Last Sunday, I sat on the French Riviera with my teammate from Toulon Ben White, the south of Scrum Scrum, and I watched Bath against Gloucester in the Gallagher Premanp.
The previous night, Toulon had beaten Perpignan at home in the top14. The contrast between these two games really made me think about the quality of the quality of the English club rugby at the moment. I do not think that the Première Huvies the credit it deserves. It’s just fantastic.
The Bath-Gloucester game summed up for me, especially in the first half where the two teams scored four tries. Entertainment for the watchful supporters was first -class. Well and I certainly appreciated by the swimming pool! Jokes apart, there is a serious point here.
I think that too often in rugby, we are talking about our basic product when we should celebrate it and I think that is certainly the case with the Prime Minister at the moment.
The first weekend of the return of the league after six nations was exceptional, with 280 points and 39 trials scored on the five games.
Bristol probably sums up the best in the league, with their mad capitalization attack approach which put them in good position to reach the play-offs. Bath against Gloucester was a confrontation of styles, but extremely intriguing. There were brilliant tests. Bristol, Gloucester, Northampton and Harlequins are all great to watch.
Entertainment for supporters looking at Bath against Gloucester was first class
The previous night, Toulon had beaten Perpignan at home in the top14 – and the contrast between the two games made me think
I had four incredible years with Northampton in Premières and I have been with Toulon in France since 2022, so I would like to think that it puts me in good position to compare and contrast. Everyone seems to think that the top14 has kilometers ahead of the Prime Minister.
But, according to my gaming experience in both countries, I don’t think this is completely the case. For me, the rugby of the English club is ahead in terms of excellence in rugby produced.
Do not get me wrong, the top14 is much more important in terms of financial income. There are huge crowds in every game and a massive television audience. The diffusion package of the league is enormous accordingly.
The rugby of the French club is almost like the Premier League of Football in England, it’s so big. But, if you put aside the splendor and the glamor, my point of view is that rugby is better in the first.
Obviously, in France, there are superstar players like Antoine Dupont and Damian Penaud, among others, who are able to produce moments of individual shine. They are scandalous scandalous coils.
But from week to week, from match to match and outside the big games, overall, the rugby of the French club is slow and based on the power before. It can be completely tedious to watch and play. Because there are crowds and vision figures, which tend to be reduced. The Prime Minister is different and it’s great.
Some people will read this and will say what about Toulouse? These are an incredible team that plays shiny attacker rugby. But for me, you must almost remove them – as well as Bordeaux – they are so good! I suppose that overall, the Premiere is a better watch.
There is nothing wrong with having different styles of rugby in different countries – that’s what makes the game so great. And no competition is perfect.
If you put aside the splendor and the glamor, my point of view is that rugby is better in first
No competition is perfect, and the best League in England is shouting for two other good teams
Handdre Pollard confirmed that he was led Leicester, which will be a blow for the Prime Minister
For me, the Première is excellent but shouts for two other teams and two good ones. It is incredibly competitive, but Newcastle has obviously had difficulties basically for some time now and for any reason, Exeter is not the team they were.
It is difficult to criticize Exeter because for a long time, they have established the standards of the league, but it is not the team they were. I would love to see two other strong teams add to the pot.
The Prime Minister is considerably behind France financially and this has an impact in terms of number of best stars in England.
This will always be the case that the best players go where the best money is offered. For example, we saw Handre Pollard confirm that he left Leicester at the end of this season.
But what is interesting for me is that the loss of great players did not harm the quality of rugby in the first. I also read with interest certain comments according to which matches from start to finish and high scoring in first do not prepare the players of England well enough to test rugby.
I’m not sure to buy it completely. Of course, there is a big difference between the club and international rugby. You cannot play like Bristol at the test, for example. The reason is that the margins are so tight.
The more high risk your approach, the more error you risk. Internationally, each error is punished while this is not the case with your club.
That said, I don’t see why Prime Minister’s post holds England. For example, Northampton won the title last season and played a brilliant rugby.
Northampton won the title of premiere of last season and played brilliant rugby
TOP14 teams such as Toulouse had the best of English sides in European competition
The nucleus of their back is now the heart of the Steve Barthwick England team. It is not a coincidence. The Premièrehip showed me that there are young players brilliant attackers in English rugby, so why not play your strength?
This does not mean that England must play Bristol style basketball rugby. But what they can do is combine the talent they have with the tactics required to test rugby to succeed. I thought we saw it in the six nations.
It is set up for an exciting final in the Première season and there are five English teams in the last 16 of the Champions Cup this weekend. A team of Prime Minister has not won Europe since Exeter in 2020, but it is not as if they had been completely breathtaking in the competition – even if French Power has won the day on English panache in recent years.
Last season, Harlequins and Northampton made the semi-finals. In the end, the last years have seen English teams fail in Europe in Leinster, Toulouse and La Rochelle – teams that all have much larger budgets and therefore larger teams.
In addition, Leinster and Toulouse are essentially Ireland and France, so losing against them is not a shame!
Toulouse and Bordeaux will always be the favorites for the title of this year and these are disappointing Saracens who will not have Maro Itoje when they play in Toulon this weekend.
But whatever happens, I do not think that the rugby of the English club is so far behind the game in France, because many believe it, certainly with regard to the field.
