Club rugby is invariably tribal and nowhere is this more marked than in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The baying from ‘the shed’ in Gloucester, the enthusiastic parochialism from the full-house at the Tigers’ Welford Road, the singing from the Irish and the Welsh teams or the full-blooded cry from the resurgent Scots, all produce wonderful rugby occasions – full of passionate support and a keen understanding of the game. Join them all together and add some European flavour with the French and the Italians, and you have a real, full-on international competition. A bit like a mini-World Cup – minus a few reasonable teams from the southern hemisphere, mind you – but it’s on every year, and it costs only a fraction of both time and money!
As the competition has grown, it has become harder and harder to win, with some of the pools a nightmare for their four selected teams – and only one team a definite for the quarter-finals. For example, Pool 2 contains Leinster (with the Magners and Heineken double 18 months ago), Clermont-Auvergne (reigning French champions), Racing Metro (current leaders of the French Top14) and Saracens (runners-up in last season’s English championship) – not so easy! Pool 3 sees mighty Munster, paper-favourites Ospreys, massive spending Toulon and premiership leaders London Irish – not any easier either! Bear in mind again that, from the six pools, only each pool winner gains automatic progress, with the two best second placed teams added to make the eight for the play-off rounds.
After only two rounds, the ambitious Saracens are biting their nails at the bottom of their pool, with only a solitary bonus point for their troubles, whilst in Pool 3, all teams have a win and a loss each – four tries or a losing bonus point ‘away’ are as good as a lottery win, maybe better! It’s no wonder then that each game is a huge occasion – even the losing supporters have ‘a grand time’.
This weekend’s games – or at least the two that I was able to see – were no exceptions. Coincidentally, both were from Pool 3, both Munster and Ospreys had to win, after first round losses the previous weekend, more so as they were both at home – and they both did win. Both matches were fiercely contested, with speed and skill in the loose and impact and cunning and in the tight. London Irish lost concentration – as they seem often to do – when at least the losing bonus point was within reach, and Toulon eventually fell away – as a French away team can often do. In between there was plenty to enthuse about.
Last week, I suggested that the referees were not enforcing the law which requires the “tackler to release and move away, immediately”. Both Peter Fitzgibbon and the excellent Wayne Barnes were much more on the job and both games were better spectacles for it. I’ve said it before, but when rugby is played and refereed with vision and intent, there cannot be a better game – for the player and spectator alike.
Munster, in particular, realised the value of the urgent recycle and the means to achieve it. The ball-carrier had intent, support players (in particular, their forwards) knew that they were needed in numbers and with commitment at the tackle contest, and their attacking players (mainly backs) had a clear understanding of the value of realignment. All of the Munster players had a powerful belief in the importance of running back – with real urgency – both in defence and for the counter. After the disappointment of their first round loss, but more importantly, their performance, they were clearly determined to make amends. They played well and scored six tries, whilst restricting Toulon to two – one in minute one and their second with only five minutes remaining.
The quick recycle brings supporting players onto the ball at pace. If the ball is slowed, by whatever means, the arriving players can then quickly realign, and in numbers, for whatever ‘slow-ball strategy’ the team requires. And so it was that virtually ALL of Munster’s phase-ball was used profitably. This was a new look for Munster. We’ve all seen the quality of their ‘pick-and-go’ game over recent years, but its effectiveness has been severely blunted by the recent, accurate application of the tackle law. Someone in the coaching staff has evidently ‘seen the light’ and the players clearly revelled in the opportunities presented. Stringer and O’Gara were wonderful – understandably, given the space resulting from this continuous pressure on defences. O’Driscoll and Buckley, both perhaps previously regarded as ‘bench players’, were constant threats – as ball-carriers, no less! Mick O’Driscoll was a deserved man of the match.
Ospreys were at home to London Irish, and, as I have said, ‘needed the win’. They are a most formidable team – on paper, at least – but they sometimes disappoint. Focus and concentration seem not to figure high on their agenda, at times. Early on, I thought that this would be another of those occasions, when, in the space of three minutes, they were ‘off-side in front of the kicker’ on two occasions. These infringements came after they had started the game with a beautifully executed dummy loop play which opened the defence for Hook to make the break for a try to Bowe – 5-0! A few minutes later, after the aforesaid infringements = 5-6!
We saw some of the magic which this team can produce – Hook’s incision, Shane William’s ‘chip-and-regather’ try – and the endeavour of their excellent backrow and champion scrum-half, but we also saw lengthy periods of ‘flatness’. Strange this – quite the opposite to the enthusiastic joy exhibited by the Munster team in their match. A team which can boast Byrne, Bowe, Williams, Hook, Phillips, Collins and Holah – for starters – should be full of enthusiasm and anticipation. “Every week, I just can’t wait for the game!” That’s not the way it looks to me.
One bright point though! Coach, Scott Johnson, may well have done the Welsh selectors a big favour with his selection of Ryan Jones at lock. With his man-of-the-match performance, Jones looked to me, every inch the big, strong, athletic, aggressive lock that all great teams need.
