is a good starting point to build from when the big names are back.

There have been a couple of reasons for Gloucester fan to smile so far. New signings Ruan Ackermann and Jason Woodward have quickly made an impact at their new club. Let’s not forget that Woodward was able to beat out Julian Savea to a starting spot on the wing at the Hurricanes, so I expect him to move into the 11 shirt once Tom Marshall is back… the thought of 2 kiwis in our back 3 must surely be exciting Shedheads. A late signing, Ruan Ackermann has been big for Gloucester so far with Moriarty out injured. He is a big bruising player and at only 21 is just going to get better and better. Judging by the way Ackermann has been setting up his back rows so far, I can imagine Ackermann and Moriarty often taking the field together at 6 and 8. What must be remembered though is that he has not really had an offseason, so will likely need a break or heavily reduced minutes as the season goes on. But by far the best news so far for Gloucester has been the form of Henry Trinder. The centre – finally getting a run of games without injury – is showing the Harry Potter magic that earned him a call-up to the England squad to face the Barbarians in 2014 and you have to imagine that if he can keep this form going and sidestep any injuries like he is opposition players [full credit to my mate Phil Alder for that line] then he could put himself in contention for more England caps.

Some fans may disagree and feel that top 5 is a must this season. While this would be great, I will myself be happy with 6^th/7^th providing the performances are clearly improved from last year and there is less of questioning as to which team will turn up each week… we’re Gloucester, after all, not Les Bleus! If we don’t start to get this consistency, then I think it will be time to show David Humphreys the door.

Eyes On: Saracens v Wasps

Sunday saw a battle between the defending European Champions, Saracens and last year’s Premiership runners-up, Wasps at Allianz Park. Both teams came in fielding weakened sides due to injuries – a common sight in the Premiership this season – but on the day Brad Barritt made his 200^th appearance for the home side, Sarries’ strength in depth saw them run out 38-19 victors, despite a late fightback from Wasps. The bonus point win puts Saracens top of the table, while Wasps currently find themselves down in tenth, with only London Irish and Worcester below them.

Costly injuries

Among the list of unavailable player for Wasps were fly half Danny Cipriani and 2016/17’s player of the season Jimmy Gopperth. Despite spending much of his time at centre since Cipriani returned to Wasps, Gopperth is also their second choice at fly half, so to lose both their playmakers at the same point was always going to make things hard for Wasps, before even taking into account the effectiveness of the Saracens defence. Rob Miller was given the number 10 shirt for this game but rarely looked comfortable or dangerous against the Wolfpack. I’m not putting the blame solely on him as his forwards could not consistently get front foot ball and his backs outside him could not get anything going either, but it also felt that the Wasps attack was very basic, making it very easy for the home team.

Saracens were also missing their first choice 10, Owen Farrell, for this game, as he had to pull out of his position on the bench due to injury, but Alex Lozowski – a former Wasp – is well established in that position and the quality around him takes a lot of pressure off of him. Third choice Max Malins, who came on for the last 15 minutes is also a very impressive young player but did not have much to do by that point other than join the defensive effort.

Right now, the Wasps side looks like it relies on the fly half, whereas Sarries look like losing a fly half is just a matter of bringing the next person through to keep the ship steady and on course.

Get him in the England squad!

Regular readers of my blog will know that I rate Wasps scrum half Dan Robson very highly. I was gutted to see him leave Gloucester as he looked a real talent when he split time with Jimmy Cowan for Gloucester, but since moving to Wasps his game has gone to another level! I am probably a bit biased but I would argue that despite only being on the pitch for just over 20 minutes, Robson – who is himself only just returning from injury – was the best scrum half on show at the Allianz! After his introduction, Wasps’ attack went up in tempo and he was managing to find gaps for both himself and teammates that Joe Simpson had not been able to.

He started the season in such great form with 4 tries against Sale and I honestly think his injury has been a big factor in Wasps’ recent slump along with the injuries at fly half. If he can quickly get back to his pre-injury form, I think he has to be given the chance by Eddie Jones in the Autumn Internationals.

Tactical thinking?

