Latest news with #treble
BBC News
14 hours ago
- Business
- BBC News
'Everyone feels part of the same vision' - squad depth key to Bath success
Bath's second-half demolition of Leicester three weeks ago summed up the challenge facing opposition teams this season when confronting the Premiership Ojomoh, Guy Pepper, Ross Molony, Will Stuart and Francois van Wyk were among the players brought on from the bench to see out the match - Ojomoh, who played just 34 minutes, made such an impact he was named player of the strength in depth developed under Johann van Graan has been a major factor in Bath finishing 11 points clear at the top and they head into this weekend's semi-finals as favourites to claim what would be their first title since they overcome Bristol on Friday and then the winners of the Leicester-Sale semi at Twickenham on 14 June, the West Country side would also seal a historic treble, having already clinched the Premiership Rugby Cup and European Challenge Tigers, in 2001, are the only other English club to win a 'treble' in the modern era, although theirs consisted of the Premiership, the elite European (formerly Heineken) Cup and the Zurich Championship, a short-lived end-of-season knockout competition just for the top eight teams in the league. "For the last 35 rounds we've been in the top four, over two seasons, so we've become better and we've become comfortable with being favourites," head of rugby Van Graan said last month of the expectation around his squad."We keep it within our circle, stick to our process - which we've become very good at - and just enjoy it." Bath ended the 18 rounds of the regular season with the most potent attack in the league, scoring 651 points, and also the strongest defence, conceding only 417. Van Graan has repeatedly talked about squad rotation being key. No player has featured in all 18 Premiership matches and while 23 players have played in at least half of those games, only 15 have started nine games or more. Half-backs Finn Russell (15 starts, plus one outing as a replacement) and Ben Spencer (13 games, all as a starter) have featured most among the backs. In the forwards, hooker Tom Dunn (16 games, 12 starts) and locks Charlie Ewels (15 games, 12 starts) and Quinn Roux (13 games, 13 starts) have played the their bruising 61-26 defeat in the Challenge Cup at the Recreation Ground in April, Gloucester director of rugby George Skivington said it was impossible for the opposition to predict Bath's match-day squad. "I think they're the only team that you play that you don't know the starting line-up – you don't know what the 23 is going to be," he said. Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter agreed it was "seamless" for players to rotate in and out of the Bath side."They've looked at how they want to build a squad - what they want a squad to look like," Baxter said prior to the Chiefs' 24-26 home defeat in April. "That's made them very difficult to beat to start with and then they've expanded on that - they now have that group of 30 players, it's quite seamless how they step in and out of the squad."Newcastle Falcons consultant director of Steve Diamond went as far as to describe Bath as "the Galacticos" and compared them to the all-conquering Saracens side that dominated English rugby between 2018 and 2023. Players 'given opportunities' - Underhill Bath's strength is easily visible in the impact their replacements have had on matches this the 60th minute onwards - when fresh legs are typically brought on - across all 18 Premiership rounds, Bath have scored the most and conceded the least of all 10 clubs. They scored 209 points - 32% of their total 651 points - in the final quarter, although high-scoring Bristol, their semi-final opponents, are a close second with 200 points - 31.5% of their total of defence the gap widens significantly. Bath conceded just 79 points in the final 20 minutes - 18.9% of their total 417. By contrast, Leicester conceded 28.5% of their total points during this same timeframe, Sale 29.9% and Bristol 22.2%. Flanker Sam Underhill believes that the club's strength in depth has come from giving young players opportunities, rather than purely through buying power. He pointed to the likes of back-rowers Arthur Green and Ethan Staddon, among those to make their Premiership debuts this year, as well as Ewan Richards, who captained their Premiership Rugby Cup-winning side and went on to start two of the past three league games."I think everyone's got good depth in their squad; it's just the way it's used," Underhill said."There's good strength in depth but that's not just because we've signed 60 good players, that's because we've given opportunities to people, let them grow their game in a sporting environment." Players know they need to 'deliver' Ewels is one of Bath's longest serving players and said in April he believes the squad is currently being managed the "best" he has seen, with player rotation driving competition. "Everyone feels connected and part of the same vision because there's a very hard chance they've played and been a part of it, and if not training has been better and therefore they've been pushing the team that have played," he said."The guys that are playing more minutes, they aren't now being expected to go weekend after weekend."They know that when they get the opportunity to play, they need to deliver and they know they're going to be managed and looked after."Bath were so far ahead of their rivals they secured top spot and a home semi-final when they beat Newcastle six weeks ago, with three rounds still to play. While Leicester, Sale and Bristol had to wait until Saturday to secure their top-four places, Bath rested all their frontline players ahead of Friday's semi-final, fielding seven debutants in their match-day 23 against Saracens. Results over the next two weeks will tell us how much of an advantage that has given Bath having bolstered their squad for next season with Argentina full-back Santiago Carreras, England wing Henry Arundell and Scotland centre Chris Harris among their signings, this is a team that only looks like getting stronger.
BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BreakingNews.ie
Luis Enrique 'emotional' at tribute to his daughter after Champions League win
Luis Enrique admitted he was 'very emotional' as Paris St Germain fans paid a touching tribute to his late daughter after the French club claimed a record Champions League final victory to win the trophy for the first time. PSG routed Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich as Desire Doue's double, as well as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, secured a historic treble for the French league and cup winners. Advertisement After the game, PSG supporters unveiled a tifo paying tribute to Enrique's daughter Xana, who died in 2019 at the age of nine from cancer. Enrique said: 'I'm very happy. It was very emotional at the end with the banner from the fans for my family. 'But I always think about my daughter.' Enrique joined PSG last July and has overseen the development of a brilliant young team following the departure of star striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid. Advertisement It was the 55-year-old's second treble as a manager after winning the Champions League, LaLiga and Copa del Rey at Barcelona in 2015. The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the red and blue of PSG to mark their first Champions League triumph, and only the second by a French club after Marseille in 1993. Enrique said: 'Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies, and Paris had never won the Champions League. 'We did it for the first time. It's a great feeling to make many people happy. Advertisement 'I tried to keep the pressure down for a club that had never won the competition. Inter are a great side, but we were fantastic in our pressing. Paris St Germain head coach Luis Enrique and his family pose with the trophy after winning the Champions League final (Luca Bruno/AP) 'Every player improved this season, and so did the team. 'A coach needs to control their emotions – you need to deal with the pressure in order to help the players. 'We prepared the final with the necessary calm to put the excitement in the right place. Now we can enjoy it; we can take the trophy back to Paris. Advertisement 'We had a great start to the game, dominating from the beginning. But I wanted them to keep pushing, scoring, to ensure we won the game.' Inter boss Simone Inzaghi promised his side would bounce back from their Munich mauling, when they conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes and never recovered. 'We need to learn from defeats and come out stronger,' said Inzaghi. 'This hurts like the Istanbul final (2023 defeat to Manchester City). Advertisement 'It's a heavy defeat because it comes in a final. We can come out stronger from this defeat, like we did in 2023 and then won the league the following season. Desire Doue shone for Paris St Germain (Mike Egerton/PA) 'Paris deserved to win this game and the trophy. We're disappointed, but the path to this point was great. 'The game, of course, wasn't good enough on our part. 'I thanked my players for what they did this season. We didn't win a trophy, but I am proud to be their coach.'
