The British & Irish Lions : New Zealand Tour – 2017

The British & Irish Lions are a Test squad with players from different unions in the North : England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. The team was created at the end of the XIXth century. Uncapped players at international level can go on tour if selected of course.

The squad gathers every four years at the end of the current season in North, normally at the end of May or at the beginning of June, to go on tour in one of the three powerful nations from Southern Hemisphere : South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Nevertheless, following Argentina’s results at the 2015 World Cup, reaching the semi-finals against Australia and finishing 4th of the competition, there are some talking to organise a British & Irish Lions tour in Argentina probably in the next decade.

1. British & Irish Lions Tour : Tough schedule

Every four years, the players who have the honour to be selected to play for the British & Irish Lions have to be physically and mentally prepared for the tour despite the long season ending with domestic action play-offs and the european competitions play-offs.

Conditionning is the key for the Northern Hemisphere players part of that prestigious squad. The schedule is always the same when the British & Irish Lions are touring. That is a tough one and the coaching staff have to manage his squad very well through the tour.

The British & Irish Lions are usually facing a three Test-match series against the Southern Hemisphere nation, games against the franchises of this Southern nation playing in Super Rugby and sometimes other special games staged between the Test-matches series.

Among this special games, there could have contests against provinces not playing in Super Rugby but in the other domestic competitions (ITM Cup for New Zealand, National Rugby Championship for Australia and Currie Cup for South Africa for example).

As you can see, the schedule is very tough, very long and intense. That’s why that the British & Irish Lions coaches select a squad who can include between 45 and 50 players. There are no rules about that. You can select as many players as you want in your squad.

During the tour, coaches can call-up some players if needed as well but the key remains the management. Games against provinces and franchises allow the coaching staff to make a lot of turnovers to help them picking the best starting XV for the Test-matches.

2. The 2017 British & Irish Lions Tour : New Zealand

The British & Irish Lions Tour travels every four years in one of the Southern Hemisphere nations. The tour is staged between two World Cups. In 2017, New Zealand will host the British & Irish Lions Tour, only two years before the 2019 World Cup organised in Japan.

Some schedule problems brought some confusion to the New Zealand Tour. Initially, the British & Irish Lions managers wanted to open their campaign with a game against United States in America like they did in 2013 with an encounter against the Barbarians.

Another possible game against the Pacific Islanders, a team where only players from the Pacific Nations (Fiji, Samoa and Tonga) can play, could have been scheduled but finally there was nothing new which was announced in the schedule for that 2017 tour.

The British & Irish Lions will start their tour against a Provincial Union XV, which will gather the best players playing for the New Zealand provinces in ITM Cup, before games against three Super Rugby franchises (Blues, Crusaders and Highlanders).

Then, the British & Irish Lions will face the Maori All Blacks and another franchise, the Chiefs. They will play the first Test against New Zealand on 24th June, 2017. There will be a mid-week game against the Hurricanes and two more games against the All Blacks.

It is probably one of the toughest schedule for the British & Irish Lions for many years. It was not so tough in Australia in 2013 but probably the games in South Africa in 2009 were more difficult with very physical sides playing against the British & Irish Lions.

3. Who will coach the crew in 2017 in New Zealand ?!

Speculation would be the perfect word to describe the situation at the moment about the name of the coach which will manage the British & Irish Lions in 2017. There are a lot of potential candidates but it seems that nobody in Northern Hemisphere wants the job.

The four unions which will take part to the tour (England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales) are managed by experienced coaches coming from the South. Following the disastrous World Cup, Stuart Lancaster stepped down and Eddie Jones, from Australia, took the job.

Ireland, Scotland and Wales are coached by New Zealanders. Joe Schmidt is managing Ireland since 2013, Warren Gatland is achieving a fine performance with Wales since 2008 and Vern Cotter is improving the Scotland team since the 2013 Summer Tour.

At the moment, things remain highly confused. Eddie Jones said that he was not prepared for the job and added that he would accept for selfish reasons. Warren Gatland is aware of the schedule toughness, Joe Schmidt is committed to Ireland and Vern Cotter is unfazed.

The British & Irish Lions board said that they want absolutely to see the coach, who will be named, taking a sabbatical year to prepare the tour. That rule means that that coach would be unable to take part in the 2017 Six Nations Championship, creating some problems.

Will the unions take the risks during the 2017 Six Nations Championship ?! The board will have to name an interim coach for a year before that the coach comes back from the New Zealand tour. The team’s performances during the 2017 season could be affected then.

4. Flashback on 2013 : Which players were there ?!

During the British & Irish Lions Tour in 2013, in Australia, if we look at the squad, there were exactly 46 players who were named or called-up during the campaign. There were 16 Welsh players, 14 English players, 12 Irish players and 4 Scottish players.

If we make an analysis of the squad, there were the same number of Welsh players in the forwards and in the backs, most of the English players called were forwards and there was also a balance between the pack and in the backline for Ireland and Scotland.

The British & Irish Lions players were coached by a talented coaching staff in 2013. Warren Gatland was the Head Coach. He was assisted by Rob Howley (Attack coach), Andy Farrell (Backs coach), Graham Rowntree (Forwards coach) and Neil Jenkins (Kicking coach).

Hookers : Rory Best (Ulster), Dylan Hartley (Northampton), Richard Hibbard (Ospreys), Tom Youngs (Leicester).

Props : Dan Cole (Leicester), Alex Corbisiero (London Irish), Tom Court (Ulster), Ryan Grant (Glasgow), Cian Healy (Leinster), Gethin Jenkins (Toulon), Adam Jones (Ospreys), Matt Stevens (Saracens), Mako Vunipola (Saracens).

Second-rows : Ian Evans (Ospreys), Richie Gray (Sale), Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys), Paul O’Connell (Munster), Geoff Parling (Leicester).

Back-rows : Tom Croft (Leicester), Dan Lydiate (Newport), Sean O’Brien (Leinster), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Sam Warburton (Cardiff).

Number 8 : Taulupe Faletau (Newport), Jamie Heaslip (Leinster).

Scrum-halves : Conor Murray (Munster), Mike Phillips (Bayonne), Ben Youngs (Leicester).

Fly-halves : Owen Farrell (Saracens), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster).

Centres : Brad Barritt (Saracens), Jonathan Davies (Scarlets), Brian O’Driscoll (Leinster), Jamie Roberts (Cardiff), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester).

Wingers : Tommy Bowe (Ulster), Alex Cuthbert (Cardiff), George North (Scarlets), Sean Maitland (Glasgow), Christian Wade (London Wasps), Shane Williams (Mitsubishi Dynaboars), Simon Zebo (Munster).

Fullbacks : Leigh Halfpenny (Cardiff), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow), Rob Kearney (Leinster).

That 46-man squad played together in Australia. They won all their games except a friendly against the Brumbies and the second Test-match against Australia. The British & Irish Lions won the series against Australia 2-1. Robbie Deans quit Australia job.

5. The 2016 Six Nations : Players taking their chance

The 2016 Six Nations Championship was a good opportunity for some players to step up. There will not be so many opportunties until June, 2017 with the squad unveiled at the end of the regular season by the coaching staff, probably at the end of May, 2017.

England made a statement during that Championship, winning the Grand Slam. Wales finished second and their performance during last World Cup shows their talent. Ireland is still in the contest with young players and Scotland is improving through the seasons.

Like in all the prestigious competitions, the squad will be decided on the players’ performances. At the moment, there are so many options and it is very tough to say who will go on tour because so many things could happen in the next months really.

The British & Irish Lions board made it clear about the coach who will lead the team. The decision will be made according to the results of the four unions during the 2016 Six Nations Championship, the 2016 Summer Tour and the 2016 Autumn Tour.

Of course, the coach who will be chosen by the board will have to think about a job because like I said before in this post, the coach will have to take a sabbatical season and it could damage potentially the national team’s results without any disrespect for interim coaches.

6. My 2017 British & Irish Lions squad for New Zealand

Obviously, there are so many options that this squad will change through the months. I am going to unveil a squad following the 2016 Six Nations Championship, the players’ performance and the potential that we can find even in uncapped players at Test level.

In 2013, during the British & Irish Lions Tour in Australia, without the players which were called-up as cover in the forwards and in the backs, there were exactly 37 players named in the very first squad. I am going to make the squad with the same number of players.

To be honest, I am going for a 21-16 split with 21 forwards and 16 backs. I would name four hookers, six props, four locks, five flankers and two number 8. I would name as well three scrum-halves, three fly-halves, four centers, four wingers and two fullbacks.

Hookers : Rory Best (Ulster), Ross Ford (Edinburgh), Ken Owens (Scarlets), Tom Youngs (Leicester).

Props : Dan Cole (Leicester), Rob Evans (Scarlets), Jack McGrath (Leinster), Samson Lee (Scarlets), WP Nel (Edinburgh), Mako Vunipola (Saracens).