With star players Nathan Hughes, Cipriani and Gopperth all missing and players like James Haskell and Elliott Daly not yet reproducing last season’s form – a result of a heavily shortened offseason following the Lions Tour? – I was shocked to see Christian Wade on the bench when the teams were named. This is nothing against Josh Bassett and Marcus Watson, but Wade has clearly shown himself to be one of the most exciting and dangerous wingers in the league. He is a match-winner in a team desperate for a result. I assume that he was benched as Dai Young felt the other wingers would be able to match up better against the opposition, but it seemed to contribute to an attack that was very limited in what it could do and the danger it could pose. Maybe he was being rested in readiness for Friday’s trip to Ulster – it is ridiculous that they have such a short turnaround – but if that result does not go their way either, then it leaves Wasps in a very poor position.

Hat-trick hero

I was unable to watch the game live as it was my cousin’s birthday, but had the match on record. When I received an email update from my fantasy rugby team stating that Jamie George was my highest scoring player this week, I thought that he must have had a decent game, but even I wasn’t expecting to sit down and watch him score 3 tries!

A while back I wrote about the way that the prop position has evolved, well hooker has also evolved in a similar way. To be one of the best hookers in the world, it is no longer enough to just be solid at the set piece. A top international hooker must be able to act like a 4^thback row on the field, able to pass and run effectively in open play. In my opinion, Jamie George is up there with the best in the world and at just 26 probably hasn’t yet reached his peak! He may not have had many chances to prove his ability in open play at the weekend, but he was 100% at the line-out, leading to his 2 drive-over tries. The one chance he did get to show his ability in the loose was for his opening try, where he reacted quickest to Chris Wyles’ quick-tap penalty and ran an attacking line a centre would be proud of to cross the line unchallenged.

I am hoping that Eddie Jones chooses to start George during the Autumn Internationals. Dylan Hartley has been a great servant for England and has done a great job as captain under Jones, but George is much more dangerous in the loose and has earned the chance to stat for England. It can certainly be argued that England have the best 1-2 punch at hooker in international rugby. I honestly think that if given the starting job for England, George could soon compete with New Zealand’s Dane Coles for the title of the World’s best hooker.

I’m sure he won’t be given the chance to get a big head though, it would be shocked if he is not receiving at least a gentle ribbing from his teammates for being bumped off by Willie le Roux…

Money Talks

In my perusing of the internet last night, I came across articles from RugbyLAD and WalesOnline discussing some findings from data collected by Esportif Intelligence about the salaries of players in the Premiership compared to last year’s Pro12. Unfortunately I was not able to find their data/findings directly, but looking through the summaries from these other sites, there were a few things that I thought were worthy of discussion:

It’s no real surprise that the data showed the average salary of a player in the Premiership last season was higher than in the Pro12. The Premiership’s bumper TV deals have allowed clubs to splash the cash in order to compete against the Top14, whereas the failure of the Pro12 to have a centralised TV deal has made it hard for the teams to compete financially with their European rivals. What was interesting though is that despite the average salary being £30k lower than in the Premiership, the salaries for top players in the Pro12 last year were actually higher than the Premiership, to the point that a Pro12 combined XV would be more expensive than a Premiership combined XV. The disparity in the average player salary comes from the squad players, who appear to be paid considerably more in the Premiership than in the Pro14. If you’re a Pro12 player that is not being considered for national selection then there is very little incentive to stay in country when you see players in the Premiership being paid more to do the same or less!

The other big talking points come from the breakdown of average salaries by position. These figures were calculated by looking at player salaries and their starting position last year. From highest to lowest, the positions with the highest average salaries are:

Premiership:

10
12
4/5
15
3
11/14
8
7
9
13
1
2
6

Pro12:

10
4/5
8
15
9
6
11/14
13
2
7
1
12
3

It’s no real surprise that fly half is the best-paid position in both leagues as the fly half really is the quarterback of the team. A starting quality fly half is always in demand so this will also help to drive up the cost at this position. Combined with this, the fly half will often be a reliable goal kicker, so that will push the price of the position up even further.

