WRW#5: SECOND BEST TO THE CHAMPIONS
But plenty to be happy with..
ANALYSING EXETER
The collective heart is in better order after Tigers’ showing against Exeter. There’s a feeling that expectations were exceeded on Saturday whereas they were apparently plumbed against Irish.
Watching the game back, recalling from the time and actually just using plain common sense makes you think that the cliche of reality being between the two holds true. I still don’t think Leicester were as poor as made out in Brentford and while they definitely made progress against Exeter, the To Do list is still quite long.
One thing I didn’t quite appreciate at the time is how much of a slog to the neutral the first half must have been. Look, don’t get me wrong. I enjoy a narrow slugfest as much as the next man or woman and the defensive commitment was a joy to the senses at the time.
As was the case with every forward, Cole worked like a trojan to slow Exeter’s momentum - and not just with a few well-judged stoppages - and Taute’s ability to pick out the ball-carrier was quietly terrific. In fact, the South African showed more broadly what he can do. Yes, he probably was at fault for the Rona try at Irish but a fine display against Gloucester and a tap-tackle of beauty against Exeter gives him credit in my book.
But take the emotion out and it was still excellent play, if slightly repetitive. Oh for one line break from the 22. It’s no-one’s fault that Leicester made 86 tackles in the first half, but Exeter’s 223 yards made and 10 defenders beaten compare to 70 and 4 respectively. That suggests what we know - Leicester need to get the ball and do something with it, when they get to the 22.
The lineout try was delightful to see, in that Exeter completely misread the call. As simple as the move was, the Chiefs were completely caught napping at the back of the line and couldn’t get back in time. Well organised, well disguised.
But that was the only break Tigers got, with more defensive yeomanry needed from there. Wells’ 46th minute tackle was a thing of beauty backed up by Porter to deny a despairing Devoto. Until Kirsten’s 51st try signalled the turning of the tide, followed up by a well-crafted effort from Whitten three minutes later, Leicester’s defence had held out even with the penalty county massively against them - although it could have been more damaging, if Craig Maxwell-Keys had got over his allergy to dishing out yellow cards.
Henry’s blown 2 on 1 would not have put Tigers in front, had Wigglesworth gone over - how good was the pass from Taufua on the ground? - and I’m sceptical whether it would have turned the game entirely. But Simmons’ instinctive yellow certainly did, despite subsequent bright moments.
One moment in the 73rd minute which I noticed at the time, gives me hope. Bonilla’s quick pass from first receiver got Leicester in around the corner of midfield more sharply than most other moves. It made 20 metres with Scott and Taute staying out wide, though got lost a little with the Argentine’s kick later being intercepted. But work on that, get it even slicker….and tries will come.
But how to stay on the right side of the law? It’s still a work in progress - and will be for some time - but progress is being made.
EUROPE AWAITS
I can’t think of a European campaign I’ve least looked forward to, than this one. If you’re lucky enough to be able to go, these are the highlights of the season and even if it were the weekend before Christmas, the South of France always delights.
Bayonne would be fabulous at any time of year though the pleasures of Brive are less well-known, but this all-French duo stand between Tigers and a place in the last 16. Yet, the format is so odd, albeit explained here in full detail.
The nutshell version goes likes this.
Fourteen teams play four games each. The top eight go to a round of 16, where they will play 8 teams dropping down from the Champions Cup (clubs ranked 5 to 8 from Pool A and 5 to 8 from Pool B). How European rugby makes it as complicated as possible to qualify from the pool stage is beyond me, but expect more than a few grumbles about the system in mid-January.
For what it’s worth, three wins looks enough to get into that round of 16, but points difference is going to matter even more than usual.
Both Bayonne and Brive were promoted back into the Top 14 last season, with the duo proving more than competitive to stay up before cancellation. This season, Bayonne have maintained that level and going to the South West of France looks to be a stern test for the weekend before Christmas.
The visitors to Welford Road on Friday though are a slightly different breed, with Brive having been second from bottom until Saturday’s basement win over Agen on Saturday. It wasn’t apparently pretty but it ended a string of defeats for Jeremy Davidson’s side.
Far from the biggest spenders, Brive cut their cloth accordingly so an away win in Limousin looks to be Tigers’ best path to the knockout stages as long as they can defend Welford Road at the same time.
