Zero proof that no drop zone has damaged Prem

COLIN BOAG

R elegation continues to be a hugely polarising issue for English rugby, and prejudice seems to trump common sense on a regular basis. There was a furore over Tom Curry’s decision to go for the corner rather than try to take the three points that would have levelled the scores in the Scotland v England match and, instead of it fading away, it lingers on because it suits the pro-relegation mob.

Allegedly, the absence of relegation has meant that decisions such as Curry’s are easy – go for the win rather than the draw, because there’s no ‘jeopardy’. Apart from conveniently ignoring the fact that there’s also no relegation in the Six Nations, this is deeply insulting to the players and coaches involved. Think about it: this hangs on the premise that players are so thick that they can’t distinguish between competitions! Is that really what the supporters of relegation and promotion believe?

Do they believe that Eddie Jones, paid a small fortune as England coach, hadn’t spotted that a draw would be better than a loss, and didn’t have that discussion with his players? Could it not just be that the captain and his senior players decided that they wanted the win rather than the booby prize? If that’s the case, good on them for being positive in their thinking.

Rare outing: Taulupe Faletau playing for Bath

As someone who supported the concept of promotion and relegation for many years, and who still hopes to see it return in time, I have no hesitation in asserting that this year’s Premiership so far shows the signs of being the most competitive we’ve yet seen. Bath are stranded adrift at the bottom of the table, but anyone who watched their performances in recent weeks won’t have seen any sign of complacency, or of their loyal support wavering in any way – when league leaders Leicester Tigers recently visited The Rec they went home with the win, but my goodness they knew they’d been in a battle. The BT Sport’s team, who were seemingly united in their opposition to the suspension of the drop, have gone strangely quiet in recent months, probably because what they’re now getting is a superior ‘product’.

I wish that those who continue with their doctrinal opposition to the suspension of relegation would put their prejudices aside for now, and accept that there is zero, zilch, nada evidence so far that the Premiership has been damaged by it.

As for the hoary old chestnut about ‘dead’ rubbers, there always were! Teams that couldn’t qualify for Europe, but were safe from relegation had little to play for in the final rounds – nothing has changed! The rugby continues to be absorbing, and the fans seem to be loving it as much, or maybe even more, than in the past.

News that Taulupe Faletau had been called up for Wales must have caused mixed feelings among Bath fans. Faletau is an outstanding player, and it isn’t his fault that he has been plagued by injury during his time at The Rec, but his case is a salutary one for any club thinking of signing big-name players.

He joined Bath from the Dragons for the 2016-17 season, so has had around 170 opportunities to pull on a Blue Black and White shirt, but has managed to do it on around 65 occasions. After yet another lay-off he put in a couple of club appearances, and promptly got called up for his country – great for him, less so for Bath supporters.

Faletau won’t have come cheap, and I doubt that the club would enjoy working out how much he has cost them for every one of those appearances.

With a reduced salary cap you have to wonder how many big-name players like Faletau will in future get offers from Premiership clubs. DoRs will be thinking about the maths: buy in one foreign ‘galactico’, or go for three, or maybe four, young English players instead. Good luck to Faletau at Cardiff next season – let’s hope their fans see more of him than Bath’s did.