What did surprise me was that open-side flanker was so low on the list in both countries, especially compared to second row, which features in the top 3 of both leagues. I think this shows something of the mentality of Northern Hemisphere rugby, as they prioritise a dominant set piece and dealing with the breakdown as a team rather than focusing on a specialised fetcher in the mould of Richie McCaw or David Pocock. The role of the second row is also becoming more diverse, with the set piece still vital but also an impact in open play now expected from even the average player. It would be very interesting to see the comparative salaries for Super Rugby over this time period.

It’s very interesting the discrepancy in salary for inside centres between the 2 leagues. In the Pro12 they are one of the lowest salaries, however in the Premiership they are second only to the fly half! As this looks at the starting positions of players last year, I think part of this comes down to the way the position is viewed. Over recent years, a number of Premiership clubs have regularly played a fly half at the centre position – Harry Mallinder, Henry Slade, Ollie Devoto and Jimmy Gopperth immediately spring to mind. We have already established that fly half is an expensive position, if fly halves are also plying their trade at 12, then it makes sense that this position is becoming more expensive.

The other big discrepancy was with the salary for a tighthead prop. This has traditionally been one of the most expensive positions in rugby due to the importance of the scrum and the technicality of the position. I’m pretty certain John Afoa has been one of the highest paid players in the Premiership over recent seasons. I think 5^th in the Premiership sounds about right for the position, but I am shocked that it is actually the worst-paid position in the Pro12 last season. Beyond Tadhg Furlong and WP Nel, I would argue that there is not a depth in quality at the position, so it may be that clubs are currently hesitant to pay big money until they know a player is deserving of it.

It will be interesting to see how these figures continue to change over the coming year. The report suggests the salary gap will be even higher this year, but with the addition of the South African sides to the (now) Pro14, will this see the salaries become more competitive over the coming years? Only time will tell…

Premiership Rugby 2017/18: 7 to Watch

Last year I took a look at the new signings in the Premiership and picked a handful of players that I was looking forward to seeing at their new clubs. To say they had mixed success would be a bit of an understatement – though this was often due to injuries. I have decided to see if I can do a bit better this year with the players I am picking.

As with last year I have limited myself to a maximum of 1 player per club. I considered picking a player from each club but realised you’d probably get bored before the end, so have cut down my list to 6 players:

Liam Williams – Scarlets to Saracens

As if Sarries didn’t already have enough of this year’s Lions squad on their books last season, they have looked to replace Chris Ashton with Liam Williams from the Scarlets. Reliable at both fullback and on the wing, he may not have the same finishing ability of Ashton – though not many people do if we’re being honest – but he probably brings more to a counterattack. What will be interesting is to see whether he is used on the wing in place of Ashton or whether he kicks Alex Goode out of the 15 shirt, as this is arguably his better position. With players like Sean Maitland, Nathan Earle and Chris Wyles also available for the European Champions, it would not surprise me to see Williams moved around the back three to take advantage of different opposition.

D.T.H. van der Merwe – Scarlets to Newcastle

Another player on this list leaving Parc y Scarlets is Canadian winger D.T.H van der Merwe. A regular in the Pro12 for Glasgow and Scarlets, the winger had a fantastic World Cup in 2015, scoring 4 tries despite Canada finishing bottom of their pool. The Falcons surprised a lot of people last season and have signed well this summer, so I expect them to be even more dangerous in 2017/18. Even with Marcus Watson off to Wasps, there is some strong competition on the wings, but I fully expect the Canadian to push Sinoti Sinoti and Vereniki Goneva for the starting places and bag a number of tries along the way.

Jason Woodward – Bristol to Gloucester

In August 2016, Jason Woodward started the Hurricane’s Super Rugby Final victory on the left wing ahead of All Black regular Julian Savea. In April 2017, his Bristol side were confirmed as being relegated from the Premiership with 2 matches to spare. Now moving back to Gloucester (he spent a couple of years at Hartpury College) the English-qualified Kiwi will be looking to get back to the highs of last year. His time at Hartpury means that he also has experience playing with a number of the Gloucester team from when they were coming through the ranks, so he will not be coming into a completely new environment as most new transfers would be. There is already good strength in the Gloucester back three – May, Sharples and Marshall are a dangerous combination when all available – but Woodward’s ability to play across the back three and at outside centre will likely make him a regular in the 23 – even if he is not always starting – and will also allow Johan Ackermann some tactical flexibility.

