If this season's Guinness Premiership had ended six weeks ago, it would have been a contender for the worst campaign in memory. Even Nora Batty in a thong would have been sexier than the dire patchwork of dull, safety-first rugby, abysmal weather and mounting financial concerns which prevailed until March. And yet, against all odds, the sense of expectancy before the semi-final play-offs has seldom been greater. The transformation from muddy chrysalis to spring butterfly has taken place in the nick of time.
Down the track, to mix a metaphor, this may well be remembered as the season when reality bit the game on the backside. Thank goodness commonsense has finally prevailed, not least for the sake of players and supporters who were increasingly losing faith. All it needed was a simple directive to referees to show slightly more leeway to the attacking team at the breakdown. The happy consequence is that the two semi‑finals – Leicester v Bath and Northampton v Saracens – could rank among the most enthralling games of the season.
This is important for three reasons. First, it makes great television and English rugby, after a less than outstanding winter at Test and Heineken Cup level, needs to demonstrate it can lift up its skirts and display some nifty footwork on the big occasion. Second, it would be a timely reminder that the European Cup, Magners League, Top 14 and Super 14 are not the only shows in town. Third, it gives Martin Johnson an opportunity to see which of the younger English crop are demanding Test places in Australia this summer. A 44-strong tour party is to be announced tomorrow but there remain opportunities to impress the management.
A vital three-week period lies ahead, therefore, for the likes of Ben Foden, Chris Ashton and Phil Dowson, the Northampton trio who are all deserved nominees for recognition at this year's Rugby Player Association awards. In compiling my 2009-10 Premiership "Dream Team" it soon became clear that homegrown contenders were not as plentiful as Johnson and his management team might like.
Aside from the three Saints and the Wasps pair Dominic Waldouck and Joe Simpson, I could find room only for the English-qualified South African Hendre Fourie, by a short head from Steffon Armitage, at openside. The rest of the cast comprises four South Africans, two Samoans, two Tongans and a Kiwi, making a total of nine non-English representatives. It was the same ratio this time last season, too. There is a moral there somewhere.
So how should we remember the 2009‑10 regular season overall? For too long, fear was all-pervasive. Teams petrified of getting turned over in their own half simply hoofed the ball skywards and ran after it. With the notable exceptions of Northampton and London Irish, the majority played the percentages and bored everyone rigid until the shackles were finally cast off. Last season there were 544 Premiership tries scored; this time around, even given the late-season surge, there are 427. Even for defence coaches, that is an alarming decrease.
Defence, of course, is half the game. Leicester conceded only 18 tries in 22 games, the lowest in the league, and duly finished top of the regular‑season table for the second season in a row. Analysts will also note that all four semi-finalists were among the five meanest sides in terms of turnovers conceded and tackles missed. Nestling among the fab four in the turnover stats, however, are Worcester, who will be playing Championship rugby in September. Their problem was losing eight games by seven points or fewer, a fault of game management rather than a sign of poor work-rate.
Yet this will also go down as the season in which green shoots of optimism were finally visible. Take Northampton and Saracens who finished, respectively, eighth and ninth in last season's Premiership. Both reinvented themselves with a number of good young players to the fore, including Foden, Ashton, Alex Goode and Andy Saull, with more on the way.
The arrival of a new sugar daddy at Bath in the form of Bruce Craig is another major development, the only question being whether the Premiership is turning into a "them-and-us" league in spite of salary‑cap protection. Newcastle, Sale, Leeds, Wasps and the promoted club – either Bristol or Exeter Chiefs – cannot afford the gap to widen further.
For Leicester, Northampton, Saracens and Bath, the immediate future is the priority. Even those unwedded to the play-off concept cannot dispute the late‑season excitement it generates. Can Schalk Brits, a short-odds bet as player of the season, inspire Saracens to another huge win in the Midlands? Are the Tigers vulnerable to Bath's revitalised offload game? Nobody can be certain, the surest of signs that the Premiership has survived its winter of discontent.
Paul Rees's team of the season
Soane Tonga-uiha Northampton
Schalk Brits Saracens
Dan Cole Leicester
George Skivington Wasps
Geoff Parling Leicester
Phil Dowson Northampton
Hendre Fourie Leeds
Ernst Joubert Saracens
Ben Youngs Leicester
Toby Flood Leicester
Anthony Allen Leicester
Tom Varndell Wasps
Dominic Waldouck Wasps
Chris Ashton Northampton
Ben Foden Northampton
Robert Kitson's team of the season
Soane Tonga-uiha Northampton
Schalk Brits Saracens
Carl Hayman Newcastle
Juandre Kruger Northampton
Marco Wentzel Leeds
Phil Dowson Northampton
Hendre Fourie Leeds
Chris Hala'Ulfia London Irish
Joe Simpson London Wasps
Butch James Bath
Seilala Mapusua London Irish
Sailosi Tagicakibau London Irish
Dominic Waldouck Wasps
Chris Ashton Northampton
Ben Foden Northampton
