Features

English rugby on the rocks

Author: John Harris
Date: 30/01/2010
Rugby Union betting

With the start of the Six Nations now just one week away, English rugby shows no sign of moving out of its malaise.

The Heineken Cup quarter-finals in the spring will feature just one side from the Guinness Premiership and Northampton Saints only qualified for the last eight as one of the two best runners-up in the pool stage.

There is little likelihood of Jim Mallinder's team reaching the semi-finals either as they face a daunting trip to Limerick to face online favourites to win this year's competition, Munster, and few sides leave Thomond Park celebrating victory.

For the fifth time in six years the European champions seem likely to come from the Celtic League or the Top 14, with the French sides more likely to prosper after a kind quarter-final draw.

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At least one big French club is guaranteed a home draw in the last four after Toulouse were paired with Stade Francais while Munster and Leinster face away games in the semi-finals if they emerge victorious from their last-eight ties.

Leicester Tigers, Gloucester, Bath, Sale Sharks and London Irish all failed to impress in the pool stages, although the Exiles were unfortunate not to beat reigning champions Leinster at the weekend with only a late penalty ensuring the match ended 11-11.

In contrast to English sides' travails, French teams topped four of the pools, with Ireland's finest, Leinster and Munster, occupying the other top spots, while Ospreys are Wales' only representatives after they finished a close second to Clermont in Pool Three after controversially edging past Leicester in their final game.

The Tigers launched a protest as Ospreys briefly had 16 men on the pitch but tournament organisers European Rugby Cup decided to fine the Welsh region rather than expel them from the competition.

Many explanations have been put forward for English teams' problems and there has been a renewed call to do away with relegation from the Premiership as it is believed that it leads to too much cautious rugby.

There is no relegation in the Magners League for instance while French clubs are not currently hindered by the wage-cap restrictions which restrict their English counterparts.

All the debate will not help Martin Johnson though as he attempts to revive the spirit that helped England reach the 2007 World Cup Final against the odds. However, a similarly successful outcome in this year's Six Nations currently looks unlikely.

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