Freddie Burns – Leicester to Bath

The prodigal son is going home. After spending his senior rugby career at local rivals Gloucester and then Leicester, George Ford’s return to Tigers has seen Burns go back to his hometown club. Burns is an exciting attacking fly half who has matured with experience and I’m sure he will be pushing Rhys Priestland for the starting spot. At only 27, Burns still has plenty of years ahead of him and you could even argue that he is only just entering his prime. With a strong pack in front of him and options in the back line, I fully expect him to shine in Bath colours. I just really hope that when they play Gloucester, he and younger brother Billy are both given starts at 10 to add an extra rivalry to the derby.

Piers Francis – Blues to Northampton

I doubt I was the only person who saw the announcement that he had signed for Saints and thought Who?! That’s part of the reason that he has made his way onto this list. Already with experience in the Greene King IPA Championship, Pro12, ITM Cup and Super Rugby, he also featured in both of this summer’s England Tests against Argentina, so he clearly knows his way around a rugby pitch even if he has not played in the Premiership before. He’s also spent the last couple of years being coached by All Black legend Tana Umaga – not a bad ex-pro to learn off! His ability to play fly half or centre will allow him to be moved around the back line in much the same way Harry Mallinder has been in recent years, and I think that he will eventually begin to replace Stephen Myler in the starting lineup as the season goes on.

George Ford – Bath to Leicester

Having included Burns and Francis, I couldn’t really leave out the current England number 10. People who know me well will know that I have not yet been won over by George Ford. He is a clearly talented player but, much like Danny Cipriani, I haven’t seen enough consistency to be sold on him. He seems to need a pack giving him good front-foot ball (like he gets with England) and generally his best performances have come when he has a fellow playmaker in the centre (Eastmond, Farrell, Slade, Lozowski etc). Unless Matt Toomua can stay fit, there do not appear to be many players of this ilk in the Tigers squad, so I will be very interested to see how he performs this year. If he can have a great season without the safety blanket outside him, this could very easily be the year he wins me over.

Petrus du Plessis – Saracens to London Irish

Who said this list needed to be just flashy backs? Forwards are equally important to the game, if not more so. Yes, I’m a former prop. No, this does not invalidate my opinion. The classic phrase is that the forwards win the match and the backs decide by how much. With the way that scrums go in modern rugby, this has probably never been truer. A dominant scrum will win penalties all game long, putting that team in better field position and allowing them to keep the scoreboard ticking over. Du Plessis is a highly experienced prop and that experience will be vital to London Irish as they look to avoid an immediate return to the Championship. They already have a number of talented props in Ben Franks, Gordon Reid and Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi, so adding the South African to the list gives the Exiles a very strong scrum on paper that will give them every chance of being competitive.

Obviously this is by no means a comprehensive list, some clubs have made 3 or 4 signings that could have been on this list. So I put the question to you: which of your club’s new signings are you most looking forward to?

Eddie’s Forgotten Men?

With a large number of regulars unavailable for selection due to injury, suspension or being on the Lions Tour, I’m sure that many players who have been playing for the England Saxons or on the fringes of the Elite Player Squad felt that this summer’s tour to Argentina would be the perfect chance to show Eddie Jones they deserve a place in the EPS next season. I expect many of them, along with a number of fans, were surprised when Jones selected a number of young, uncapped players, many of whom were likely expecting to feature for the England U20s in Georgia this summer.

It is possible that Eddie has decided to use this tour against one of the ‘weaker’ top tier nations as a chance to blood youngsters with the pressure largely off them, as some of them could possibly be competing for a place in the 2019 World Cup Squad. Regardless of the reasoning, these players impressed against the Barbarians and in their games against the Pumas, winning all 3 games this summer, with many of the debutantes putting in great performances.