Second-rows : Jonny Gray (Glasgow), Alun-Wyn Jones (Ospreys), George Kruis (Saracens), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints).

Back-rows : John Hardie (Edinburgh), James Haskell (London Wasps), Sean O’Brien (Leinster), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins), Sam Warburton (Cardiff).

Number 8 : Taulupe Faletau (Newport), Billy Vunipola (Saracens).

Scrum-halves : Danny Care (Harlequins), Conor Murray (Munster), Rhys Webb (Ospreys).

Fly-halves : Dan Biggar (Ospreys), George Ford (Bath Rugby), Jonathan Sexton (Leinster).

Centers : Robbie Henshaw (Connacht), Jonathan Joseph (Bath Rugby), Jamie Roberts (Harlequins), Manu Tuilagi (Leicester).

Wingers : George North (Northampton), Tommy Seymour (Glasgow), Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby), Simon Zebo (Munster).

Fullbacks : Mike Brown (Harlequins), Stuart Hogg (Glasgow).

In this potential 2017 British & Irish Lions squad, you have 37 players with 21 forwards and 16 backs. There are exactly 14 English players, 10 Welsh players, 7 Irish players and 6 Scottish players. That list will change in the next months. No doubt about that.

Conclusion

The British & Irish Lions tour in New Zealand in 2017 will be a great opportunity to promote rugby union. It will be a great moment with an outstanding schedule where rugby will be played at his best. Exciting times ahead before June, 2017 in New Zealand.

Max.

Connacht Rugby : The successful story

Connacht Rugby is one of the four provinces in Ireland with Munster, Leinster and Ulster. The province is located in the West and it is famous for his town named Galway and for incredible landscapes like the Connemara Lakes which are making it so special.

In the recent years, Connacht Rugby was probably not the most famous province in Ireland following Munster’s and Leinster’s successive triumphs in Champions Cup in the years 2006 and 2008 for Munster and in 2009, 2011 and 2012 for Leinster.

Westerners have made constant improvements since the last 10 years. The province was coached by quality managers. The board started to develop a very successful model which proves to the rugby world that you do not need money to succeed today in rugby union.

1. Michael Bradley Era : Building a squad

Connacht Rugby is a province which was founded at the end of the XIXth century. During a century, from 1885 to 1995, Connacht Rugby played at an amateur level. Rugby was not enough developped in the country and the major leagues were not built at that time.

Following the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, Rugby started to become professionnal. The professionnal era came and Connacht Rugby, like all the rugby clubs, benefited from that change. The first seasons between 1995 and 2003 were tough as the team needed help.

Everything started for the Ireland province in 2003. From 2003 to today, in 2016, Connacht Rugby was coached by three outstanding managers who gave the right direction to the province with a good model promoted by the board which brought cohesion into the team.

First of these managers was Michael Bradley. He was appointed Connacht Rugby Head Coach in 2003. Immediately, his goal was very clear : with the IRFU rules limiting the overseas players signings in Ireland, Michael Bradley wanted to discover the Irish future.

The new coach looked overseas and convinced several Irish players, who were playing the game outside of Ireland, to come back in their home country and join this new adventure. Several players answered the call like the Harlequins fullback Gavin Duffy.

Lead by their charismatic captain, back-rower John Muldoon, Michael Bradley tried to stimulate competiton in his squad. He had two playmaking options at fly-half with young academy player Ian Keatley and New Zealander Miah Nikora who played in Super Rugby.

From the 2003-2004 season to the 2009-2010 season in the Pro12, Connacht Rugby never managed to climb. They finished at the 10th place during six consecutive seasons. They could not be qualified for Champions Cup but were playing in the Challenge Cup.

Under Michael Bradley, Connacht Rugby had decent results in Challenge Cup. They reached the Quarter-finals two times (2005-2006, 2008-2009) and the Semi-finals three times (2003-2004, 2004-2005 and 2009-2010). Not too bad for a team in building.

The pinnacle of Michael Bradley era will remain that Challenge Cup semi-final during the 2009-2010 season when they played Toulon at Sportsgrounds. Despite facing a squad entirely built with millions, Connacht Rugby delivered and only lost 12-19.

2. Elric Elwood Era : Champions Cup qualification

Following memorable Challenge Cup campaigns, Michael Bradley decided to leave the club before the start of the 2010-2011 season. Tough Pro12 seasons with no qualification in the Champions Cup in six seasons could explain that decision to leave as well.

In 2010, the Connacht Rugby board made the announcement very quicly. Former Ireland fly-half Eric Elwood will manage the team. The legendary Irish fly-half along David Humphreys, Ronan O’Gara and Jonathan Sexton kept growing the academy in the West.

Many youngsters made their debut under Eric Elwood despite two blows. Hooker Sean Cronin and fly-half Ian Keatley left the squad to play respectively for Leinster and Munster. The province was struggling to keep his best players home in the long-term.

However, the new appointed coach did not lose faith at all. He worked hard to develop the academy and to improve the gameplan which had worked pretty well under Michael Bradley. The 2010-2011 Pro12 season had some changes with two Italian provinces coming.

During his first season in charge, Connacht Rugby finished in 9th place. There were in front of Zebre (ex-Aironi), Treviso and Glasgow. They managed to qualify for the 2011-2012 Champions Cup season thanks to Leinster after their 2011 Champions Cup win.

Rules at that time were stating that the Champions Cup winner would qualify automatically. The last ticket would be handed to the highest-ranked province not already qualified from the domestic league that the Champions Cup winner were from.

Connacht Rugby played for the first time in Champions Cup during the 2011-2012 season. They were not able to qualify but recorded a famous win at home against Harlequins (9-8). That season, they finished a place higher in the Pro12, climbing in the 8th place.

Eric Elwood continued the work. With the province’s new ambitions, Connacht Rugby managed to sign Scotland international fly-half Dan Parks. More and more people started to come at Galway to see Connacht Rugby playing. The affluence became bigger and bigger.

Nevertheless, that was a mixed season. Connacht Rugby finished 8th in the Pro12. In the 2012-2013 Champions Cup, they recorded three wins, two against Zebre and one at home against Biarritz. They retained Champions Cup qualification for the 2013-2014 season.

3. Pat Lam Era : History in the making

Ahead of the 2013-2014 season, the Connacht Rugby released a statement where they said that Eric Elwood will leave the team with Pat Lam taking the job. The New Zealander, born in Samoa, had a fantastic career both as a player and as a coach in the past.

Pat Lam played in New Zealand during the beginning of the nineties with Auckland and North Harbour in the ITM Cup before heading to overseas. He joined Northampton Saints later and won the Aviva Premiership (1997-1998) and the Champions Cup (1999-2000).

The back-rower was also capped 34 times with Samoa between 1991 and 1999. When he decided to begin a coaching career, Pat Lam enjoyed his time in Auckland, winning two ITM Cups title in 2005 and 2007. He also coached the Blues in Super Rugby (2009-2012).

He was named Connacht Rugby manager at the start of the 2013-2014 season. That season, with the same rules that allowed Connacht Rugby to play in the 2011-2012 Champions Cup, the province qualified in that competition thanks to Leinster’s Challenge Cup win.

During his first season in charge, Pat Lam embraced the board’s philosophy with the academy becoming stronger. The Irish province became more attractive and Pat Lam managed to sign All Blacks legend and 2011 World Cup winner Mils Muliaina.

Despite another disappointing season in the Pro12 with a 10th place, Connacht Rugby made a statement in Champions Cup. Winning three games out of six, the Westerners delivered against 4-times winner Toulouse beating them 14-16 in their home ground.

It was that performance which created so much hope in the province. During the 2014-2015 season, Pat Lam guided the team to a Challenge Cup Quarter-final against Gloucester at Kingsholm after finishing runners-up in their Pool with Exeter Chiefs topping the table.

With new qualification rules for the Champions Cup, it was announced that the 20th ticket will be awarded after a play-offs phase. The province ranked 7th in the Pro12 would face the side ranked 7th in the Aviva Premiership. The winner would face Bordeaux-Bègles.

It was the second time of the season that Connacht were facing Gloucester at Kingsholm. Having lost 7-14 in the Challenge Cup Quarter-finals, Connacht lead that play-offs game 25-18. Controversial refereeing sent the game in extra-time with Connacht losing 32-40.

4. From special status to deserved success

Connacht Rugby was a province which was considered, at the beginning, as a development team by the IRFU (Ireland Rugby Football Union). That status was meaning that only half of the budget allowed to the other three Irish provinces was given to Connacht Rugby.

In 2003, the Irish Rugby board discussed Connacht Rugby’s future and decided to develop the province as a fourth competitive province in Ireland. The board gave more financial powers but really wanted to keep the philosophy in giving opportunities to the youngsters.

As we have seen during the Michael Bradley era, the first seasons were not very successful. Connacht Rugby brought in their squad many players from the All-Ireland League. The province needed to make that transition from amateur rugby to professionnal rugby.

