The end of the domestic rugby season is a mess
By Charlie Morgan
SENIOR RUGBY WRITER
Momentum can be critical for sporting events. Recently, when reports suggested that the Six Nations could eradicate at least one fallow week, many agreed with the premise. Though empty weekends help players recover they cause tournaments to surrender impetus.
This is the problem the Premiership now faces. It has been a compromised season, of course, given the collapse of Worcester Warriors and Wasps. Clubs have needed to deal with long periods of inactivity. And now a strange finale awaits.
Two short weeks ago, nine teams could mathematically still qualify for the play-offs. Now, though, the knockout stages have been finalised. Table-topping Saracens were pivotal to this scenario. They rested their big names for the defeat at Northampton Saints before bringing back most of them to beat London Irish.
Those results mean that Northampton qualified at the expense of the Exiles with a week to spare. As Declan Kidney, the London Irish coach, acknowledged, they had earned the right to do so.
In another weird quirk, Saints have already played their 20 league fixtures and are not in action on the final afternoon of the season. They will go without a competitive match between April 21 and May 13. Will that help or hinder them? Who knows. But there will be thumbs twiddling, for sure.
Having secured the top spot, Saracens may rotate their team again for the trip to Bath on May 6. The knockout schedules of the Champions and Challenge Cups break things up too. From here, then, the Premiership goes: rest weekend, league matches, semi-finals, rest weekend, final. In, out, in, out, shake it all about.
?Disjointed? is how Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, described the calendar. It is a situation that should be avoided in the future, because when it comes to creating narratives and captivating fans, rugby union needs all the help it can get.
Topic: Season a mess - Telegraph (Read 866 times)
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