However, it does feel that there are some players who were overlooked for this squad that are young enough to still be around for the foreseeable future and also have performed well enough at club level to feel they should have been selected ahead of some of the youngsters. I will be the first to say that Eddie Jones’ record with England so far means that he has much more of an idea about who deserves selection than I do (he has stated that he has over 60 players who are competing for a spot in the EPS), so this is by no means a rant about players who should have gone or an attack on players who have been selected, but instead a look at some players who will surely be hoping that they are given a shot in the near future.

Dan Robson

Every time I see Dan Robson play for Wasps, a bit of me dies inside remembering how Gloucester let him leave to pursue more game time. Gloucester’s loss has certainly been to Robson’s – and Wasps’ – gain, as he has in my opinion become one of, if not the best, English scrum halves. His competition with Joe Simpson has brought out the best of both players at Wasps and with them having topped the Premiership table and come so close to winning the final, you would have expected at least one of them to be in contention for an England call-up. With Ben Youngs taking the summer off for family reasons, I felt that this would be the perfect time for Robson (who impressed for the Saxons in South Africa this time last year) to get a chance in the first team, however he instead missed out to 20-year-old Jack Maunder, who may be a good player (I haven’t seen enough of him to be able to form an opinion) but was not included in Exeter’s matchday 23 for either of their playoff games at the end of the season and barely featured against the Pumas.

After the Premiership final, James Simpson-Daniel tweeted that Robson should be in the England matchday squad “every game next season”. As a Gloucester fan, I may be biased towards our former player, but I find it hard to agree with that sentiment.

Matt Kvesic

After the season that Matt Kvesic has had, I am not surprised that he was not included in this squad. Finishing last season with the most turnovers of any Premiership player was not enough to get him into the squad so there was no way that he would feature this summer after dropping behind Lewis Ludlow and Jacob Rowan in the Gloucester pecking order. Moving to Exeter should be good for Kvesic, but he will be up against fierce competition for the 7 jersey even at club level from the impressive Don Armand, who fully deserves his international call-up.

With England missing 3 players from their back row this summer (Billy Vunipola, James Haskell and Tom Wood), Eddie Jones took the chance to blood some young talent in the form of Sam Underhill and Tom Curry, who both excelled when on the pitch. Zach Mercer, who was fantastic leading the U20s in Georgia, will surely also come into consideration as another back row option (I would rate him above the Curry twins) and has the versatility to play multiple positions. I feel that the changing of the guard may have begun at 6 and 7 for England, however I do not think that Matt Kvesic will be high on Eddie’s list next season.

Danny Cipriani

Cipriani’s return to Wasps has not had the positive impact on his international career that I’m sure he was hoping for. Though he has spent some time training with England, his last cap was in August 2015 and he has not been included in Eddie Jones’ squads so far. The decision to call up Alex Lozowski – Owen Farrell’s backup at Saracens – in recent squads as a third fly half option suggests that Cipriani is not in Eddie’s immediate plans. Furthermore, having Henry Slade (recently classed as a centre but with plenty of experience as a fly half) in the squad gives Eddie Jones another option and the selection of Piers Francis (currently at the Blues but about to move to Northampton) means that things are not looking good for Cipriani, especially considering Max Malins will soon be graduating from the England U20s and will be looking to increase his playing time over the next few seasons.

Alex Goode

I really feel for Alex Goode as he has been a quality player for Saracens over the last few years. Unfortunately his style of play does not seem to match what Eddie Jones wants from a fullback, so he has been unable to make the squad despite Mike Brown’s drop in form over recent seasons (though he looked much more like his old self in the second Test against the Pumas). Further to this, Mike Haley seems to be the second choice at 15 these days for England, though even he was deemed surplus to requirements for the summer tour, so it looks like Goode will find his international chances limited while Eddie Jones is in charge.

Luther Burrell

Burrell quickly fell out of favour with Eddie Jones after a poor start to 2016’s summer tour to Australia. A strong runner, Burrell is fighting with Ben Te’o and Manu Tuilagi (when fit) for at best 2 places in the EPS, and when you consider the go-to England centre pairing recently has been Owen Farrell and Jonathan Joseph, there is no guarantee any of the 3 would make the starting lineup – though I would personally pick Te’o/an on-form Tuilagi over Joseph. Much like with Cipriani, I think Jones’ willingness to play a fly half in the centre will make it hard for the 29-year-old to add to his caps in the near future.

