Sport
the times | Saturday August 15 2020 1GS 13
DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGESNaulago, left, joined the Bears
from Hull FC while Steward is
a Tigers academy productAt last I am back on the road. Five
months at home reconnecting with my
family and children has been lovely but
some peace and quiet on a car journey
will be quite nice, particularly as there
will be rugby at the end of it.
I will be at Bristol Bears against
Saracens today and I cannot wait.
Tomorrow, I am going to Northampton
Saints v Wasps, which should be
another ripper. After all the politics and
difficulties of lockdown, there is so
much to look forward to...new talents
The impact of Covid-19 on the manage-
ment and finances of clubs has been
well documented. Some difficult
decisions have had to be taken, some
tough conversations have been had.
The challenge now is to make the best
of a bad situation. Clubs know they
cannot go on as they were before.
With midweek games and squads
being trimmed for financial reasons, we
will see some young talents fast-tracked
into the first team and given an oppor-
tunity they may not have otherwise had.
I have always believed that if you are
good enough, you are old enough. I saw
that first hand, playing alongside the
likes of Ben Youngs and Harry Ellis.
Sometimes a coach wants to protect
players and not risk putting them in.
Now they will. Someone will
emerge who is not yet on our
radar; that is exciting.
I was not aware of Louis Rees-
Zammit, the 19-year-old Glouces-
ter wing, until he was given his
chance and now he is in the Wales
squad. I know Leicester Tigers have a
few young players they are excit-
ed about — Freddie Steward,
George Martin and Jack
van Poortvliet — but I
am excited to see who
takes their chance
around the league.new coaches
We are in a situation with
England where three quarters
of the coaching set-up is from
abroad, with Simon Amor the sole
Englishman — but the Premiership is
now stacked with young EnglishWith relegation sorted and
sun out, it could rain tries
Ben
Kay
World Cup winnercoaches. The season has resumed with
Steve Borthwick (Leicester), Neal
Hatley (Bath) and George Skivington
(Gloucester) in head coach roles for the
first time. Sam Vesty (Northampton
Saints) and Ali Hepher (Exeter Chiefs)
were already doing impressive work.
I am excited to see Alex King come
back to the Premiership and join Dom
Waldouck to form an ex-Wasps coach-
ing trio with Skivington at Gloucester.
Skivington’s departure from London
Irish has given Jon Fisher the chance to
step up to become forwards coach after
he did such a great job with the club’s
academy.
There is the cynical view that some of
these appointments are just to save
money. The reality is that a coach with
a reputation costs more and clubs have
traditionally looked at experience
when doing their due diligence. So how
do young coaches get their shot?
These circumstances have given
young coaches a chance and the
concerns over where the next England
head coach will come from may start to
ease now.no test distractions
One of the big problems for the rugby
world is the global calendar. The row
between the clubs and unions blew up
again during the lockdown.
The decision to finish this season and
concertina the next campaign means
that the England players will miss
something like 11 of the first 14 or 15
rounds of matches because the club
season will have to run through the
international windows.I am looking forward to a period of
Premiership games where, the necessa-
ry rotation aside given the midweek
matches, the England players will be
available. The Premiership does suffer
from the disruption of leading players
being back for a block of matches and
then leaving again.
This presents a World Cup-like situa-
tion for the coaches. The games come
thick and fas but they will have full
squads to work with and they can build
momentum without losing influential
figures to England duty.safer breakdown
I have written before about how the
breakdown had become the Wild West.
One of the big problems, among many,
was that the jackaller was being allowed
to latch on to the ball, not attempt to lift
it and buy the penalty. Francois Louw
was a diamond at it.
To clear him off the ball, players were
having to fly in off their feet and lead
with their shoulder. Any notion of bind-
ing went out of the window and referees
turned a blind eye for the sake of conti-
nuity.
It was dangerous and is an area that
referees will clamp down on, as they
have been doing in New Zealand’s
Super Rugby Aotearoa. Forcing the
defender to lift the ball will raise the
height of the jackal and therefore create
a wider target and more opportunity
for a legal clearout.
We will see a flurry of penalties as
players get used to this and other break-
down laws, including an end to the side
entry. It will make for a safer and better
contest for the ball.running game
All the key factors are in place for teams
to restart the season by playing high-
tempo, ambitious rugby and bringing
some of what we have enjoyed in Super
Rugby into the Premiership.
Without matches to play, the players
all improved their aerobic fitness dur-
ing the lockdown. The pitches
and weather will be conducive to
playing a high-tempo game, so
too the circumstances, given that
no teams have to worry about a rele-
gation dogfight.
There are some exciting new signings
who will light up the Premiership, not
least at Bristol, where Semi Radradra
and Ratu Naulago will be box-office
additions. You combine those
players with the way Pat Lam
already had Bristol playing and it
makes for a heady cocktail.
You only need one or two teams
to show that style can be successful
and it will soon catch on. It promises
to be a thrilling ride.Francis, who has not
played since the World
Cup. Saracens’ breach of
the salary cap has
massively bailed out a
struggling Leicester, for
whom Steve Borthwick
takes the reins for the
first time. The former
England forwards coach
has picked George Ford
as one of four England
players in the XV, and
handed first starts to
Matt Scott and David
Williams in the backs.
Bath v London Irish
3pm, BT Sport Extra 1
There have been jokes in
the past about London
Irish being Bath’s feeder
club, but Declan
Kidney’s side can
overtake their hosts in
the table with a win
today. The time away
has allowed some of
Bath’s star men to
recover, and they pick a
strong XV featuring a
back row of Zach
Mercer, Sam Underhilland the re-signed
Taulupe Faletau.
England’s Ben Spencer
makes his debut at
scrum half, with
international team-
mates Jonathan Joseph
and Anthony Watson
starting. Irish are
without the ex-All Black
wing Waisake Naholo
and Australia lock Adam
Coleman, but Seán
O’Brien captains a team
containing compatriot
Paddy Jackson at No 10.Bristol Bears v Saracens
4.30pm, BT Sport 1
The great entertainers
are back with perhaps
the greatest entertainer
in world rugby in their
ranks: Semi Radradra.
With Charles Piutau and
Luke Morahan in tow,
the Fiji superstar makes
his Bears debut at No 13,
although England duo
Kyle Sinckler and Ben
Earl will be forced to
earn theirs off the bench
as Bristol seek a top-twoplace. Saracens are
already relegated and
focused on a Heineken
Champions Cup quarter-
final against Leinster in
Dublin. They are without
the injured duo Owen
Farrell and Elliot Daly,
but have plenty of
firepower in the pack
with the Vunipola
brothers, Jamie George
and Maro Itoje. Centre
Juan Pablo Socino
debuts with Alex Goode
set to start at No 10.TOMORROW
Northampton Saints v
Wasps
3pm, BT Sport 1
Saints, who started the
season well but were
stuttering, have lock
David Ribbans fit for the
first time since January.
Dan Biggar will start at
No 10, with Alex Mitchell
at No 9. Lee Blackett,
now the permanent
head coach of Wasps,
prefers Jacob Umaga to
Lima Sopoaga at fly half.England wing May re-joined Gloucester
from Leicester Tigers during lockdownteam news and lowdown on this weekend’s matches as the top flight returns to action