LeRouxIsPHat wrote:I saw on Instagram that Elliot Daly was on holidays in SA last week. He may have been injured but I couldn't see anything about it, was he just given the week off? If so, that doesn't bode well for how seriously they'll take this weekend. Himself, Hughes, and Le Roux all rumoured to be off in the summer too, combine that with them being out already and I would hope that a strong start by us will blow them away.
I hope Le Roux plays. Mercurial player but he is absolutely phoning it in at the moment for Wasps. Think I heard BT say last week that his tackle stats for SA are in the high 80s and for Wasps are in the 50s.
I know there are multiple factors involved but that really is ridiculous.
For all the talk of the GP teams giving out about rest, relegation etc, they could do with being far better recruiters. Saracens and Exeter are their two best teams and they don't tend to go for the flashy big names that others do.
mildlyinterested wrote:“It’s the quality of the opposition,” said Dai Young, Wasps’ director of rugby. “Look at Leinster. They’re missing five Lions and they can still pick 15 internationals. I’ve coached [in the Pro14] and you have two teams, one for your big games and one for the others. It’s not my opinion, it’s factual. You look at how many games they play, the English boys are asked to do a lot more than the Irish.”
'Tribal' Premiership leaves players 'too tired' for Europe
Todd Blackadder has also talked about the dismal season that Premiership clubs have endured in Europe.
The Bath Director of Rugby has pointed the blame at the "tribal" nature of the Premiership, and also talked about the pressure that relegation causes for coaches and players, as rumours circulate that the top English league could be ring-fenced as early as this year.
"I just think with the way the Premiership is, it's just so tribal isn't it?
"We smash the hell out of each other and then we are almost too tired to get out there and have a crack when it comes to the Champions Cup."
He added: "If you look, as an example, at the teams that we played this year, the Leinster players played against the All Blacks, had two weeks off, played against us and had another two weeks off.
"Whereas we have had a massive Premiership block, three massive games where we are losing five or six players a week, and then you go into the Champions Cup and its like the boys are just tired."
If only there was a means to somehow manage the players tiredness? Surely this is been looked into by top teams? What would a rudimentary examination of top, top teams reveal?
Perhaps it is the most expensive medicine money can buy, a commitment to paying a players salary whilst standing them down for prescribed periods of rest to ensure peak performance when required? What's the ROI on that I wonder?
LeRouxIsPHat wrote:I saw on Instagram that Elliot Daly was on holidays in SA last week. He may have been injured but I couldn't see anything about it, was he just given the week off? If so, that doesn't bode well for how seriously they'll take this weekend. Himself, Hughes, and Le Roux all rumoured to be off in the summer too, combine that with them being out already and I would hope that a strong start by us will blow them away.
Daly and LeRoux have both played 1400 minutes this year, massive mileage at this stage of the season.
mildlyinterested wrote:“It’s the quality of the opposition,” said Dai Young, Wasps’ director of rugby. “Look at Leinster. They’re missing five Lions and they can still pick 15 internationals. I’ve coached [in the Pro14] and you have two teams, one for your big games and one for the others. It’s not my opinion, it’s factual. You look at how many games they play, the English boys are asked to do a lot more than the Irish.”
'Tribal' Premiership leaves players 'too tired' for Europe
Todd Blackadder has also talked about the dismal season that Premiership clubs have endured in Europe.
The Bath Director of Rugby has pointed the blame at the "tribal" nature of the Premiership, and also talked about the pressure that relegation causes for coaches and players, as rumours circulate that the top English league could be ring-fenced as early as this year.
"I just think with the way the Premiership is, it's just so tribal isn't it?
"We smash the hell out of each other and then we are almost too tired to get out there and have a crack when it comes to the Champions Cup."
He added: "If you look, as an example, at the teams that we played this year, the Leinster players played against the All Blacks, had two weeks off, played against us and had another two weeks off.
"Whereas we have had a massive Premiership block, three massive games where we are losing five or six players a week, and then you go into the Champions Cup and its like the boys are just tired."
Dai Young and Wasps could invest in an academy. He could give younger players a run and a chance. Instead Wasps chose to play the money game and fuel wage inflation bidding for a players who are there purely for the paycheck.
Todd Blackadder and the Bath organisation could coach their players to run around the opposition not straight at them. Playing English and French teams has been made a lot easier but the fact that they are huge lumps who struggle with agility and pace.
mildlyinterested wrote:“It’s the quality of the opposition,” said Dai Young, Wasps’ director of rugby. “Look at Leinster. They’re missing five Lionsand they can still pick 15 internationals. I’ve coached [in the Pro14] and you have two teams, one for your big games and one for the others. It’s not my opinion, it’s factual. You look at how many games they play, the English boys are asked to do a lot more than the Irish.”
It's worse than that Jim. He said missing 5 "British" Lions. Not one of them was British
We seem to be constantly attacked by the English and French leagues for our setup, yet Wales and Scotland are in our league too. It’s funny no one seems to bring up the all blacks setup which is mightily close to our system. Green eyed jealousy with no one willing to put their necks on the line and change it. Funny enough one team in England trying areExeter who put a lot of work in at grass roots level to increase player catchment, interesting you don’t see Baxter whinging
Theleinsterlad wrote:We seem to be constantly attacked by the English and French leagues for our setup, yet Wales and Scotland are in our league too. It’s funny no one seems to bring up the all blacks setup which is mightily close to our system. Green eyed jealousy with no one willing to put their necks on the line and change it. Funny enough one team in England trying areExeter who put a lot of work in at grass roots level to increase player catchment, interesting you don’t see Baxter whinging
Interestingly Rob Baxter was on Brian Moore's podcast "Full Contact" yesterday, singing the praises of Irish, Leinster, Ulster and in particular Munster rugby and the latter's European pedigree ahead of the big clash in Limerick at the weekend. Sounded - as ever - as a lovely guy, described himself at one stage as a "rugby fan", referenced similarities in the NZ and IRL systems and didn't even bemoan the fact, that our Southern brethren have two days extra to recover before the upcoming head-to-head in Thomond Park. He also had an interesting explanation - worth listening to - for Exeter's lack of success hereto in the ERCC as compared to in the GP. English rugby needs more guys like him - and Brian Moore, IMO.