Christian Wade & Semesa Rokoduguni

I doubt many people are shocked to see these names on the list. Christian Wade equalled Dominic Chapman’s record for Premiership tries in a season but continues to be considered surplus to requirements by Eddie Jones. Semesa Rokoduguni has not featured for England since his Man of the Match performance against Fiji in November 2016 but is another great talent and finished joint third on the list of try scorers in the 2016/17 Premiership season with 10 tries, behind only Wade and Exeter’s James Short – who could also consider himself unlucky to not be selected.

There have been questions previously about their work rate in defence but it has appeared to me that they have both improved in this area, and they both clearly bring a lot to their club’s attacks – both are full of pace and where Wade is elusive, Rokoduguni is strong – so I am very shocked that they are continually overlooked for the EPS.

With Nowell, Watson and Daly all away on Lions duty, I was sure that these two would have been given a chance to prove themselves against Argentina, however Eddie Jones continues to pick Marland Yarde – for reasons that I can’t understand – and handed debuts to Denny Solomona and Nathan Earle, while also calling up Joe Cokanasiga from London Irish. Solomona is no surprise at all as he was one of the stars of the season on the wing and much like Wade and Rokoduguni his potential in attack outweighs his possible defensive frailties (as we saw in the 1^st Test). He also needed to be capped soon in order to be eligible before World Rugby’s new residency laws take effect. I haven’t seen Cokanasiga play so can’t comment on his ability, but to play for England after making your Championship debut this season is a huge step up. Nathan Earle impressed me for the U20s a couple of years ago, but his game time has been very limited for Saracens and I was therefore surprised to see him called up. That said, I was highly impressed by his performance against the Barbarians and I hope that he gets regular time for Saracens next season in order to push for a regular England spot – though I will be happy if he misses the Gloucester games!

Another player who could easily come into the mix in the next few seasons will be Gabriel Ibitoye of Harlequins. A contender for the World Rugby Junior Player of the Year award alongside his U20s captain Zach Mercer, Ibitoye often looked a real danger in Georgia and will only improve as he gets more game time.

Eddie Jones is not the kind of man to bow down to fan pressure, so I feel that it may be a while before we see either Wade or Rokoduguni as regulars in the EPS. I think their best chance to play for England over the next few years would be to have a word with Simon Amor about featuring on the 7s circuit.

What do you feel about this list? Is there anyone that you think I missed? Comment on here or feel free to tweet me @PS_tetheridge

A Premier Mistake?

A few days ago I found myself thinking that we were surely due some news regarding this summer’s Premiership Rugby 7s Series. Perhaps Premiership Rugby have hired a psychic as when I looked on their website Tuesday evening, there was a story giving the dates and venue for this season’s tournament.

Unfortunately this news did not leave me as happy as I was hoping, and from reading the first paragraph, some of you may have already guessed why.

In previous years the competing teams – originally just the 12 teams in the upcoming Premiership year, but also the 4 Welsh Regions since 2014 – took part in pools of 4 teams, each pool being hosted by one of the teams in that pool. The final was then played at another venue, with the top 2 teams from each pool progressing to the final. This means that each of the previous tournaments have featured at least 4 host venues from around the UK. This time, however, Premiership Rugby have decided to change the style to what we saw during the Rio Olympics, with the 12 Premiership clubs competing over 2 days at Franklin’s Gardens.

While I think that it is a shame that the Welsh regions are no longer involved, I can understand the decision to copy the Rio format as this will make it easier for more casual fans to follow and understand. However, I feel that this is a mistake as we are now expecting everyone to make their way to Northampton for the tournament.

I’ve been lucky enough to attend a number of the pool stages at Kingsholm and have noticed the increase in popularity over the years as more people get into 7s. However, this was often helped by the pools often containing local rivals, so travel was less of an issue. Now that fans are expected to travel to Northampton, I would be very surprised if the tournament gets the same level of attendance as in recent years. Putting the first day of the tournament on a Friday will not help either, as fans will have to contend with work commitments and rush hour making travel to the event even more difficult.

