Aviva Premiership Round 1 Reflection

They say that good things come to those who wait and after 19 weeks and 6 weeks Aviva Premiership rugby returned to our lives on Friday night. The round delivered everything that we could have hoped for with fiercely competitive contests, electric tries and sensational drama. Now that the dust has settled here are a few observations from the six Aviva Premiership openers. 

The televised fixture on Friday night gave us all the opportunity to witness the Worcester Warriors’ first steps back in the Aviva Premiership. Pre-match Dean Ryan articulated that an objective of the fixture was to ‘asses the gap’ between his side and those familiar with Aviva Premiership rugby and on the face of the eighty minutes that ensued the gap is perhaps smaller than many thought. One of the most pleasing factors for Dean Ryan will be the belief that his side showed to secure a victory against opponents that were supposed to beat them handsomely. In the face of intense pressure the Warriors delivered, exactly as they did so in the final leg of the Championship playoff, and on the Premiership stage composure is king.  In attack Worcester grew in confidence and in defence they were sturdy, industrious and purposeful. Of course this is eighty minutes of rugby however the confidence that a win of that nature will deliver bodes well for future rounds. The relentless schedule of this year could be their undoing however I really hope not because all of the signs that we saw on Friday night point to a positive and competitive season for the Worcester Warriors. 

(C) Kate Martin [@KATELM76]

Across the Aviva Premiership we had a number of England players returning straight back to their clubs after the Rugby World Cup and the question was would they be ready to bounce back so soon after such an emotional exit? Mike Ford articulated it well in his post match interview at Bath Rugby when he said that as a Director of Rugby you never truly know how your internationals are going to bounce back until they get onto the field. Professional athletes will often say that they are fine however the proof is in the pudding and their performances. Both George Ford and Anthony Watson were instrumental in Bath's close victory, Alex Goode had a stormer at Saracens and at Harlequins Mike Brown, Joe Marler and Nick Easter all delivered impactful performances off the bench. Clearly man management is a critical skill of being a successful coach and over the course of the next few weeks it will be down to the clubs' Directors of Rugby/Head Coaches to manage their players carefully. Some may be firing on all four cylinders now still coming down from the whirlwind that was the unsuccessful Rugby World Cup and the emotions of the tournament may hit them in a few weeks.

It has never been in doubt but this weekend’s action again proved the importance of having a first class fly half at the heart of a side and the impact they have on matches. On Friday night at the Twickenham Stoop Nick Evans continued to show that age is nothing but a number as he pulled all of the strings brilliantly against Wasps. It was Evans that profited from Karl Dickson’s chip through for their first try of the day and his accuracy off the tee continually kept the scoreboard ticking along for Harlequins. 322 miles away Billy Twelvetrees was doing exactly the same thing for Gloucester Rugby as he made Newcastle pay for their poor discipline. In the fly half role Billy hasn’t always looked comfortable however on Friday night he was their driving force and delivered the type of consistency that David Humprehy’s needs from his captain. Finally at The Rec the aforementioned George Ford took the game by the scruff of the neck for his side. George kicking out of hand provided Bath the territory required at key moments and off the tee he cooly slotted everything that was asked of him.

The final observation is that there is still much more to come from our Aviva Premiership competition for not every side fired the shots that they would have liked this weekend. Some started strongly however others will wish to sharpen up their output namely the Sale Sharks, London Irish and Newcastle Falcons even last year's runners up Bath Rugby were uncharacteristically off kilter in their output. Round 2 is packed with tasty match ups from the Friday night lights at Kingsholm between Gloucester Rugby and Saracens right through to Sunday's match between the Leicester Tigers and Harlequins. Across the board we'll see more returning internationals and after a productive and focused week of training I expect Round 2 to deliver handsomely.