Tales of Unexpected Club Rugby Is Seeing Rollercoaster Results
Some of us chatted the other day with Rob Baxter, director of rugby at Exeter, about the toughest challenge in the sport. We probably all have a personal opinion on this matter: bodily trying to stop a massive forward action two meters from your own line, say, or having to kick a last-minute winning penalty into the teeth of a Galgola from a height of 50 meters.
Baxter, on the other hand, speaks generally and asks questions from the point of view of an experienced coach. According to him, the most difficult obstacle to overcome is often divine. At least the art of preparing to take on an opponent you controlled the last time you played him. “Doubling down on a game you’ve got a good result is the hardest thing to do in rugby,” Baxter demanded. “How many times have I participated, whether playing or coaching, when you win by 30 points in one week and the next varies greatly.”
He is thinking about the clash in the middle of Bordeaux and Sarasena in the round of 16 of the Champions League this weekend. When the Sarries visited Stade Delmas in January, they lost 55-15. Is there a home run on Saturday? Nothing is guaranteed, according to Baxter’s experience. “There is no doubt that Bordeaux holding Sarajevo back in the group stage is the worst game they can get back. Sarasens will be in a completely different place, they will action. Bordeaux will think: play as we did last time, throw a little, score a few tries, this will be good.’”
But again, who can say exactly which version of the Sarasens will appear? The team that looked particularly attractive when they scored 50 points at the unlucky Harlekins at Tottenham Hotspur stadium or the horribly defeated horde that delivered 40 points at Northampton last Friday night? Bordeaux, meanwhile, performed brilliantly to smack title-chasing Toulouse in the last 14 last month, only to emerge weakened by Lyon over the weekend.
Up, down, in, out … if you are looking for a sport with a high peril of tricks, it is currently difficult to smack rugby union. What goes up one week will probably go down the next. The aforementioned quicks, in great stride against the Sarries, were so good at home in Bath that they went 40-3 up early in the second half only for the visitors to score 33 points unanswered in the last half-hour. Try to explain it without calling the mass psychologist.
There are obviously several plausible explanations for this striking variant. Home and away, one of them. Teamwork for the others. It may seem reasonable, after a big win, to include several new bodies, but the chemistry of the team can be quite difficult. Furthermore, maintaining exactly the same XV does not always produce the same results. As Baxter implies, the mentality for each part counts as much as the staff.
The old format of the Heineken Cup for home and away matches on consecutive weeks is a good example, as results are often laughable from one week to the next. Take a team like Ulster: they will go somewhere like Liverpool and lose by double digits before delivering 40 points to Ravenhill. Perhaps the last example was when they smack the Tigers 33-0 in Belfast-only to go to Velford road over the weekend and lose 49-7.
However, this is not just a round-trip affair. There are all kinds of other intangible topics, from preparation interruptions and contract disruptions to traffic jams on game day and sick family members. Life is rarely a straight line and so is rugby. Most importantly, too, there are plenty of skilled professionals out there who are constantly poring over stacks of video lengths in feet. What worked last week-or even half an hour ago-can be closed faster than you tell Steve.
