Rugby players are suing over safety – that is why Dan Cole had to see yellow

Telegraph

9 hours ago

Ever since I started writing this column it seems that I have had to remind people of the position that Bath rugby club used to have in the English domestic game. Their near total hegemony for more than a decade is the legacy their current players must be sick of hearing about. Last Saturday, in the Premiership final at the Allianz Stadium, was the day from which they should be judged going forward. There is nothing wrong with looking back on a proud history, but it is time to consign Bath's past to its proper place and for new heroes to write their own chapters.
In the days of mooted franchises, it is time to give credit to Bruce Craig as an owner who has supported the club without making a return and in the face of planning objections to his proposals to develop the Recreation Ground in situ, rather than taking the easier option of finding a completely new venue. The training facilities he established are first class and in finally stabilising his coaching team he has given the Bath squad the certainty they needed to make the necessary incremental changes to become champions.
When asked to contribute a couple of prediction paragraphs for the final, it was not difficult to highlight the contributions that would be made by the two outstanding No 10s on show, Finn Russell and Handre Pollard. I don't take much credit for stating what to me is obvious, that Russell has more to his game than the eye-catching sleights of hand with which he is usually linked. Yet that was one of the telling factors in Bath's win. When Bath came under pressure in the Tigers' second-half fightback, there was Russell calmly doing what was required to keep Bath that bit out in front.
I have some sympathy for the frustration shown by Michael Cheika, the Leicester coach, at the officiating. They were on the wrong end of the penalty count and had to play 20 minutes with a man short because of two yellow cards, both of which were down to clumsy rather than deliberate acts. However, they did escape a yellow for a cynical handling penalty from Nicky Smith that probably stopped Bath scoring. The truth is that Tigers went close owing to their famous obduracy, but Bath have been the standout team for most of this campaign and deserved their win for that and because they just shaded a compelling, if uneven, final.
Nobody wants games to rest on marginal errors, but fans must appreciate the context in which the relevant laws are created and interpreted. When considering sanctions, the law, rightly, decides on risk not outcome. A flying 19st-plus Dan Cole, colliding late with Russell, poses a risk of injury that would have been avoided had the challenge not been made. It is all arguable, but what do players expect when their colleagues are suing for alleged lack of player safety? This is an area over which there will never be complete agreement and it is one of the things valued by rugby aficionados, but which perplexes casual watchers.
'Common sense' is what the proponents of discretion always say. The problem with giving officials discretion, which is fundamental to rugby flowing as a game at all, is that you can never get absolute consistency. The only way to do that is for there to be strict liability, as there is in the NFL – get caught and you are liable, however trivial the incident. Is that what fans want? I doubt it.
Of greater significance to Bath going forward is that three of their most influential players in the victory were Max Ojomoh, Tom de Glanville and Guy Pepper, who are the respective sons of Steve, Phil and Martin. Two sets of elite players, from two distinct eras, that are now marked by success. Where Bath move on to from here remains to be seen. I do not think it is a coincidence that the fostering of the local and English talent has helped Bath's success. After years of buying the last notable player available, Bath have stabilised both their player recruitment and coaching appointments.
The manner in which this has been achieved says much about what has finally been forged by Craig, and their coaching team headed by Johann van Graan. It also shows the wisdom of Craig's decision to step down from the chairman's role in 2022. Is 'the sky the limit', as claimed by their captain, Ben Spencer, after the game or will it be a little more complicated than that? I suspect the latter because six different champions in the last six years shows that, on the pitch, the Premiership is in reasonable shape, whatever the outside criticisms.