Bath’s Champions Cup semi-final defeat by Bordeaux on Sunday means there will be no PREM Rugby team in either final of this season’s two European competitions.
That must be a big concern to those running English rugby because it shows we’re still behind Europe’s leading nations – France and Ireland.
At Test level, those two countries were once again the ones leading the way in this year’s Six Nations, with France just pipping Ireland to the title. Their strength is also seen in the club game, with both providing the finalists for the Champions and Challenge Cups.
It is clear evidence to me that English rugby – both internationally and domestically – has work to do before it can compete for silverware.
As Bath showed, the gap isn’t huge. It’s not like English club teams are miles off competing with the best on the continent, which is what Bordeaux are currently. Further evidence of that came in the finale to the Six Nations, when England pushed France all the way only to lose narrowly and heartbreakingly at the death.
How English teams can make up the ground on those from over the Channel should be the biggest priority for the powers that be running both the PREM and the RFU.
Bath’s defeat to Bordeaux in the Champions Cup semi-finals means there will be no PREM Rugby representation in either of their year’s European finals
How English teams can make up the ground should be a priority for the powers that be running both the PREM and the RFU
This is not a criticism of Bath, more of a wider observation about the current state of English rugby within the sport’s wider ecosystem. Johann van Graan’s side gave it absolutely everything against Bordeaux but, if we’re being honest, the best team won.
It was a phenomenal game, the sort of which made me wish I was in the coaching box at the ground rather than on my sofa watching on television!
If I could point to one defining difference between the teams, it was that Bordeaux had an extra level of physicality that Bath’s players could not match.
The French, as they have shown by winning the past two Six Nations, have a tough edge. They more often than not win the contact area and at the highest level – which the Bordeaux-Bath game was by the way – that makes a big difference.
Bordeaux’s power is obvious through their giant forwards – the likes of Cameron Woki, who was outstanding, and the enormous Tongan prop Ben Tameifuna who came off the bench.
But I think their physicality was best shown by the power in the carry displayed by their backs. Bordeaux’s leading French internationals behind the scrum – Maxime Lucu, Matthieu Jalibert, Yoram Moefana and Damian Penaud – are not big men by modern international standards. But they are fast, incredibly skilful and crikey they are tough! They fly into tackles when defence is needed and all had brilliant games.
I would be surprised if Leinster are able to stop Bordeaux from making it back-to-back European titles in Bilbao later this month.
For the English teams, it’s a case of how can they go about matching the physicality, power and effectiveness of the French?
For English teams, it is a case of how they can manage the physicality, power and effectiveness of the French
Bath came close, but in contrast to Bordeaux I thought it was their more unheralded players – guys like Will Muir and Josh Bayliss – who stood out.
Bath – with the financial backing of Bruce Craig and James Dyson – will, I’m sure, be back for more in this competition. They and Northampton are by far and away the two best teams in England right now. But for all their wonderful players and collective ability, both have been beaten by Bordeaux when it matters most in European rugby in the past two seasons.
Like England’s Test side, all is not lost, however. I really do believe England can compete at the highest level on both the club and international front. We have the players but to a man they have to find that physical edge that currently leaves them slightly behind the top international teams. Can this be fixed? Yes. And it has to be!
But to do so, English teams have to ramp up their physicality with the crucial point being that it simply cannot slip off at any point across 80 minutes. Even with their expensively-assembled squad, Bath couldn’t match Bordeaux in that area. Further, they were also not quite 100 per cent accurate when they needed to be. Perfection is the level you need to hit to be able to beat French teams these days, especially in their own backyard.
As it was for England in the Six Nations, Bath couldn’t quite get there. Once again, it was a brilliant game. Once again, it was a case of close but no cigar.