'I don't want this ride to end' - play-off coaches on season finale
English rugby's leading coaches say they are determined to revel in the pressure of leading their sides into do-or-die Premiership semi-finals this weekend.
"If you can't love this, then get another job," says Bath's Johann van Graan, as the league's runaway leaders prepare to host local rivals Bristol on Friday night.
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"If you're not enjoying it, what's the point?" adds Leicester boss Michael Cheika.
"When the heat is on, that's the time to go: 'how good?' You would rather be here than not, s o just get after it."
'Attack the game - like PSG'
After 18 rounds of the regular campaign, two sides will emerge from this weekend to reach the final on 14 June at a sold-out Allianz Stadium in Twickenham, with Leicester hosting Sale the day after Friday's west country derby.
In a special Rugby Union Weekly podcast, we were joined exclusively by all four of the men plotting to lead their team to Premiership glory, just days before the biggest game of their season.
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"Semi-final is not enough," says Sale's Alex Sanderson, who has guided the club to three successive semi-finals without landing the big prize.
"That's no disrespect to Leicester - I respect a lot of what Michael is doing - and our game model is pretty similar.
"But there are only so many times you can knock on the door, and at some point you have to try and kick it off its hinges. The team, the group - we just want more.
"Sometimes because of the length of the season, you may be looking forward to having a couple of weeks on a beach. This isn't one of those times. I don't want this ride to stop."
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Pat Lam of Bristol adds: "I use that word 'privilege'. I've got five children. The oldest is 32, the youngest is 18. That's the playing group that I've got.
"I get a real buzz seeing the experiences and what they are going through. It takes so much and you have to go out and earn it.
"When you look at the Champions League final, PSG winning 5-0, that is a team that decided to go out and enjoy themselves.
"Every time I have these moments I feel just privileged to be here and feel lucky to be doing what we do."
Van Graan added: "This game is not about fear. This game is about attacking it - and may the best team win.
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"What would the world be without sport? I'm privileged to be part of it and part of a team that wants to achieve.
"And if we want to get to the next stage, we've got to get past a very good team on Friday night."
'Premiership can be like NRL'
In his first and only season in the league, Cheika says he has "enjoyed the ride" in the East Midlands and has been surprised by the diversity of playing styles across the Premiership, citing Bristol's free-wheeling approach.
He also believes the league has the potential to rival Australia's National Rugby League (NRL) and become one of the world's leading sporting products, with plans afoot to bring in a franchise model in a bid to take Premiership rugby to the next level.
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"I think it should be like the NRL, when you think about the population. The game deserves a bigger economy. It needs the league to get it bigger, more money in there so there can be more impact," Cheika said.
"There's a really good thing going on here that we can build on, but it needs a central economy to create that energy, so teams don't go to the wall and they're able to benefit from a strong central economy with more sponsors, more people, more merchandising, a bigger TV deal, all that type of stuff that runs off the back of it.
"As an outsider there is definitely the potential for the game to be much bigger on a national scale."
But with the game's status quo under threat from a breakaway league, Van Graan has highlighted how the sport's foundations are built on tradition, and believes the league is in a strong place after a challenging few years.
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"That experience in Cardiff a few weeks ago, when Bath played Bristol, was amazing. It felt like a Test match," he said.
"There are so many good things about the Premiership. My Dad went to the 1991 World Cup and he brought me back some grass in a little bottle, which I still have. Twickenham was always the place and I remember our game there against Quins three years ago, I thought: 'this is amazing'.
"I can't control anything that happens about franchising, or rebel leagues, or the outside. All I can control is our team, and I'd like to think all 10 Premiership teams have done their bit to make this a spectacle in all of our different ways.
"We are all different, but there is all respect for each other. I think the Premiership is in a good place."
'Coaches wearing a rugby shirt'
The semi-finals will pit some of the world's greatest fly-halves against each other, with Scotland's Finn Russell facing the USA's AJ MacGinty on Friday night, before 99-cap Englishman George Ford and South Africa's double World Cup winner Handre Pollard do battle on Saturday.
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"Every rugby player has talent, but you are looking for the ones who are special, that will just flick a switch," said Lam.
Sanderson added: "I've worked with AJ, I've heard what Finn Russell is like and I've seen Handre work in South Africa camp. These guys are all but coaches, wearing a rugby shirt.
"And at this time of the year, they take more and more ownership. Those are the great players. Fordy is one of them. He is going to be a great coach, but has years left on the field."
Cheika agrees. "Ford should be on the Lions tour," he said. "That guy is high quality. He is a coach walking around in a playing jersey."
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Meanwhile Van Graan says Russell is more professional than ever, despite more than a decade operating at the highest level.
"I remember one of my first visits in the NFL in 2011, visiting the [San Francisco] 49ers and they had this banner on the inside the training ground which said: 'Either you get better or you get worse - you choose'," he said.
"There is so much hype around Finn on the outside, but he hasn't missed a training session bar the five weeks last year when he was injured. Those are the things you are looking for in players. You want guys who want to drive the group.
"We are very privileged to see these guys perform and coach with them and against them. Because ultimately why do you coach? You coach for the memories and to help guys achieve what they want to do."
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