The Tigers’ win over Saracens on Sunday was a timely reminder that elite sport is not just a matter of youthful exuberanceProfessional rugby is increasingly a numbers game. Pounds, euros, metres carried, kick percentages, set-piece efficiency. Some of it is useful information, some of it clutters the imagination. It is also worth keeping in mind that one of the greatest strengths of a top player cannot be fully measured. To borrow the old saying, it’s not the size of the dog that matters, it’s the size of the fight in the dog.You can, in other words, be the best athlete in the world, with the most chiselled physique and the best gym scores. And you can still be swept aside...
Financial woes and player welfare concerns abound but rugby union remains a compelling spectacle when everything clicksEvery now and again on social media a video clip will emerge of a lonely surfer trying to catch a skyscraper-high wave off the coast of Portugal. Time it right and the long ride down is truly epic. Get it slightly wrong and the consequences of that misjudgment do not bear thinking about.In many ways the 2022-23 Premiership season feels broadly similar. Increasingly there are jagged financial rocks everywhere and the game’s physicality continues to make it unsuitable for the faint of heart. Continue reading...
Saracens spurned a late chance to win a game full of high kicking, nerve-shredding intensity and rugby to admireThis was popular. The most well-supported club in English rugby, so far from their customary place at the top of it for so long, have retaken the podium. They took it courtesy of a last-minute drop goal by one of the most popular players in English rugby, so long of career that it came as some surprise to learn this was his first Premiership final. And, boy, did it go down well.And they did it all against … well, we can safely say, fairly or not, Saracens are not the most popular club in English rugby. Continue reading...
Leicester have the physicality but will be up against a Saracens side brimming with an ‘us against them’ mentalityLast weekend’s Premiership semi-finals put a full stop on the story of the underdog. Over the last few weeks we’ve seen La Rochelle, Lyon and the Bulls all upset the odds but with Saracens and Leicester reaching Saturday’s Premiership final we have a showdown between the two most consistent sides in the league this season.Neutrals may have preferred a final between Harlequins and Northampton but the fact that Saracens and Leicester both prevailed signals a shift away from last season, when playing to space and evasion were key, and back to the key fundamentals of physicality, control and territory. Both finalists have...
Tigers and Sarries are favourites, but Saints’ brilliant backs and Quins’ 2021 heroics mean nothing can be taken for grantedWelcome to The Breakdown, the Guardian’s weekly (and free) rugby union newsletter. Here’s an extract from this week’s edition. To receive the full version every Tuesday, just pop your email in below:Sometimes it is worth remembering how swiftly things can change, in club rugby as well as politics. This time a year ago, for example, fourth-placed Harlequins were still seen as distant long shots to win the Gallagher Premiership, only 10,000 could watch the final because of Covid-19 and the United Rugby Championship, containing South Africa’s top sides, had yet to be launched. Continue reading...