The Independent
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Luis Enrique says he will ‘always think about daughter' in emotional Champions League tribute
Luis Enrique has revealed he was "very emotional" after Paris St Germain fans paid tribute to his late daughter, following the French club's record Champions League final victory. PSG secured the trophy for the first time after they routed Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich. Desire Doue's double, as well as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, secured a historic treble for the French league and cup winners. , who died in 2019 at the age of nine from cancer. Enrique said: "I'm very happy. It was very emotional at the end with the banner from the fans for my family. But I always think about my daughter." Enrique joined PSG last July and has overseen the development of a brilliant young team following the departure of star striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid. It was the 55-year-old's second treble as a manager after winning the Champions League, La Liga and Copa del Rey at Barcelona in 2015. The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the red and blue of PSG to mark their first Champions League triumph, and only the second by a French club after Marseille in 1993. Enrique said: 'Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies, and Paris had never won the Champions League. 'We did it for the first time. It's a great feeling to make many people happy. 'I tried to keep the pressure down for a club that had never won the competition. Inter are a great side, but we were fantastic in our pressing. 'Every player improved this season, and so did the team. 'A coach needs to control their emotions – you need to deal with the pressure in order to help the players. 'We prepared the final with the necessary calm to put the excitement in the right place. Now we can enjoy it; we can take the trophy back to Paris. 'We had a great start to the game, dominating from the beginning. But I wanted them to keep pushing, scoring, to ensure we won the game.' Inter boss Simone Inzaghi promised his side would bounce back from their Munich mauling, when they conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes and never recovered. 'We need to learn from defeats and come out stronger,' said Inzaghi. 'This hurts like the Istanbul final (2023 defeat to Manchester City). 'It's a heavy defeat because it comes in a final. We can come out stronger from this defeat, like we did in 2023 and then won the league the following season. 'Paris deserved to win this game and the trophy. We're disappointed, but the path to this point was great. 'The game, of course, wasn't good enough on our part. 'I thanked my players for what they did this season. We didn't win a trophy, but I am proud to be their coach.'
News.com.au
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Luis Enrique 'emotional' at tribute to his daughter after Champions League win
Luis Enrique admitted he was 'very emotional' as Paris St Germain fans paid a touching tribute to his late daughter after the French club claimed a record Champions League final victory to win the trophy for the first time. PSG routed Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich as Desire Doue's double, as well as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, secured a historic treble for the French league and cup winners.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Luis Enrique 'emotional' at tribute to his daughter after Champions League win
Luis Enrique admitted he was 'very emotional' as Paris St Germain fans paid a touching tribute to his late daughter after the French club claimed a record Champions League final victory to win the trophy for the first time. PSG routed Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich as Desire Doue's double, as well as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, secured a historic treble for the French league and cup winners. After the game, PSG supporters unveiled a tifo paying tribute to Enrique's daughter Xana, who died in 2019 at the age of nine from cancer. Enrique said: 'I'm very happy. It was very emotional at the end with the banner from the fans for my family. 'But I always think about my daughter.' Enrique joined PSG last July and has overseen the development of a brilliant young team following the departure of star striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid. It was the 55-year-old's second treble as a manager after winning the Champions League, LaLiga and Copa del Rey at Barcelona in 2015. The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the red and blue of PSG to mark their first Champions League triumph, and only the second by a French club after Marseille in 1993. Enrique said: 'Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies, and Paris had never won the Champions League. 'We did it for the first time. It's a great feeling to make many people happy. 'I tried to keep the pressure down for a club that had never won the competition. Inter are a great side, but we were fantastic in our pressing. 'Every player improved this season, and so did the team. 'A coach needs to control their emotions – you need to deal with the pressure in order to help the players. 'We prepared the final with the necessary calm to put the excitement in the right place. Now we can enjoy it; we can take the trophy back to Paris. 'We had a great start to the game, dominating from the beginning. But I wanted them to keep pushing, scoring, to ensure we won the game.' Inter boss Simone Inzaghi promised his side would bounce back from their Munich mauling, when they conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes and never recovered. 'We need to learn from defeats and come out stronger,' said Inzaghi. 'This hurts like the Istanbul final (2023 defeat to Manchester City). 'It's a heavy defeat because it comes in a final. We can come out stronger from this defeat, like we did in 2023 and then won the league the following season. 'Paris deserved to win this game and the trophy. We're disappointed, but the path to this point was great. 'The game, of course, wasn't good enough on our part. 'I thanked my players for what they did this season. We didn't win a trophy, but I am proud to be their coach.'