Through the seasons and despite poor results, Connacht Rugby board never changed his long-term vision. Most of the players signed by Connacht Rugby had already represented Ireland at junior levels. However, difficult times came for the Westerners in the last years.

The board at Connacht Rugby was unhappy with some of the players leaving for Munster, Leinster or Ulster. The board was not blaming the players but the other provinces which were accused of destroying the newcoming province which had not much money.

Before the beginning of the 2011-2012 season, four key players from Connacht Rugby left the club. Fly-half Ian Keatley moved to Munster while hooker Sean Cronin, prop Jamie Hagan and all-time Connacht try scorer Fionn Carr (41) left to play for Leinster.

Today, Connacht Rugby is making History every weekend. Qualified for the Challenge Cup Quarter-finals, Connacht Rugby leads the Pro12 table with 63 points and 13 wins out of 18 games. They beat last weekend Leinster at home at the Sportsgrounds 7-6.

The Connacht squad is looking strong. They have talented Irish players : hooker Dave Heffernan, props Ronan Loughney and Denis Buckley, back-rower Eoin McKeon, fly-halves Jack Carty and Craig Ronaldson, wing Matt Healy and fullback Tiernan O’Halloran.

During the last Six Nations Championship, when Ireland met Scotland, there were five Connacht players at the same time on the pitch : props Finlay Bealham and Nathan White, second-row Ultan Dillane, scrum-half Kieran Marmion and inside centre Robbie Henshaw.

Conclusion

Exeter Chiefs is an example for all the Aviva Premiership sides, Connacht Rugby is the same for the Pro12 provinces. The Westerners started from nothing more than a decade ago, they are leading the Pro12 table and they want to achieve success winning silverware.

The success story was made possible thanks to Michael Bradley and Eric Elwood who left a legacy to Pat Lam. Michael Bradley set the foundations with a strong academy and Eric Elwood managed to qualify the province in the Champions Cup for the first time ever.

Pat Lam took the squad in 2013 and he is doing a great job. His connections with New Zealand sides are very important. Connacht Rugby signed Mils Muliaina in 2014 and they rely today on another New Zealand player : Bundee Aki. The man is outstanding.

The long-term vision from the Connacht Rugby board was very good from the start. We can see the results today : the Westerners have got a strong academy with players given opportunities every weekend, players who are called with Ireland after great displays.

Whatever happens in the future, Connacht Rugby can be proud of what that they have achieved in the past decade. You have to give credit to three outstanding coaches : Michael Bradley, Eric Elwood and Pat Lam who gave their best to improve rugby at Connacht.

Their crowd at the Sportsgrounds is also passionnate. They support their team every weekend and have faith in their players. I really hope that they will achieve something incredible very soon. Winning silverware would be deserved for all the work done.

Like Exeter, Connacht shows you that you do not need money to succeed in rugby union.

Max.

The Barrett Review : Super Rugby 2016 (Round 5)

The Hurricanes had the honour to start the Round 5 of Super Rugby on Easter weekend with a first game at home, in their beautiful Westpac Stadium at Wellington against south-african franchise and newcomers Southern Kings for this 2016 Super Rugby season.

Julian Savea : dropped from the team

Head Coach Chris Boyd had made some changes in the starting line-up. One in the forward pack with Michael Fatialofa in the second-row and two in the backline with Willis Halaholo and Jason Woodward coming respectively for Vince Aso and Julian Savea.

You read well. Julian Savea was dropped from the starting team and even from the 23 matchday squad. The All Blacks winger is struggling since the start of the 2016 Super Rugby season. He does not deliver the same power in his game at the wing.

Julian Savea is lacking pace at the moment. He does not often get the ball during the games because the whole team has to find new combinations in the midfield with Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith having left the Hurricanes following the 2015 World Cup.

The key for Julian Savea is finding his standards with strong carries. Chris Boyd said, as well, that the winger was not as accurate as he could have been during the Hurricanes pre-season and the training sessions. King Julian will come back. We believe in him.

The Game : Southern Kings far from ridiculous

Following their first three games in the Super Rugby competition for their comeback since 2013, many people were raising concerns following heavy losses against the Sharks, the Chiefs and the Crusaders, conceding an average of 40 points in those three games.

Their performance against the Hurricanes today justifies Super Rugby expansion from 15 franchises to 18 franchises between 2015 and 2016. The Southern Kings threatened them all game with a big scrum and quick balls. They played the game. They were magnificient.

The Hurricanes started well though with a first try from rugby league convert Ngani Laumape on the left wing following an assist from Ardie Savea. Minutes later, Blade Thomson scored a second try and Hurricanes were leading 12-0 after 12 minutes of play.

Suddenly, it became scrappy from the Hurricanes. The Southern Kings gathered well in defence. The Hurricanes found some space in the attack but they were not accurate enough and many try scoring opportunities were butchered with several knock-ons.

However, the Wellington-based franchise managed to turn things with counter-attacking play with TJ Perenara and Dane Coles combining well with Ardie Savea beating three defenders and scoring the third try. The Southern Kings never gave up and kept playing.

The visitors started to believe. They came back first thanks to a penalty from their playmaker Louis Fouche. Skipper Steven Sykes, who was playing his 100th Super Rugby game, scored the first try. The Southern Kings came back with 9 points behind.

Just before half-time, Shane Gates’ unbelievable offload sent fly-half Louis Fouche under the sticks and the Hurricanes team lead was cut from 19-3 to 19-17 at half-time. Westpac Stadium immediately wondered what was happening to their Hurricanes.

Second-half : Nail-bitting game with lack of discipline

The Hurricanes tried to correct their poor first-half but they were out-played at the breakdown. The New Zealand franchise was put under an incredible amount of pressure during the first 10 minutes of the second-half with Kings launching good attacking moves.

Back-row Vaea Fifita knocked the ball on after a big run which could have gifted him a try. The Hurricanes earned a couple of penalties after Southern Kings infringed a ruck and were off-side following a clearance kick at scrum time according to the referee.

The All Blacks first-five eighth Beauden Barrett kicked successfully the two penalties to give the home team a 25-20 lead with 20 minutes to go. He got a third penalty five minutes later thanks to a big effort at scrum time. Lead was 28-20 at that time.

Back in the game with confidence and accuracy, the Hurricanes found their attacking game with Vaea Fifita’s brillant offload to centre Vince Aso. The youngster, coming from the bench, scored on right wing. The try was converted in the 73rd minute (35-20).

With the new rules, a team can get the bonus point only if they score at least three more tries than the opponent. With seconds away from the final whistle, the Hurricanes had scored four tries and the Southern Kings, two tries. Kings had a lineout of half-way line.

The ball was lost by the Southern Kings and was picked up by Beauden Barrett who raced under the sticks to score his first Super Rugby try of the season. He converted his own try to make it 42-20 for the Hurricanes. Flattering result considering the tough game.

The Barrett Review : Pleasing performance

1. Kicks : Great performance. That is a 7/9 with a missed conversion from left touchline and a missed penalty at the end of the first-half. Successful penalty after the break gave him confidence and the Vince Aso’s successful try conversion was from right touchline.

2. General play : Beauden Barrett played with depth. He did not attacked the line too much but worked for his teammates, creating mauls. He scored bonus point try, showing pace. The kicking performance in play was also satisfying. Some good runs as well. Pleasing.

Conclusion : With 22 points scored in the game (1 try, 4 conversions, 3 penalties), Beauden Barrett has scored exactly 57 points in 5 Super Rugby games. That is an average of 11 points per game. He keeps improving his game through the weekends. He has got our confidence.

Keep the pace Beauden !

Max.

Rugby union in France : Destroying the game

Saturday, 17th October, 2015. World Cup Quarter-final. Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. That game was probably the ultimate evidence to describe how the game has been destroyed in our country, for four years now, since 2011. France lost to the All Blacks 62-13.

I am not going to talk about this shameful result because there is not many things to say about the game in itself. New Zealand were just better. France could not match their physicality and our players showed no desire to win that competition that day.

In the last few years, our system was far from perfect, but at least, the Top 14 clubs wanted to see their national team performing. That’s why France reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2003, 2007 and the final in 2011, even if we didn’t play well.

Let’s talk about what is going wrong for French rugby at the moment. I could blame all the system and all the teams but I am going to talk about a club in particular which will make you understand the tragedy that the national team lives today : Toulon.

1. The financial powers

Toulon is built like all the clubs playing in France in the Top14. They are nothing without money. All their success is not based on talent but on money first. This situation is provoking a loss of balance if we compare with the other clubs in Europe now.

When you are looking at the Top15 for the highest-paid rugby union players, you have easily a quarter of this Top15 which is including Toulon players. These rugby union players are paid with an average of £700,000 a year (850,000 €). Is that decent ?! No.

That is also very interesting to witness that, sometimes, more and more you pay a Toulon player and more and more his playing level is decreasing. I could tell you a complete list but when you see how Quade Cooper or Tom Taylor are playing at Toulon, that is sad.