If Premiership Rugby do decide to keep this format, then I would like to see them make it into – as the name suggests – a series, much like a Premiership version of the World Rugby Sevens Series, with legs held at each of the Premiership clubs. This way, casual fans can choose to attend their local leg of the tournament, while more dedicated fans could choose to attend multiple legs. It would also be easy enough for clubs to add their home leg into their season ticket package in order to help encourage high attendances, as the cost for a ticket in the past has never been that high. Granted, we probably wouldn’t be able to hold the entire series in the preseason, but we could have weekly legs in the preseason and perhaps even the opening weeks of the Premiership season, then complete the tournament towards the end of the season as the weather begins to improve again.

Playing legs during the season would also encourage teams to use players from their academy or ‘A’ teams as their stars will be otherwise engaged, which gives younger players more chance to gain experience in front of a big crowd. This would also surely be a good way for national team coaches like Simon Amor to identify future players for the World Series and other international tournaments.

Whatever happens, I will be interested to see how successful the new format of the tournament is and also to see what the next step is moving forward.

What are your thoughts on the new format? Is there anything you want to change about the Series? Comment on here or feel free to tweet me @PS_tetheridge

Aviva Premiership 2016/17 Alternative Awards

Now we have reached the end of another season of Premiership rugby, we are seeing awards handed out by both the league and individual clubs for player of the season/team of the season etc. I didn’t want to do the same but felt that it would be good to have a quick look back through the season and so I hit on the idea of the Alternative Awards.

For each of these awards I hope to have an honourable mention as well as a winner, and will look to explain why I made the choice I did. So without further ado, the winners are…

Individual Awards

Best Newcomer: Denny Solomona

Kurtley Beale deserves an honourable mention here as he has brought so much to the Wasps attack, however injury stopped him from making his debut until December and Wasps were already doing well without him. Instead, I have decided to give the award to Denny Solomona. At the start of the season Sale were finding themselves dragged into a relegation fight with Worcester and Bristol, but an upturn in their fortunes, combined with an impressive try-scoring record for their new winger, helped pull them to safety. I was not happy with the way that his move to Sale happened – not that it appears Castleford have missed him! – but I think that his performances this season have been highly impressive and I hope he recovers in time for England’s tour to Argentina.

Best Breakthrough: Zach Mercer

Joe Marchant’s performances for Harlequins this year have been very impressive, but I couldn’t look beyond Mercer with this pick, as much as it pains me as a Gloucester fan to praise a Bath player! Though injuries and international appearances have deprived Bath of a number of their back rowers for parts of the season, Zach Mercer has done a fantastic job of earning a spot in the team regardless of who was available. The England U20 not only did the basics well, but also looked to be one of the best players on the pitch whenever I saw him play. I was surprised that he was not promoted to the senior England team for the Argentina tour, however this is certainly to the benefit of the U20s and I expect the RPA Young Player of the Season to excel in Georgia.

Fond Farewell: Nick Evans

This is an award for players who will be sorely missed from the league as they enter retirement. I really wanted to pick former Scotland second row Jim Hamilton, who spent a number of years at Leicester, Gloucester and Saracens. A solid operator who was never afraid to get into a scrap, Hamilton was a fan favourite who will be missed. However he has been beaten to the award by Harlequins’ former All Black Nick Evans. Evans’ move to the Premiership in 2008 would mark the end of his international career, but he continued to put in the same level of play for Harlequins and has been a key figure in that team ever since. He has struggled with injuries in recent seasons but has remained a driving force in the Quins attack. I’m sure that i won’t just be Harlequins fans missing him on the pitch next year but it is great to see that he will be staying at the Stoop as the new Attack Coach.

