Even those officials who long ago opted to end the Premiership campaign with a grand sudden-death Twickenham finale will have winced when they saw the team-sheets for the last weekend of the regular season. What should be a climactic Saturday afternoon is in danger of proving little with both Saracens and Gloucester deciding not to pick their strongest XVs in an effort to keep key players fresh for European finals next week.
If it is entirely understandable in the circumstances that Saracens’ Mark McCall and his fellow Ulsterman David Humphreys have omitted their main men, it scarcely enhances the competition’s standing at precisely the moment club rugby is seeking to broaden its appeal. The 30,000 supporters who bought tickets for Wasps’ supposed must-win home game against fellow title-chasers Saracens will now find themselves watching a visiting side deliberately shorn of six key internationals.
The conspicuous absence of both Vunipola brothers, Owen Farrell, Maro Itoje, Chris Ashton and captain Brad Barritt will draw few complaints from Wasps, who are keen to secure a home play-off semi-final and to top the table. McCall is equally unfazed, arguing Sarries still have a competitive side out and are unbothered, once their Champions Cup final against Clermont Auvergne is done, where they play their domestic semi-final. With Gloucester resting their Lions back-row Ross Moriarty and naming the experienced New Zealanders Jeremy Thrush and Josh Hohneck on the bench before their Challenge Cup final against Stade Français, Exeter’s chances of finishing first have also been boosted.
Partly it is a dilemma of Premiership Rugby’s own making; the determination to ensure their domestic final ends the season a fortnight after the European showpiece places clubs in an impossible position if they are competing on both fronts. As last year’s dual European and Premiership winners, Saracens, have proved it can be done and McCall also argues that flogging his star assets every week is counter-productive: “It’s hard for our players to keep going. We’ve got to be sensible and make sure we’re at full strength for the games that really matter.”
The stats, to some extent, back him up. The title has been claimed by the team finishing top of the Premiership once in the past four years; two seasons ago Sarries trailed in fourth in the league but still lifted the trophy. On the other hand, teams playing away in the semi-finals have secured five wins in 26 attempts since the introduction of the play-offs, a success rate of around 19%. If Saracens do finish third, they will have to buck the prevailing trend.
The desire of Wasps and Exeter to finish the season with a bang should also not be overlooked. Wasps have faltered since under-performing in their European quarter-final against Leinster in Dublin and were well below par in their last outing at Harlequins. In response they have recalled the fly-half Danny Cipriani, among two changes to their backline, and their England forward James Haskell insists collective motivation remains strong.
“It is important you make all the hard work that has been put in through the season pay off,” he said. “Everyone in this side wants to win silverware. This squad won’t be together next year because boys are leaving and moving on. It is important we seize the opportunity. You can go all season being top and then fall at the final hurdle and no one remembers you.”
It was Wasps, of course, who first perfected the art of peaking in May more than a decade ago but Saracens may just prefer a return trip to the Ricoh Arena than going to Sandy Park to face an Exeter side that have not lost in the league since October. In 21 games so far Saracens have conceded 23 tries, compared with a total of 59 scored against Wasps over the same period. If the latter’s much-vaunted attackers (84 tries) want to secure the bonus-point win that would guarantee them top spot, they are going to have to stand up and be counted further forward.
Exeter go to Kingsholm knowing they will end up heading the final table for the first time if they manage another bonus-point victory and Wasps fail to do likewise. “The home semi-final is important for us for a variety of reasons,” said Rob Baxter, whose squad have set a record of seven successive maximum five-point wins. “The most important reason is we want to bring a big game to Sandy Park and play in front of our own supporters. That said, it isn’t the be-all or end-all. We’ve been very good away from home as well.”
The only slight concern for Baxter, whose side have registered more league points than ever before, is that Greg Holmes, Dave Ewers, Don Armand and Lachie Turner all picked up knocks against Northampton last week and are unavailable to face Gloucester. England’s Jack Nowell switches from wing to full-back, with Dave Dennis reverting to the back row alongside Julian Salvi.
Gloucester can still theoretically qualify for the Champions Cup next season via the play-offs for the 20th place in the tournament which will also involve two sides from the Pro12 and one from the French Top 14. If, alternatively, they fail to beat Exeter and Northampton pip Harlequins to the final automatic European qualifying spot, their hopes of featuring in the premier tournament will end if they lose to Stade Français in Edinburgh next Friday.
“As a management team we’re conscious of the cup final and the opportunities that may come from that,” said Humphreys. “But this is also a huge game for us and we want to go out and respond to what was a disappointing performance at Bath last weekend.”
As things stand, Leicester are best placed to grasp the fourth and final play-off spot but their final-day opponents, Worcester, have run into decent form under the tutelage of their director of rugby, Gary Gold. A convincing defeat for the Tigers would leave the door ajar for Bath, who travel to Sale without the injured Anthony Watson and another Lion, Jonathan Joseph, who has been omitted from the matchday squad for the second week in a row and is not listed as injured. Not all is sweetness and light at the Rec, despite last Sunday’s thumping win over Gloucester, and a semi-final line-up of Exeter v Leicester and Wasps v Saracens feels a likelier outcome.