I notice that if the players were paid rightly according to their performances, I can tell you that most of the players would not be paid £700,000 – 850,000 € a year. For me, these salaries are not decent and rugby union starts losing ethics and morality.

The big problem is that Toulon is launching a money race. When you look at the 2015-2016 Top14 season, plenty of clubs are spending and spending. Sometimes, over-spending. Pau, Clermont and Racing 92 have got the same mentalities. They are all wrong.

Reports from independent committies have confirmed that the Top14 clubs have got a season budget which can increase to several tens millions of pounds. We will talk about that later in that piece but that budget is not very well spent at all through the season.

2. Megalomania, Rise and Fall

I would like to pay tribute to the club’s president Mourad Boudjellal. He has built a rugby union club thanks to his millions and his millions and it is not very difficult to find one of his numerous press declarations every day in most of the newspapers.

Mourad Boudjellal is always launching controversies and his speech is the exact contrary of the values that we want to defend thanks to rugby. The Toulon owner always disagrees with the governing  bodies : LNR (Top14 board), Six Nations and World Rugby.

For example, he says that Toulon cannot compete with clubs like Clermont, Racing 92 and Pau because they belong to multi-millionaire companies. Is that true ?! Yes. Is that true that Toulon cannot compete with them ?! Well, the results show the contrary.

This statement defies logic : Mourad Boudjellal says that these clubs have got more money than Toulon. However, the most prestigous players always choose to play for Toulon even if the other clubs are proposing them higher wages. Is that logic ?!

Some months ago, before the start of the 2016 RBS Six Nations campaign, Mourad Boudjellal said that the club could not respect Salary Cap. That’s why he proposed to the Aviva Premiership board to include Toulon in the English league. Pathetic, even Tragic.

I could give you many other examples showing that his speeches are just disconnected from rugby union. This attitude has only one goal : Toulon have to be in the media. We have to talk about Toulon because everything is about business in this club, not rugby.

3. Unacceptable players’ management

The 2014-2015 season proved how unacceptable the players’ management at Toulon was. You may think that all that is going to follow seems to be okay but for me, it is not. Remember what happened in January 2015 : no fly-half was available in the team.

How did such a situation become possible ?! That is simple, Toulon is built on a very poor system. You sign Southern Hemisphere superstars. The problem is that countries like New Zealand keep their eligibility rules. You have to play at home to represent home.

If South Africa kneeled down in front of money for many years now, Australia modified their rules. Overseas players become eligible if they played under a ARU (Australia Rugby Union) contract during 9 years and if they have at least 60 caps for Australia.

That’s why most of the players who are targeted had a successful international career. Some of them retire following World Cups or a Super Rugby season, others opt to play in a foreign league once that they announced their international retirement.

Because of all these reasons, more than half of the players signed by Toulon at the start of all the seasons are aged 30+ years old. Rugby union is a very tough game and each season, you have to be more and more committed and you have also to listen to your body.

Let’s go back to the 2014-2015 season. During New Year’s Eve 2014, we learnt that there were no available fly-half at Toulon given Matt Giteau’s hamstring injury, Frederic Michalak’s shoulder injury and the lack of depth at this position in the squad at that time.

Toulon signed two playmakers from Argentina : Nicolas Sánchez and Juan Martin Hernández. These two players were offered a part-time contract. They had no perspective coming at Toulon. Starting, sitting on the bench, not in the 23 ?! Is it important ?!

4. No balance anymore, no interest in the game

Since the 2009-2010 rugby union season, Toulon has played in a lot of finals including two Amlin Challenge Cup finals (2009-2010, 2010-2011), three Top14 finals (2010-2011, 2012-2013, 2013-2014) and three Champions Cup finals (2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015).

In fact, that is 8 finals in only 6 rugby union seasons from the 2009-2010 season to the 2015-2016 and current season. I do not think that there is a better figure to show how a club built on money can destroy the interest for the game, the interest for rugby.

The solutions to solve the problems are obviously not putting in place a global system where the goal for all the rugby clubs would be getting all the money available to compete against other clubs which would do the same. It would be just disastrous and tragic.

There are two solutions that Top14 can retain for the league. They are coming from Aviva Premiership and the Pro12. First of all, the French clubs have to respect Salary Cap like all the English sides do even if they have got the same ambitions to win silverware.

Also, Top14 have to adopt new rules with quotas. In the Pro12, the Irish provinces cannot have more than 5 players coming from overseas. The IRFU board can block the moves : last Autumn, Munster wanted to sign Wallabies skipper Stephen Moore. The IRFU blocked.

Thanks to this new model, we will be able to develop our academies and the next generations of players will be ready for the international level. What is following will show you that no players from the Toulon academy system regularly plays in the starting XV.

5. Lack of stability, terrible situation for our players

During the 2014-2015 season, Toulon squad had so many players that they could have done at least three teams each weekend and they still would have been able to win. The system in Toulon, like in all the Top14 clubs, does not give game time to French players.

Last season, in the second-row, you had the Springboks Bakkies Botha and the All Blacks Ali Williams ; which means that they had no game time for two other French players : Romain Taofifenua and Jocelino Suta. They were then dropped from national team.

That was even worse in the back-row and that is still the same today. Do not expect to find a French player in the back-row with players like Steffon Armitage, Juanne Smith, Mamuka Gorgodze, Juan Martin Fernández Lobbe and Chris Masoe (Racing 92 today).

I will hold the same speech in the backline. Bryan Habana, Drew Mitchell, James O’Connor and Josua Tuisova (who opted to play for Fiji rather than France) are covering all the positions. No time for a home talent to grow. He will never be given an opportunity.

The fact that Toulon signed some “Jokers” during the 2015 World Cup with international players missing show their weaknesses. Willie du Plessis, Mitch Inman and Lachie Turner had short spells. It was not unforgettable. They played a few games and they left.

For this 2015-2016 season, the situation is not even better with constant lack of game time for our French players.The arrival of Ma’a Nonu at centre means that Maxime Mermoz and Matthieu Bastareaud cannot play together anymore as a midfield partnership.

The two French players are sharing a starting place and a bench place every weekend. Duane Vermeulen coming in the back-row is provoking the same debates and there is no real desire to change the philosophy. Unfortunately for the national team.

6. National team : becoming ridiculous

If you look at the Toulon starting XV which won the Champions Cup during the 2014-2015 season against Clermont at Twickenham, you had only 3 players from France with 12 overseas players. That is only 30% of the Toulon starting XV.

You would never see that in England, Ireland, Wales and in Scotland. That is funny to see that the last time that France delivered on the international scene, it was during the 2011 World Cup final against New Zealand that we lost by one point (7-8).

Curiously, it was during the 2010-2011 season that Toulon came in Europe, knocking Munster out of Heineken Cup pool for first time. When you look at results in Six Nations from 2012 to 2016, we have never been able to perform better than 4th place in the table.

We were 4th in 2012, 2014 and 2015. We finished 5th in 2013 (Ireland finished 6th with a worst points difference) and in 2016 with only two narrow wins and it was at home. I talked about the 2015 World Cup Quarter-finals at the beginning.

We lost 13-62 against New Zealand. In their pool game, Namibia had lost 14-58. Funny to see as well that there are talks claiming relegation for Italy but they scored 8 tries during the last RBS Six Nations Championship, one more than us. See the tragedy, see the drama !

Conclusion

To sum up the situation, Top14 clubs do not work in the interest of the national team. It is too easy to say that the France coaches are to blame for this situation. As long as the system will not change, the national team will not improve.

Toulon and many other French clubs have decided to destroy our national team and rugby union by the way. All the Top14 clubs does not want to build an adventure like Exeter Chiefs are doing for many years no. There are no academy system.

When a youngster comes from the academy, he cannot get game time because he cannot compete with international superstars from Southern Hemisphere coming with an international career. There is nothing that he can do really as a rugby player.

Maybe that after all, we have to change the mentalities. I remember what our former France coach Marc Lièvremont said after the 2011 World Cup semi-final that we won against Wales 9-8 playing 60 minutes at 15 against 14 after Sam Warburton’s red card.

“I don’t care if the game was awful or if Wales were deserving it more than us. We are through to the final and it is all that matters.”. Even during Six Nations with Eddie Jones’ controversies, I cannot remember a statement from a coach as shameful as this one.

I am French. I find that disgusting.

Max.

Rugby union in Wales : The right path

There are a lot of talking in Wales, since the end of the 2011 World Cup, about a system which is not working, a system which would not allow the four provinces in the country to be competitive in the domestic competitions and in the european compétitions.

To be fair, all these concerns are not justified because when we see the situation in Wales at the moment, the Welsh Rugby Union board has got a long-term vision with an ultimate goal in strengthening the provinces and the national team for many years to come.

Many people watching, enjoying and loving the game think that our modern era means that success can only be achieved thanks to money and finance. I just wanted to tell them that other ways are possible, other paths are much better for rugby union in general.

