Comment

Why plans to extend the season should be dropped - and now 

Billy Vunipola is helped from the field of play bby two members of Saracens' coaching staff
The knee injury picked up by Billy Vunipola is just one of many that Eddie Jones will have to deal with Credit: GETTY IMAGES

When the brains trust that makes up the Premiership management board posited an extended season, it probably did not have Newcastle Falcons being title challengers. Yes, we are only a few weeks in but the signs are that although Falcons might not have enough to last the whole season at the pinnacle of domestic rugby, neither are they anybody’s whipping boys this year.

A first win in eight years at the Recreation Ground, over Bath, provided the sort of test that previously Newcastle would have failed. Shooting into a 19-point lead, they then conceded 32 unanswered points yet still found it within themselves to arrest Bath’s threateningly fatal momentum and come back to take a bonus-point win by 33–32.

You would be hard pushed to name the Newcastle team, never mind squad, but they are made up of solid professionals, a smattering of experienced players discarded from other teams’ longer-term plans and many talented southern hemisphere players who have not quite made it to be regular first-choice internationals for their countries. This combination has been seen before but rarely brings a sustained push for the top. So, how have this set of players distinguished themselves from their predecessors who went up and down between Premiership and Championship with seeming alacrity?

The answer lies in the unlikely source of director of rugby Dean Richards, and coach Dave Walder, and the style in which their team play. No doubt aided by the firm, artificial surface at Kingston Park, the Falcons now feature a game that majors on keeping the ball alive, running good support lines and offloading ball to beat mass defences. This is the same game-style that Richards began at Harlequins, though he is rarely credited with it, and it takes time to work because the instinctive familiarity to run the right lines and be on hand to support breaks has to be practised in the white heat of games.

Sonatane Takulua in action for Newcastle
Sonatane Takulua in action for Newcastle Credit: GETTY IMAGES

Against Bath, the role played by Sonatane Takulua at scrum-half was vital. Virtually no back-lift gives his service a sharpness that allows his backs and runners an extra second, which at this level is huge. Contrast this with the many No 9s you see take one step before release and then look at what a difference it makes. The Falcons had particular success with the inside ball and carries against the grain and hooker Santiago Socino was the source of several telling line breaks. It is early but you can already see how Newcastle could progress well.

Mind you, in the future, who knows what state the rest of the league will be in if the Premiership get its way to permanently reduce the off season from three to two months and to extend it to the end of June? This move is proposed from 2019-20 and they say that individual player games will be kept at 32 per season, but does anyone really believe this will happen when the pressure is on?

England coach Eddie Jones is already starting to have to deal with longer-term injuries to important England players such as Billy Vunipola and Manu Tuilagi, again. Take into account the rough-and-tumble knock that Chris Robshaw sustained on Saturday and you can see how just a small increase in the number of injuries could seriously affect his options.

Newcastle Falcons celebrate victory against Bath in the Aviva Premiership
Newcastle Falcons celebrate victory against Bath in the Aviva Premiership Credit: GETTY IMAGES

He is fortunate in having many talented younger players who are starting to challenge for selection but that is of limited value if they do not have to go up against seasoned internationals. Of all the required facets of a top international player, experience is the only one which you cannot shortcut. Jones (and his successors) do not want to find themselves in a position where whatever they do, the players they pick cannot get the right number of caps before big tournaments.

What you cannot have is a situation whereby this sort of problem is made permanent because of these changes. It is not just a question of the physical toll, England needs its players to be mentally sharp. Extended seasons, particularly for international players does not allow sufficient mental rest and though many decry this aspect of player welfare, they are wrong to claim it is illusory or unimportant.

At present, there appears to be an attitude that players will simply do as they are told. My hunch is that the clubs will blink first if it comes down to seeing games cancelled but surely it is not in anybody’s interests for this to be tested. The plans for an extended season should be withdrawn.

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