By NIK SIMON
Published: | Updated:
At 7am on Saturday morning, Johann van Graan sat down for breakfast with Ben Spencer at Bath’s team hotel to watch the All Blacks’ 50-19 victory over Australia.
Hitting half a century in Test rugby used to be something spectacular but, in the current climate, it is becoming the new normal.
Tries are coming thick and fast across the rugby world but this PREM fixture at Franklin’s Gardens – a 71-48 victory for the Saints – took the biscuit.
There were exceptional attacking skills on show from Fin Smith and Finn Russell but this felt more like a basketball game.
It was the second highest scoring game in the league’s history and by the time Tommy Freeman touched down the 18th try of the afternoon it all seemed a little bit too easy.
Defence and tension are fundamental to rugby’s DNA but right now the lawmakers have shifted the balance towards attacking play.
Breakdowns are refereed more harshly, tackle laws make it easier to offload, mauls are difficult to stop and teams are gearing up to attack from deep.
Fin Smith showed his attacking flair in Northampton’s victory over Bath
But the sheer number of points scored raised questions over whether the balance of attack and defence is out of kilter
There were 58 missed tackles at Franklin’s Gardens – 21 by Northampton and 37 by Bath – but the audience were treated to an exhibition of dazzling tries.
Northampton ultimately came out on top – thanks to a hat-trick by Ollie Sleightholme – but it left people questioning if the game is falling out of kilter.
‘There have been trends,’ said Van Graan. ‘To get 50 points at some stage was a big achievement but now we score 48 points away from home. If you look at South Africa v Australia two weeks ago, Australia were 42-17 up and South Africa could have won it with the last play of the game.
‘From an officiating point of view, attack is definitely on top. You get rewarded to keep the ball in hand. From a PREM point of view, all 10 teams want to play a certain brand of rugby. Our challenge is to adapt to this better than the other nine teams to stop the flow of it.
‘I’m a purist. I love the scrum and I love the maul. Unfortunately, if I put it that way, you’re not going to get a low scoring game between Bath and Saints. I’m pretty happy to score 48 points away from home. I’m not going to accept 71 points.’
Both teams were given time and space to offload. Defences are more disruptive at Test level but the confidence flowing through the likes of Smith, Freeman and Alex Coles proves that England are blessed with attacking talent.
‘I know people will say it is too easy to score, but you’re not going to please everybody,’ said Northampton coach Phil Dowson. ‘I think there’s a balance. We don’t want it to be 99-88. It’s not basketball, but we also don’t want a 9-3. I used to have a coach called Mike Friday and one of his sayings was that ‘you can’t defend good rugby and there’s lots of good rugby being played’.
‘I have no doubt there will be some games this season that will be tough, ugly, horrible and nasty. But I also think we want to be able to enjoy and reward great rugby. And by the way, basketball is selling loads of tickets to sold out arenas.’