That’s why we are going to assess Wales rugby for the last four years, talking about the provinces and the national team’s results. We are going to see that the situation is not as terrible as it is often described with this no-debate of the “Welsh provinces problem”.

1. The Scarlets : Becoming the first Welsh province ?

Scarlets have always inspired some respect through european rugby. Known as Llanelli Scarlets some years ago, they became Scarlets at the start of the 2008-2009 rugby union season to launch this new era, leaded by their incredible playmaker Stephen Jones.

Today, Scarlets are performing really well. Despite a high number of Welsh internationals, playing at the 2015 World Cup, they started very well the 2015-2016 Pro12 season with many wins and some strong displays in their home ground, named Parc Y Scarlets.

Managed by the Head Coach Wayne Pivac, Scarlets are in a very good position in the Pro12 table. They have an opportunity to reach for one of the first times the Pro12 play-offs if they keep playing and believing in themselves for the next games to come.

Quality players and many international players are part of the team. With Rob Evans, Ken Owens and Samson Lee, Scarlets are relying on Welsh starting front-row. Scotland legend John Barclay is also a key man in the set-up alongside Jack Condy, promising player.

Their backline is very talented as well with scrum-half Gareth Davies scoring many tries and directing the game. The All Blacks centre Regan King and Hadleigh Parks provide physicality with DTH Van der Merwe and Liam Williams showing some pace.

2. The Ospreys : Building for the future

The Welsh province, based in Swansea, has always been considered as the strongest province in Wales. That is a bit more complicated to make that statement in 2016 as they are struggling in the Pro12 at the moment with an 8th position.

Is that a reason to panic ?! Absolutely not. Their position in the Pro12 standings have to be linked with the 2015 World Cup. The Ospreys provided Wales the biggest number of internationals including Dan Biggar, Alun-Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate and Justin Tipuric.

The biggest challenge for the Ospreys will be building a new squad with some players likely to retire from the game in a couple of seasons. However, they still perform in the Champions Cup, not far from qualifying in Quarter-finals during this 2015-2016 season.

They recorded memorable wins at home against favourites Exeter Chiefs and Clermont. They were unbeaten at home and took twice the two bonus points during two out of their three defeats. The Ospreys have got some character and they will improve.

Balance is important in this province. They signed some talented players from overseas like the All Blacks scrum-half Brendon Leonard and the Springboks centre JJ Engelbrecht. The Welsh players will improve their skills with these two talented players.

3. The Cardiff Blues : Time to deliver

During the 2008-2009 Heineken Cup season, Cardiff Blues lead by their outstanding fly-half Ben Blair lost to Leicester Tigers during a kicking competition, the two team being tied after extra-time. That season, they won the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

Season after, during the 2009-2010 contest, the Welsh province, coached by Dai Young, managing today London Wasps in England, beat Toulon in final to win the Challenge Cup and becoming the first ever Welsh club to win a european competition.

Since these glorious days, Cardiff Blues is struggling. They have a lot of difficulties to reach the Top6 to be part of the Champions Cup on a regular basis. In Challenge Cup, they are trying and trying but without success unfortunately in the recent seasons.

If we take their performances in the 2015-2016 Challenge Cup season, Cardiff Blues were far from ridiculous. They were drawn in a pool with Harlequins and Montpellier, which are building a south-african franchise in France (16 Springboks in the squad).

Cardiff Blues finished third three points behind Montpellier who qualified as runners-up. They have a talented squad with Welsh legends such as Gethin Jenkins, Sam Warburton, Alex Cuthbert and Tom James. Promising players like Rhys Patchell are stepping up.

4. The Newport Gwent Dragons : Surprises coming

Not many rugby union clubs are paying attention to Newport Gwent Dragons at the moment but there are a lot of positive signs from this Welsh province. They are making many improvements every seasons despite not many Welsh international players.

Last season, Newport Gwent Dragons reached the Challenge Cup semi-finals. They beat at home Cardiff Blues but they could not do anything against Edinburgh at Murrayfield. However, that was a good european campaign for them, giving confidence.

They will be, once again, one of the only Welsh provinces to play a Quarter-final this season. It will be in Challenge Cup. Tough game at Kingsholm against Gloucester awaits them. Big challenge for the Welsh men which could definitely turn their season.

We have to give a lot of credit to Newport Gwent Dragons. Most of their team is built thanks to their academy system. They have no Welsh superstars now that Taulupe Faletau decided to leave the province to play in Aviva Premiership with Bath Rugby.

Newport Gwent Dragons, nevertheless, are producing results at home. They beat Irish provinces at Rodney Parade during this season with Munster and Ulster put under an incredible amount of pressure, Newport winning at the end of both games.

5. The Gatland’s Law : Good law but a mess

The Welsh Rugby Union board has established a law with the agreement of the Wales coach Warren Gatland, managing the country since the disastrous 2007 World Cup when Wales could not even reach the Quarter-finals after a defeat against Fiji.

That law is called the “Gatland’s Law”. At the beginning, that law was there to have a dissuasive impact. All the Welsh players playing the game outside of Wales had less chances to be selected to play the international games with their country.

Since 2011, that law is becoming increasingly complicated. Some players playing abroad are still selected (George North at Northampton Saints, Jamie Roberts at Harlequins and Tomas Francis at Exeter Chiefs) wheras some players are not (James Hook at Gloucester).

The James Hook case was very interesting because between 2012 and 2015, during the Six Nations Championship, Richard Hibbard was selected. He was playing at Gloucester as well and got opportunities but James Hook was always overlooked.

Problem is that the Gatland’s Law has a good goal : retaining players home but the law is not well enough applied to the players. There are too many exceptions and that’s why that selection tricks are becoming a mess and that does not give the good example.

6. National Dual Contracts : Another good decision

The National Dual Contracts were put in place in the same time than the Gatland’s Law. These central contracts have got the same ultimate goal : keeping and retaining the best players home, playing in the Welsh provinces to help the game growing.

These contracts are giving many advantages both to the players and the Welsh Rugby Union board : the players are available for selection immediately, training and conditionning are adapted and the board has got a better vision for management.

Many Welsh players are under National Dual Contracts with 17 Welsh players having signed this contract including notable signings such as Rhys Webb, Dan Biggar, Alun-Wyn Jones, Dan Lydiate, Scott Williams, Tyler Morgan and Jonathan Davies.

Unfortunately, some players are not thinking that way. The Newport Gwent Dragons number 8 Taulupe Faletau refused to sign a National Dual Contract to move at Bath Rugby. The board initially blocked the move but could not retain him at the end.

There are some improvements to be made in the future but the National Dual Contracts are a good signal. The national team is improving and benefiting from this system and players have time to train together when the squad gathers for international windows.

Conclusion

Rugby union in Wales is heading in the good path. Welsh provinces are doing their best with strong academies, talented overseas players. Results are coming with improvements made and coaches have got the good vision for the future to win some silverware.

However, even if Gatland’s Law and National Dual Contracts are good decisions, the board has to be very clear about the selection criterias. Warren Gatland will be able to pick only two wild-cards next season, two players abroad. It does not seem possible.

Wales players playing their trade overseas (2016-2017) : G. North (Northampton), T. Francis (Exeter), J. Roberts (Harlequins), L. Charteris (Bath), T. Faletau (Bath), B. Davies (Wasps), R. Moriarty (Gloucester), R. Hibbard (Gloucester), J. Hook (Gloucester).

Max.

Aviva Premiership : Tribute to Exeter Chiefs

For many years, since the 2010-2011 rugby union season and the arrival of multi-millionnaire club Toulon in Heineken Cup, many fans could have thought that money was at that moment the only way to get results immediately to finally win some silverware.

There is a club which has completey shown that the exact contrary was possible, a club with a proud history, passionate fans, talented coaching staff and committed players wanting to build something beautiful and an unforgettable adventure : Exeter Chiefs.

Exeter Chiefs are earning the respect from all the rugby world since the 2009-2010 season. During that season, they brillantly dominated the Championship to deservedly earn a durable place in the Aviva Premiership where they play since the 2010-2011 season.

1. Key to success : a long-term vision

Nowadays, it seems that there is no time for patience anymore. Clubs, players and coaching staff, want to win silverware very quickly, forgetting the most important : the most beautiful is not how many times you win a competiton, it is how you win it.

Based on this model, you can see that sometimes it works. That’s right. Toulon managed to do it. The only problem is that they are destroying rugby for 6 years now. Sometimes it does not work : Racing 92 tries every season to win a competition but no success.

The Exeter Chiefs board had another idea. They have decided back in the end of the 2000 decade to build a squad. The board knew at that time that it was going to take many time and many years but they thought that success was based on passion. They were right.

The stakeholders made the choice to appoint Rob Baxter as the Head Coach. During his first season in charge, between 2009 and 2010, he managed to win Championship and Exeter Chiefs was included in the Aviva Premiership for the first time ever.