The question will be how will Borthwick tweak his team selection for this weekend after three back-to-back weekends where he has only used 27 players. A Saturday friendly against Saracens suggests that the vast bulk of the playing squad will see some action this weekend, even with the internationals returning - apparently with no quarantine in place.
However, England players get two weeks off between now and the Six Nations. (NB The payback is that there is now no England warm-weather training camp in early January.) Leicester’s England contingent are likely to play all three available Premiership games before the 6N (Newcastle A, Bath H, Northampton A - remember they have the weekend of the Sale game off).
The England trio will be treated differently I suspect. Genge’s appearances will be dependent on how quickly De Bruin comes out of quarantine, but I’d play him in the second block and take a chance against Brive. Youngs will play during the Wigglesworth suspension (he’s back for Saints), so Youngs should play in the first window and not the second. Ford possibly misses the away games, but his brainfart allowing, Henry’s done ok so far so maybe needs a boost to start this Friday.
Tricky calls but they earn the big bucks for making them.
TOO MANY BIG HITS
If anyone tells you that the game’s gone soft or concussion isn’t an issue…whatever the right and wrongs of the legal case - pass on the link to the interview.
The co-author of the seminal “Unholy Union” gets stuck into the concussion case, too.
But these paragraphs remain in my mindt:
Even if the 11 (eight of whom are joining a new legal action) turn out to be the only ones, which is next to inconceivable given we know of another 90 with likely symptoms – and this before those players had gone public, this before some have even reached middle age – they represent nearly 1% of the roughly 1,500 players from that age group who played professionally in England and Wales in the 15 years after rugby union went open. Assuming the incidence rate derived from the 2014 Dementia UK report has remained constant, the chances of that same wider population of 13m returning 10 or more cases from a sample of 1,500 are a shade under one in 10 trillion. For 11 or more, the chances are so small that a regular spreadsheet cannot cope and defaults to a probability of zero.
In other words, this is not a coincidence, and it is rugby’s problem. No amount of smooth-talking from the sport’s authorities, or platitudes about the need for further research, can controvert what is in plain sight. There is a link between rugby and degenerative neurological disorders. At this point, it must also be asserted that this association is probably with professional rugby, but there is likely to be a sliding scale, which could reach down into the ever-more punishing community game too.
A good summary of recent cases here too from the Telegraph’s Charles Richardson (£)
Hape revealed in 2014 that since his retirement he had been embarking on a challenge to “learn again”, adding that, when his concussive bouts were so acute in his playing days, he could not remember his PIN and was left with “depression and constant migraines”. While at Montpellier, he even scouted out Lipman for advice on how to deal with his trauma.
There’s a lot to take in here and more when you consider what the players are calling for. Not huge payouts but a 15-point manifesto for ensuring more effective management of the issue:
1. World Rugby to accept that playing professional rugby can lead to CTE and other neurodegenerative diseases
2. Regulated training to be introduced limiting contact to a certain number of sessions a year
3. Limit the number of substitutes per game
4. All players’ unions to have greater independence
5. Zero hour contracts to be abolished by World Rugby
6. Competent baseline testing each pre-season
7. Adoption of better sideline testing.
8. Concussions spotters to have authority to remove players showing visible symptoms
9. Career-long central database chronicling injury history
10. Remove rugby union’s reliance on various arch-conservative organisations, such as the International Consensus Group on Concussion in Sport (CISG) and the International Concussion & Head Injury Research Foundation (ICHIRF), and select sports science departments
11. Urgent research to be carried out on front row forwards
12. Greater education on the issue of concussion
13. For every three concussions suffered by a player, he or she will receive a full set of medical tests
14. Remove reliance on the MRI scan to prove brain trauma
15. Better aftercare
The question is which players will get involved in this suit, with Tigers players Dominic Ryan and David Denton amid those to retire early in recent months, due to concussion issues. There is no suggestion that the club is at fault itself or that it is liable for legal action here, but I will be interested to see if both these players are involved as the Irish Times suggests in Ryan’s case and a BBC article does with reference to Denton.
Oh, and Bill Beaumont had to retire through concussion issues…so the issue is moot.
On that rather sombre note, thanks for your company this week. Do share the word on WRW and I’ll see you next Wednesday.