Currently the rugby world is not making a lot of sense. It's like someone has decided that everything should be different this year. Let me explain with some examples: Connacht, Leicester, Castres. It seems the form book from recent years is being out right ignored this season. It started with European legends Munster, losing their opening game of the season - at home - to Scottish strugglers Edinburgh. Since then it's only grown.
Just looking at the league tables tells you the story. Connacht riding high without a loss all season (including playing champions Leinster), Castres (beaten finalists last year) and Toulouse sitting near the bottom of the Top 14, and Leicester Tigers languishing mid-table after a run of three defeats on the trot. Hell even New Zealand lost a game!
Let's focus on the team from the mid-lands for a bit. After a decade of finals in the English Premiership they were beaten in the semis by eventual champions Northampton. Now we've got a few weeks into the competitive season, and a few injuries have started appearing, it seems the Tigers have lost the combative edge which made them feared and respected opponents. The current slump started with a comprehensive whitewash by premiership phoenixes Bath, running up a 45-0 score line, including multiple end-to-end tries. This was not fixed totally by the week afterwards as London Irish completed their first win at Welford Road in 11 years after a peerless kicking showing from Shane Geraghty. Before the trend continued as a Gloucester team, who have had a shaky start to the season (the opening the day of the season won't be easily forgotten), romped home to a convincing 20+ victory. That sort of trend cannot just be put down to a dip in form; it has exposed some glaring problems with the Leicester set up. With major big players missing due to injury, it is noticeable that they do not have the strength in depth that has become crucial in world rugby now, and they cannot cope against the other powerful sides in the league. Out wide their defence has been shredded by the backline talent of Bath, and the out-right pace of Gloucester all too easily. Perhaps the defeat that would have hurt hard-nosed Richard Cockerill the most would have actually been the narrow defeat to London Irish. For years Tigers have been one of the greatest team for grinding out wins when games were tough, a grizzled pack full of veterans led by commanding half-backs dominated the field to win the kicks. However it was the Exiles from Reading who proved the more level headed in the tight game.
Let's focus on the team from the mid-lands for a bit. After a decade of finals in the English Premiership they were beaten in the semis by eventual champions Northampton. Now we've got a few weeks into the competitive season, and a few injuries have started appearing, it seems the Tigers have lost the combative edge which made them feared and respected opponents. The current slump started with a comprehensive whitewash by premiership phoenixes Bath, running up a 45-0 score line, including multiple end-to-end tries. This was not fixed totally by the week afterwards as London Irish completed their first win at Welford Road in 11 years after a peerless kicking showing from Shane Geraghty. Before the trend continued as a Gloucester team, who have had a shaky start to the season (the opening the day of the season won't be easily forgotten), romped home to a convincing 20+ victory. That sort of trend cannot just be put down to a dip in form; it has exposed some glaring problems with the Leicester set up. With major big players missing due to injury, it is noticeable that they do not have the strength in depth that has become crucial in world rugby now, and they cannot cope against the other powerful sides in the league. Out wide their defence has been shredded by the backline talent of Bath, and the out-right pace of Gloucester all too easily. Perhaps the defeat that would have hurt hard-nosed Richard Cockerill the most would have actually been the narrow defeat to London Irish. For years Tigers have been one of the greatest team for grinding out wins when games were tough, a grizzled pack full of veterans led by commanding half-backs dominated the field to win the kicks. However it was the Exiles from Reading who proved the more level headed in the tight game.
Speaking of tight games Connacht have always been a stumbling block for teams when playing at the windswept Galway stadium. Using the normally miserable weather conditions to suffocate teams and grind out tight wins. Now though - with coach Pat Lamb - the western Irish province is looking to score exciting tries, and at the fore for them has been scrum-half Marmion scoring important touchdowns against teams such as Leinster and Cardiff Blues. The opening few weeks for Connacht have been pinned back a little in the last two weeks with a try-fest at Glasgow, which should be expected from the powerful Warriors. However most recently was the draw with Welsh strugglers Blues, after being in control of large swathes of the match, they allowed the Cardiff region to score two tries in the last ten minutes to level the game, which perhaps shows some lack of game knowledge from the Irish minnows about how to win a game.
These aren't the only examples; we've mentioned the former French champions now fighting relegation as they struggle with reason unbeknownst to the common man. Meanwhile the newly promoted teams of Grenoble and Bordeaux are sitting mid-table with a healthy collection of wins in the money laden championship. It does beg the question whether money really is the route to total and complete success, or whether it only works for those with a ludicrous amount (Toulon and Racing Metro are prime examples). Finally we should consider the Ospreys, written off at the beginning of the season due to a large swathe of experience in the pack departing for pastures new, and a lack of big names that had be ever present in the black of the region. Instead of cowing to the label stuck on them, and looking for solace in the naivety of youth to defend against games lost, the Ospreys have completed a perfect start to the season with five from five. Including an away game at Newport-Gwent Dragons (traditionally a slip-up for the Ospreys), and a game at the Thomond Park fortress of Munster. They are a perfect representation of what good leadership, good investment and youthful exuberance can achieve. Lead by Wales' resident enforcer Alun-Wyn Jones, as well as the general's at half back Biggar and Webb, the young team have found the way to win games both try fests and nail-bitter finishes (see Munster and Zebre).
The question is whether all these shocks after just over a month of games are merely just teams suffering from injuries and other factors, or is it a changing of the guard in world rugby. Will Connacht continue this run and for once not be the 4th Irish province? Will Leicester rediscover the claws which made them great? Can French money overcome current form and save Castres and Toulouse? We shall find out at the end of the season.
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