That was a masterstroke from Rob Baxter. He took the team, he talked to the players and he held a speech every weekend about passion, determination and how the game should be played. The players answered the call. Exeter Chiefs earned their right to go through.

2. Coaching : Improvements every season

What is unbelievable in this side is their ability to improve their game and learn from their mistakes. During 2009-2010 season, Exeter Chiefs were in Championship. Six seasons later, they top the Aviva Premiership table and will play a Champions Cup Quarter-final.

How was it possible ?! Well, for their first season in the Aviva Premiership (2010-2011), they laid down some markers, finishing 8th despite some points deduction because they had fielded too many overseas players during a game against Leeds Carnegie.

Then, during the 2010-2011 season, Rob Baxter’s men took another step. Exeter Chiefs reached the Challenge Cup Quarter-finals and they finished 5th in the Aviva Premiership, allowing them to compete for the first time in Heineken Cup, a season later.

For their first european campaign, Exeter Chiefs was drawn in a tough pool along double-winners at that time, Leinster. In that home game against the Irish province, at Sandy Park, they showed courage and passion, staying in the contest during more than an hour.

At the end of the 2012-2013 season, they finished 6th but with the same number of points than last season (49). They kept improving despite a tougher 2013-2014 season when the results were far from expected both in Aviva Premiership and in Champions Cup.

3. The 2014-2015 season : New Era

Exeter Chiefs learnt from this tough season between 2013 and 2014 when they not qualified for the 2014-2015 Champions Cup to focus on Challenge Cup, using this competition as a platform to climb higher in the Aviva Premiership standings.

The club fared really well for their third season in the Challenge Cup. They finished at the top of their Pool after two great contests against the Irish province Connacht which was already making good progress as well when we see where they are now.

Rob Baxter knew that it was also very important to deliver in the Aviva Premiership. He managed very well his squad and the side reached the Challenge Cup semi-finals where they were finally defeated by Gloucester at Kingsholm in a high-intensity game.

The passion and the big interest for Exeter Chiefs came at the end of the 2014-2015 Aviva Premiership season. Exeter Chiefs finished at the 5th place with 68 points, tied with Leicester Tigers and Saracens which had exactly the same number of points.

Exeter Chiefs missed play-offs race for 20 points game. Exeter Chiefs and Saracens had same number of points (68) and same number of wins (14). Saracens had +246 and Exeter Chiefs had +226. That season, Exeter Chiefs beat future champions twice, home and away.

4. Confirmation in 2015 and in 2016

Nothing seems to be able to stop Exeter Chiefs at the moment. They are in the best of the positions right now. The other Aviva Premiership sides did not see them coming in the last seasons and their biggest challenge now for them is to play this ambitious club.

After 17 rounds in the 2015-2016 Aviva Premiership season, Exeter Chiefs is first in the table in front of Saracens, London Wasps and Leicester Tigers. They have a very strong record at home, losing only one game against Saracens some weeks ago.

The players are also comfortable away and do not fear to play even when they are under pressure. Rob Baxter, the Head Coach, is always very smart in his interviews. He wants to see the best from his squad and he shows a lot of belief to give confidence.

Exeter Chiefs knew an incredible 2015-2016  Champions Cup campaign. They were playing in a very tough pool with Clermont, Bordeaux-Bègles and Ospreys. The club qualified in the closing stages of their last game while they were 4th before the last round.

The English club will face London Wasps in the Champions Cup Quarter-finals. Exeter Chiefs will play this game at Coventry in the Ricoh Arena against a very talented team coached by Dai Young. It will be a massive challenge but who knows ?!

5. The perfect balance, the perfect mix

The real strength of the Exeter Chiefs is first their squad management. Coaching the team since 2009, Rob Baxter knows what is the best for the squad. He does not do much turn-over but when he does, his choices are always the right ones for the squad.

Exeter Chiefs has got a very strong academy. They have very young players who are improving thanks to game time in the Anglo-Welsh Cup. These youngsters are given some opportunities then in Aviva Premiership and that is good for competition in the team.

Contrary to many French clubs, Exeter Chiefs are part of these very few clubs who are not exclusively relying on overseas players, particularly players coming from the Southern Hemisphere. We can count these Southern Hemisphere players on one hand.

There are no All Blacks though. Flanker Don Armand is from South Africa whereas back-rower Julian Salvi and fullback Lachlan Turner, who joined the club recently, are from Australia. There are other foreign players but from Europe.

For example, there are two Irish players (Gareth Steenson and Ian Whitten), two Welsh players (Tomas Francis and Phil Dollman), a Scottish player (Moray Low) and a Italian player (Michele Campagnaro). However, the major part relies on England home talent.

English players at Exeter Chiefs : Luke Cowan-Dickie, Geoff Parling, Dave Ewers, Thomas Waldrom, Sam Hill, Henry Slade, Matt Jess, James Short, Olly Woodburn and Jack Nowell.

Conclusion

Exeter Chiefs are an inspiring team which shows how you can succeed in rugby without money. They have a proud History. The New Zealand side were given the All Blacks nickname following a game played in 1905. That was against Exeter Chiefs.

Max.

The 2016 Six Nations Review : England, Winners on the field, not off the field

The Six Nations Championship for the year 2016 comes to an end. That was a very weird Championship to be honest. Contrary to the previous years, there were a lot of things which were really unacceptable and which we do not want to see in rugby union.

With only a year and a half before the British & Irish Lions Tour in New Zealand in 2017 for an incredibly tough schedule, we have learnt a lot of things in this Six Nations Championship with nations knowing very different fortunes through the five Rounds.

That’s why we are going to review the performances made by the six nations playing every year in the competition, trying to make some conclusions and giving a trend for the next seasons. We will also talk about some off-field issues and unfortunate controversies.

1. Italy : Jacques Brunel leaves with unfinished business

Jacques Brunel was named Head Coach to manage the Italy squad following the Six Nations Championship in 2011 when former manager Nick Mallett decided that it was the time for him to quit. There was, at the start of the 2012 Six Nations, plenty of hope in Italy.

When we are assessing Italy’s results in the last years in the Six Nations Championship between 2012 and 2016, we can see that the team recorded famous wins including memorable games against France (2013), Ireland (2013) and Scotland (2012, 2015).

In the competition, in 2016, Italy finished 6th. They lost by only two points (21-23) against France away and they stayed in the contest against England until the 50th-minute mark.  The games against Scotland, Ireland and Wales were very tough to take.

It is unfair to talk about Italy’s relegation with a possible play-off game against Georgia, leading at the moment Tier 2 Six Nations. Italy was included in the Six Nations Championship in 2000. We are not going to take a step backward 16 years later.

Relegation would be a disaster for Italy. Their provinces do well in the Pro12. Zebre won games in Challenge Cup and sometimes the scoreboard lies : Zebre was heavily defeated against Ulster this season but they were far from being the worst team on the pitch.

2. France : The impossible job ?!

The country is still in complete shock following France 62-13 defeat against New Zealand during the last World Cup Quarter-final in 2015. France will never be able to reach the heights that we have known if the whole system does not change there.

We recorded only two wins against Italy and Ireland. Two very narrow games that we could have easily lost. We lost at Murrayfield 29-18 against a brave Scotland team. That was the first time since that we were losing against them for 10 years. That was deserved.

I am not going to explain everything and what is going wrong about the French system but here are a few explanations : the Top14 system is relying on money and only on money. The clubs want immediate success and do not want to help the national team.

The academy system is completely broken in France. We have a lot of youngsters coming from the academies but the problem is that they will never get game time in their clubs because they cannot compete with the overseas players coming in France.

The situation is pretty simple : the France coaching job is incredibly tough because you struggle to see who are the best players in the country given the fact that they do not play much. There is also no long-term vision from the board and no desire to change anything.

3. Scotland : Improvements under Vern Cotter

The most pleasing thing in this Six Nations Championship was seeing Scotland’s performances and how they are constantly improving since that Vern Cotter took the team’s management in 2014 after Scott Johnson left the coaching job.

In 2015, despite a miserable Six Nations Championship, Scotland taking the Wooden Spoon, Vern Cotter’s players managed to reach the World Cup Quarter-finals and they were unfairly knocked-out following the penalty controversy awarded to Australia.

When we look at how Scotland fared during this Championship, there are a lot of positives. They have won against Italy and against France for the first time since 2005. Scotland were also far from ridiculous against England at home and Wales away.

They have scored some magnificient tries like Tommy Seymour’s against Wales, Tim Visser’s against France and Stuart Hogg’s against Ireland. Vern Cotter will continue his great work with the Scottish players and it looks promising for the next seasons.

On top of that, the Scotland provinces in the Pro12 are bringing good results in the country. Despite a poor start, Glasgow is now competing to defend his title and Edinburgh can hope to play in Champions Cup next season. The future is bright.

4. Ireland : Transition taking more time than expected

The men in green finished third of this Six Nations Championship. That final result will be obviously disappointing given the fact that Ireland won the last two Six Nations Championships in 2014 and in 2015 after very strong displays on the field.