Bon Voyage: Chris Ashton

This award is very similar to the Fond Farewell award, except that this is for players who are choosing to leave the Premiership in order to ply their trade in another league. Former England and Lions second row Geoff Parling got the perfect sendoff by winning the Premiership final with Exeter and is now off to play in Japan and Australia. Incredibly reliable for Newcastle, Leicester and Exeter, the 33-year-old still has a couple of good seasons left under his belt. However, much like the Fond Farewell award, the award has gone to a somewhat flashier player: Chris Ashton. The former England winger, on his way to Toulon this Summer, has had a successful career at Northampton and Saracens since switching codes from Wigan Warriors in 2007 and was also incredibly successful with the national team. A somewhat divisive player – I’ll be honest and admit that I’m not a huge fan of him – his ability to finish a move and score tries will be truly missed in next season’s Premiership.

Biggest Cojones: Henry Slade

This was a late award that I decided to add after watching the playoffs and how close they were. This award is for the player who has had the balls to step forward under the highest pressure and deliver a crucial play. Gareth Steenson had almost the ultimate weight on his shoulder when he stepped up to kick the potential game-winning penalty 3 minutes before the end of extra time in the final. While this kick had the pressure of deciding the final and was in front of almost 80,000 fans at Twickenham – and countless more watching on TV – the kick itself was a simple one for a kicker of Steenson’s calibre, so the award has gone to Henry Slade for his penalty in the dying minutes of the semi-final against Saracens. With just 90 seconds remaining and Saracens 13-16 ahead, Exeter were awarded a penalty in the middle of the pitch, 10-15 metres inside their own half. In this position, we would often see a kicker play safe and look to kick for a line out somewhere around the opposition 10 metre line. Given the time on the clock and the score, a kicker may take a risk and look to get the ball closer to the opposition 22. Slade, however, had other ideas and got every inch that he could from the kick, resulting in Exeter having the line out a mere 7 metres out from the line, which they managed to maul over for the winning try.

Team Awards

Head-scratcher: The fall of Matt Kvesic

The Head-scratcher award is for the decision that , from the outside, appears to make little sense. I was very close to giving this to Leicester Tigers’ decision to replace Aaron Mauger as Head Coach mid-way through the season considering he had got the Tigers back on track after an awful start to the season before the sacking of Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill. Mauger seemed extremely popular with the players, and with Tigers getting back on track after Cockerill’s sacking, in my opinion it would have made more sense to change at the end of the season, much as Gloucester have done following the departure of Laurie Fisher. While this was truly a head-scratcher in my opinion, my Gloucester bias has come out in selecting the fall of Matt Kvesic. Last season, Kvesic was arguably the best 7 in the league, topping the charts for turnovers and earning plaudits from none other than Australian great George Smith. Yet this year he often found himself behind Jacob Rowan and by the end of the season was struggling to even make the 23. Was there a falling out with the coaches or was this down to a loss in form? If it was a loss in form, what was this down to? The club have stayed quiet on the matter all season, so until we know, there will always be questions about how such a fall from grace can happen so fast.

Biggest Disappointment: Gloucester Rugby

After so long trying to get back to the top flight, to be relegated with matches to spare will be a huge disappointment for Bristol. However when you look at the positions that everybody finished in compared to the quality of the squad, Gloucester have arguable been the biggest disappointment. Despite a number of experienced players and having only lost a couple of players to international duty, Gloucester lost too many games from winning positions, sacked Head Coach Laurie Fisher and ended the season a disappointing 9th place, 6 points outside of the top 6! Gloucester fans will certainly be hoping to see the Cherry & Whites back in the top half of the table under new Head Coach Johan Ackermann.

Surprise Success: Newcastle Falcons

Exeter could be considered somewhat of a surprise success given their poor start to the season and the strength of their squad compared to their playoff opponents Saracens and Wasps. However they were runners-up last year and have been steadily improving since their promotion, so I feel that they were worthy of an honourable mention but not the award. When I was picking my players to watch before the season started, I suggested that Newcastle’s decision to part with a lot of experienced players and bring in a number of youth players and 7s specialists could see them fighting to stay in the league. As it was, they finished in 8th place, 29 points clear of relegated Bristol and spent much of the campaign fighting for a place in the top 6.

What are your thoughts on the awards? Do you think that I missed anyone? Comment on here or feel free to tweet me @PS_tetheridge

Eyes on the Ball

Thoughts from the world of sport and the Schmoedown

Tag: Premiership Rugby