Picking out positives from the 2022/23 Premiership campaign is a bit like fumbling down a particularly mucky drain for lost keys. To lose three clubs, albeit in differing circumstances, was an indelible and shameful blight on the sport that hurled hundreds of people into uncertainty and unemployment. Jersey’s fall then underlined how fraught rugby union has become.
Thankfully, though, many players cast off from Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish have managed to stay in England. In some cases, onward destinations were secured via a sojourn abroad. In others, opportunistic and flexible handling of the salary cap squeezed individuals into squads.
Notwithstanding plenty of significant departures from the league, such as Jack Willis and Joe Marchant, talent should have been concentrated with the Premiership downsizing from a 13-team competition to one comprising 10 sides. Champions Cup results are a good way to examine the theory. And early form has been encouraging.
Across two rounds to begin this season, Premiership clubs have featured in 16 Champions Cup matches and won 12 for an impressive success rate of 75 per cent. Bath, Exeter Chiefs, Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints are all unbeaten, while Bristol Bears, Harlequins, Sale Sharks and Saracens have all won one from two.
One must add context, of course. Stormers, the Cape Town franchise, rotated heavily for their trip to Welford Road and there have been bum-squeakingly close affairs such as Chiefs’ siege of Stade Mayol, sealed nervelessly by Henry Slade, and Leicester’s dogged triumph over Stade Français. A mauling, brawling Harry Wells was the heroic super-sub in Paris.
Then again, why be apologetic? Even losses have had redeeming aspects. Sale were derided for sending a young line-up to Leinster, yet produced an accurate and tenacious first half and led at the break. Their hosts took hold before a screamer of a consolation try, finished by Tom Curtis, made the final score 37-27.
Over four previous Champions Cup campaigns, between 2019-20 and 2022-23, Premiership clubs won only 68 of their 156 matches; a far bleaker success rate of just below 44 per cent. Exeter won the whole thing in 2020, but there has been a single Premiership semi-finalist – Chiefs last year – since then.
For that reason, it is obviously premature to judge this season. Going beyond the last four, with the South Africans settling ominously, would be a mighty achievement for an English team. Should any do so, though, it is a safe bet that their roster will have been strengthened by the demise of at least one of Worcester, Wasps or London Irish. We can zip through a non-exhaustive list of storylines now.
Alfie Barbeary and Ollie Lawrence are now two of Bath’s chief weapons, thriving alongside Finn Russell, and Elliott Stooke has reinforced a muscular tight five. Even before his hamstring operation in October Ted Hill was becoming a favourite at The Rec. Bristol Bears have Benhard Janse van Rensburg in midfield with Josh Caulfield and Joe Batley at lock behind Gabriel Oghre, the ferocious hooker. Greg Fisilau and Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, old Wasps colleagues, have been among the most eye-catching of Exeter’s upstarts. Will Joseph sparkled for Harlequins in the captivating defeat of Racing 92, a triumph in which Chandler Cunningham-South also shone. Matt Rogerson, the former captain of Irish, is the sort of resourceful back-rower they love in Leicester.
Northampton have benefitted more than most. They picked up Tom Pearson and Tarek Haffar, the 22-year-old loosehead who is understood to have attended England’s preliminary camp this week, carried superbly against Glasgow Warriors and Toulon. Remember that Fin Smith arrived from Worcester last October, and was entrusted to take the reins from Dan Biggar when the Wales centurion secured an abrupt move to the Côte d’Azur. Curtis Langdon, who had a stopover in Montpellier when things went sour at Sixways, is probably England’s form hooker.
Asher Opoku-Fordjour, the former Wasps prop fast-tracked to tighthead by Sale, posed serious set-piece problems for Andrew Porter. Olly Hartley, a burly centre, bagged two tries for Saracens against Connacht. While Tom Willis recovers from knee surgery, Julian Martín González is producing performances that belong in video games. A reminder that Saracens signed him and Lucio Cinti for the combined sum of around £150,000 for this season. A better bargain you will not find, although the inconsistency of Mark McCall’s men, due in part to injuries, means reaching a local Champions Cup final in Tottenham will need a turnaround.
Provided their front-liners stay fit, Bath could be the Premiership’s best shot of winning the European title. Sunday’s delicious meeting with Racing 92, Russell’s old employers, will be revealing. Northampton should now be at home in the last 16 and Exeter will get a handy seeding if they oust Glasgow Warriors this weekend. Leicester, who have won 12 of their 15 most recent Champions Cup outings, seem to relish the competition. Tigers’ difficulty is that their next two clashes come against La Rochelle and Leinster, who knocked them out in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
As silly as it is that eight of 10 Premiership clubs qualified for the top-tier tournament, a quirk that will surely be rectified with another format change, they are more than making up the numbers thus far. The salary cap increases next season will also allow the biggest spenders to add further quality. Clever recruitment from stricken clubs has not been confined to players. Lee Blackett, erstwhile Wasps honcho, is coordinating Bath’s attack. Exeter, meanwhile, appointed Ross McMillan from Irish to mastermind a scrummaging overhaul.
There is a long way to go but, at least where the Champions Cup is concerned, a smaller Premiership packs a punch.
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