During this Championship, Ireland started with a draw against Wales (16-16) following by two losses against France and England, two away games. They finally bounced back during the next two home games with wins against Italy and Scotland with good combos.

There were some concerns at the beginning of the tournament with no Irish provinces qualifying for the Champions Cup Quarter-finals. However, the performances which were proposed from Ireland this season showed that there is no need to panic.

The system is very well built in Ireland with provinces giving opportunities to the youngsters. The academies are very strong and the Ireland board has the desire to develop the players pool. The signings from overseas are allowed but there are rules.

The Ireland coach Joe Schmidt has to make a final transition. The team has lost many legends as Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell. The challenge will be giving game time and experience to these new players at international level in the competitions.

5. Wales : Settled team always playing the game

The Welsh team had a very tough schedule during this Six Nations Championship. They had two away games against two big teams : Ireland and England. In these two games, they were on the edge and they could have won it both at the end, in the closing moments.

Warren Gatland’s men started with a draw against Ireland before a first win against Scotland. That game showed some scrappy games from both sides. Wales relied on a very strong backline with George North re-discovering his form with great tries.

The team was mentally very strong during their third game when they handled pressure from France during 10 minutes in second-half when their opponents were going for the try line. That performance allowed Wales to earn respect. They were magnificent.

During the England game, we witnessed that the pack was also very strong. Wales were too much penalised with penalties coming at the breakdown and because of many ruck infringements but not too many penalties came at scrum time. That was pleasing.

In a way, with Wales’ last game at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff, the fans were very happy to see running rugby and their players delivering. All the players were brought to the party. Ross Moriarty scored two tries. This man has got a bright future too.

6. England : Winners on the field, not off the field

The winners of this Six Nations Championship in 2016 are England. They took everything : the Triple Crown, the Championship and the Grand Slam. This Grand Slam was the first that England won since 2003 and their stunning win at Lansdowne Road against Ireland.

England are now coached by another manager since the World Cup failure. Stuart Lancaster is gone and has been replaced by Eddie Jones. That man has earned the respect for what he has achieved as a coach but his mentality is not promoting the rugby values.

Through the Championship, Eddie Jones only talked to launch controversies : he branded Scotland as favourites despite History between the two teams, said Italy was Tier 2 Rugby, raised concerns about Jonathan Sexton’s health and showed disrespect towards Wales.

The most scandalous was probably the Joe Marler case. He made a racist insult towards Samson Lee calling him “Gypsy Boy” and striked Rob Evans with an elbow. The Six Nations governing body did not ban Joe Marler in these two cases.

As a rugby fan, I always share the news with the most objective way. That’s why all my Tweets are ending with #rugbyunited. Funny to see that Joe Marler blocked me on Twitter. “Hey Joe, I have nothing to do with that, put the blame on you, not on me”.

Conclusion

This Six Nations saddens me because another incident happened during the game against Ireland and Scotland with some insults branded towards Jonathan Sexton who was accused of feigning injury after an illegal tackle from Alex Dunbar in second-half.

I read some unacceptable comments from other professionnal rugby players, such as Lewis Moody, verbally attacking Jonathan Sexton. I am not okay with that because it does not show a good behaviour about what rugby union is. That is not acceptable to be honest.

Finally, I wanted to say that I am not okay with crowd booing the kickers. The Eddie Jones provocations, the Joe Marler controversies and the unacceptable behaviours from both players and fans are making this Six Nations Championship, a sad Championship in 2016.

Max.

Bath Rugby : What is going wrong ?!

I really wanted to write this post to share with you the biggest rugby enigma at the moment : What is going wrong at Bath Rugby since the start of the new season ?! How can we explain these results when we know how well they were playing in 2014 and 2015 ?!

As a Bath Rugby fan, I am very disappointed with the club’s results and the game which are proposed every weekend. I discovered this talented squad during the Aviva Premiership 2013-2014 season. I was enjoying watching them playing great rugby.

The 2014-2015 season which followed was a season full of hope and ambitions. Bath Rugby was playing very well, had a gameplan and had found that balance. They reached that season the Champions Cup Quarter-finals and the Aviva Premiership Final.

Today, we are far from these glorious days. Of course, I would have preferred some silverware during the 2014-2015 season but I was convinced that the club was heading into the right path. Since the start of the 2015-2016 season, that is a disaster.

That is a disaster because Bath Rugby was knocked out the Champions Cup in the Pool stage. Besides, they are currently in the bottom of the Aviva Premiership, not sure to be part of the European Top6 next season. Let’s find out how this situation came.

1. The Sam Burgess Story

 Let’s get back from the start. Sam Burgess is an English rugby player who became famous in the last seasons thanks to rugby league. He won the rugby league competition in Australia with the talented rugby league club based in Sydney.

He was signed by Bath Rugby at the beginning of the 2014-2015 season, the England Rugby board pushing for that. There was plenty of hope watching Sam Burgess becoming the new Sonny Bill Williams. The first games were tough.

Mike Ford explained that Sam Burgess had to learn the game and how to be efficient for the team when he was touching a rugby ball. Rugby union is a different game and sometimes you don’t often touch the ball compared to Rugby League.

At the start of the season, Sam Burgess was playing at centre due to his powerful carries and his running abilities. Bath Rugby decided to play him in the back-row because he was struggling in centre and his game massively improved in the pack.

The problem was that England current coach at that time, Stuart Lancaster, wanted absolutely to play him at centre and only at centre. Sam Burgess played the Aviva Premiership Final in 2015 at Twickenham in the back-row and he was very good.

He was selected in the England squad to play at the World Cup in September 2015. England was knocked out of the Pool stages and two men were unfairly branded as scapegoats for this failure : Stuart Lancaster and Sam Burgess.

While the 2015-2016 season had already started, Sam Burgess missed training sessions. Mike Ford talked to the media, saying that he had to be refreshed after these tough moments. Problem was that Bath Rugby were disturbed in the early stages of the season.

There were always noises, every day, there were new headlines. Bath Rugby could not focused on their job. Finally, the announcement was made. Sam Burgess decided to come back to Rugby League. That was a blow for Bath Rugby and their season started badly.

2. Gameplan not working any more

When he was appointed Bath Rugby coach at the beginning of the 2013-2014 season, Mike Ford started to put in place a very expansive gameplan where the ultimate goals were scoring as many tries as possible and giving joy to the Recreation Ground.

Mike Ford is a former English rugby league player and you can see that the Bath Rugby gameplan is directly inspired from rugby league. That was very obvious during the 2014-2015 season : Bath Rugby was playing like a rugby league club and that was pleasing.

The gameplan that Mike Ford wants to build at Bath is very simple : in attack, all the players in the backline have to be an option and have to make the illusion to the opponent that they can receive the ball at any moment during the attacking build-ups.

This playing style is including in attack many deacoy runners and players throwing the dummies to add other options to the options. Thanks to this tactics, the goal is finding space in the wings or behind the rucks to score tries and points regularly.

All the players have to be involved during the attacking process. From the defensive angle, Bath Rugby defence is based on patience before all. The players have to make their tackles, competing very well at the breakdown and reclaiming turnovers.

As you can see, this gameplan is not working anymore this season. The reason is pretty simple : the other clubs are adapting the way that they are playing the game. They are aware about how Bath Rugby play and they find solutions to counter them.

That’s why that Bath Rugby needs to add something else in their gameplan. They do not have to change their attacking gameplan based on rugby league phases but the players have to be more precise. If they find other attacking combos, it will be great.

The major concern is that Mike Ford does not seem to want to play differently despite poor results. Bath Rugby is scoring not many tries and they are struggling more and more to build some phases. Their game is lacking patience and discipline, not talent.

3. Not enough strength in depth

That is really painful to say that but we are here to say the Truth : Bath Rugby does not have enough strength in depth, actually, to perform well in their domestic league and in the european competitions through the seasons and the years.

I am not saying that Bath Rugby squad is lacking talented players. Absolutely not ! I will never allow myself to say something like that. However, one of the reason for poor results is the fact that some players are over-used and seemed to be over-cooked.

The biggest problem comes during the Six Nations Championship. Contrary to some other Aviva Premiership sides (Leicester Tigers, Exeter Chiefs, Northampton Saints), Bath Rugby is relying on their internationals players to perform. Our academy is not ready.

During the Six Nations Championship, the youngsters have to step up and they do not get enough game time before the Six Nations rounds to deliver. Adding to that misery, there is also the fact that there is no Anglo-Welsh Cup as it is a World Cup year.

If we take the backline as an example, you can see where the concern is : Bath Rugby will not have the same attacking powers without playmakers such as George Ford, Jonathan Joseph and Anthony Watson, when he plays at fullback rather than at the wing.

The most pleasing thing about that problem is that the coaching staff has already understood the concerns. Bath Rugby has been very active in the market and they signed players for next season to strengthen the squad. We are going to see that now.

4. Weakened forward pack

Bath Rugby does not have, at the moment, a strong enough forward pack to compete with the best both in Aviva Premiership and in Champions Cup. The backs cannot have the platform to get good balls in attack and put the gameplan in place.

Under the Stuart Lancaster era, there were four forwards players from Bath who were regularly called in the squad : hooker Rob Webber, props Henry Thomas and David Wilson along with second-row Dave Attwood before he got injured and missed out.

These four players were not playing a lot and that trend was confirmed after the World Cup when Eddie Jones was appointed as the new Head Coach. In the England 2016 Six Nations Championship squad, there are no Bath Rugby players in the forwards.

The coaching staff wants to correct that problem for the next season. They signed some talented players to play in the pack : Amanaki Mafi, David Denton, Taulupe Faletau and Luke Charteris. Four international players bringing their experience.

The other problem is that these signings will make it more complicated for the fringes players and the players from the academy to get some gametime. At least, the Anglo-Welsh Cup, back next season, will provide a platform to improve the whole squad.

Conclusion

The way to recovery will be very long and will be very tough. We will probably play in Challenge Cup in the 2016-2017 season. We have to use this competition as a platform to build a strong position in the Aviva Premiership and reach new heights again.

Max.

The Barrett Review : Super Rugby Round 4 (2016)

That was one of those games where the scoreboard lies about what really happened during that game and how it went. Looking at the scoreboard and learning that the Hurricanes had won 41-6, you would have thought that it was an easy game for them.

To be honest, that was a really tough game. The contest was played at Palmerston North, between Hurricanes and Western Force, on the same pitch which hosted the first Super 12 game ever, in 1996, between the Wellington Hurricanes and the Auckland Blues.

That game, played on Friday night, in New Zealand, was a very high-intensity game. Western Force showed immediately that they had no intention to take a step backward. The Hurricanes started to play their game but could not throw the ball out wide.

While he was starting his first game of the Super Rugby season for the Hurricanes, also the first game ever as the franchise’s skipper, Dane Coles delivered in the first-half, scoring a try in the corner to give the hosts a 10-3 lead at half-time.

Western Force, leaded by their charismatic back-row captain Matt Hodgson, stayed in the contest until the 60th-minute mark. Then, the australian players started dropping the ball, making knock-ons and bringing less physicality in the game.

The Hurricanes, more powerful, finally found space and gathered five more tries thanks to James Marshall, TJ Perenara, Blade Thomson, Ngani Laumape and Ardie Savea. TJ Perenara scored his fourth try of the season, Ngani Laumape his first ever with his new club.

All was not perfect and you have to give some credit to Western Force for the fight and the battle that they proposed to the Hurricanes. That was pleasing to see James Marshall in form, with the bad news of Nehe Milner-Skudder out of the season with shoulder injury.

The Barrett Review :

• Kicks : 5/8 – Better performance from the kicking tee than last week. An early penalty miss and two missed conversions but four conversions landed with tricky angles. That performance will give him confidence with 11 points scored.

• General play : That was a fine performance with many metres run, one line break before half-time, setting up a penalty, and a couple of offloading passes. He directed well the backs, trying to find space, making an assist on Ngani Laumape’s try.

Conclusion : We talked about the 1st5R formula in another post. If it was used for this game, Beauden Barrett would have been rated between 65 -75 out of 100.00.

Max.

First centre vs Second five-eighth : Who is the best ?

The mentality, their dedication, the way that they are playing the game, their strategy, their winning rate, the number of World Cups that they won, … : They are many and many ways to make differences between Northern Hemisphere and Southern Hemisphere.

One of the major difference is probably the way that they are playing the game and how they want to play it. The Northern Hemisphere nations are best known for playing the game in a very physical way whereas South is basing the game on their skills.

Among all the examples that we could take, we are going to focus on the midfield. Through the years, you have got two radical strategies that emerged in world rugby. These two strategies are described in two notions : First centre and Second five-eighth.

Boundary between North and South : Not so sure !

In the minds, we consider this debate as a big difference between North and South. This speech would have been understood some decades ago, actually before the post-World Cup era of 1995, announcing the end of amateurism to take rugby in a professionnal system.

For many years, we are witnessing that this debate around First centre and Second five-eighth is not about North and South any more, even if this difference can still be witnessed at international level.

If it is true that South still likes to play with at least two playmakers in their backline (if not three with the fullback) and North relies on more physical midfield, we are seeing today North bringing the playmakers and South wanting to play with strong ball carriers.

The situation in the North : Physical midfield still the benchmark

The trend can be confirmed watching the Six Nations Championship through the years : North often relies on physical midfield with strong players, carrying the ball to unlock the opposite defence to allow the ball to be quickly thrown out wide.

Wales became famous on the European scene for doing that. The partnership between Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies proves that. Jamie Roberts regularly comes at full speed during the lineouts, trying to open the gap.

Ireland decided to go with the same philosophy. Under the “O” Golden Era (O’Gara, O’Leary, O’Connell, O’Callaghan), Gordon d’Arcy and Brian O’Driscoll were trying to play with ball in hand. Today, Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne are offering different options.

England : Trying everything, the midfield conundrum

England is probably the exception in the Northern Hemisphere. Through the years, the different coaching staffs tried everything. It is known that Jonny Wilkinson often wanted to play with playmakers at 12 (Mike Catt, Mike Tindall, Toby Flood).

However, when Stuart Lancaster coached England (from 2012 to 2015), he went for all the options. Strong carriers as Manu Tuilagi and Luther Burrell started at inside centre ; Playmakers such as Billy Twelvetrees and George Ford did too.

With Eddie Jones taking selection after the World Cup, the playmaking options were retained with promising George Ford – Owen Farrell partnership while the coach said that he was considering Manu Tuilagi as a 12 with Henry Slade and Elliot Daly, potential 13’s.

South : Running rugby before all, Skills prevailing

The nations from Southern Hemisphere (New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina) are playing a game which is directly inspired from Super Rugby. That competition is based on the attack, scoring tries and backing your skills.

Australia is probably the Southern Hemisphere nation which is using this tactics at his best. The coaches have always relied on talented 10-12 partnerships with playmakers directing the game for their backs, offering also two kicking options.

The last three coaches which trained Australia have tested many partnerships to play as much rugby as they could. It was not always successful on the international scene but we cannot blame Australia for trying and trying to play rugby differently.

• The Robbie Deans Era (2008-2013) : Quade Cooper – Berrick Marnes / James O’Connor – Christian Leali’ifano

• The Ewen McKenzie Era (2013-2015) : Matt Toomua – Christian Leali’ifano / Kurtley Beale – Matt Toomua / Bernard Foley – Matt Toomua

• The Michael Cheika Era (2015 – ?) : Quade Cooper – Matt Toomua / Bernard Foley – Matt Giteau

Australia has known very troubled times with players lacking discipline off the field and respect for their coaching staff. This problem seems to have been solved under Michael Cheika who made it clear when he was named Head Coach.

This coach may be forgotten today (but not by me), Ewen McKenzie did a great job with the Wallabies. His masterstroke was bringing Matt Toomua and his creativity in the backline. He was not used under Robbie Deans. He will be retained by Michael Cheika.

South Africa : An exception, like England in North

The only country from Southern Hemisphere which is not relying on that option is South Africa. Their Super Rugby franchises play a physical game, taking penalties rather than the lineouts and you can see it during the local derbies : few tries, big battle.

Heyneke Meyer was the South Africa coach during the last few years and lead the team to the last two World Cups in 2011 and 2015. Under his era, Heyneke Meyer didn’t try to change the South African game too much through the seasons.

If that is true that a guy like Francois Steyn, who can play fly-half too, got several opportunities at 12, the coach often started very physical inside centres, strong ball carriers, not making many offloads : Jaque Fourie, Jan Serfontein and Jean de Villiers.

New Zealand : Fusion between the two models ?

We are all witnessing, for many years, that New Zealand is the best rugby union nation ever. What strategy did they go for in the last few years ?! First of all, the All Blacks midfield partnership has been the same between 2008 and 2015.

From the end of the 2007 World Cup to the 2015 World Cup Triumph, the All Blacks midfield was filled by two legends : Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith. They started more than 60 games together in the midfield and Ma’a Nonu was playing 12, at inside centre.

Ma’a Nonu is an intriguing player. He is one of the very few players who are very difficult to put in a category rather than in another one. The way that he is playing the game, his attitude and his talent makes him either a second five-eighth, either an inside centre.

The former Hurricanes player always played a very direct game, his physicality helping him to create breaches into the defence. However, his abilities to read the game, to offload, his range of skills and his kicking allows him to be considered as a playmaker.

Conclusion

The rugby nations are playing the game like they want. We could argue that we need both of these playing styles on the rugby fields. Nevertheless, the game is called rugby and you do not play rugby with an inside centre … but with a second five-eighth !

Max.