Can anyone bridge the gap?

[fivepointer]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/bridging ... es-a-chasm

With Exeter and Saracens duly cementing their place in the Prem final, is there a team on the horizon who can challenge the stranglehold they have on the premiership?
Some promising signs from Saints and Glos but is it going to amount to much, and what about the other teams?
Right now the top 2 look untouchable and i'm not sure another side really has it in them to challenge, at least for next season.

[Mikey Brown]

Gloucester, Northampton and Quins were only just starting to look like a remote threat to the top of the table again during this season. They’re all rebuilding, but it’s hard to see them closing the gap enough in terms of consistent performance to make next season much closer.

On that note I can’t wait to see Hogg at the back for Exeter.

[Banquo]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/bridging ... es-a-chasm

With Exeter and Saracens duly cementing their place in the Prem final, is there a team on the horizon who can challenge the stranglehold they have on the premiership?
Some promising signs from Saints and Glos but is it going to amount to much, and what about the other teams?
Right now the top 2 look untouchable and i'm not sure another side really has it in them to challenge, at least for next season.

Sarries and Chiefs have been brilliant at planning and consistency at the top of the club, they deserve their status and success. Other clubs have chopped and changed, and in some cases squandered a natural advantage.

[Which Tyler]

Yes, but it'll take time and continuity. Several teams are more or less there in terms of talent, but lack the steady, competence at the tiller.

[Mellsblue]

I’ll let you know tomorrow, dependent on euromillions result.

[richy678]

Yeah but....its all healthy.

How many years was it from 1980's that tigers and bath were expected to be top?

[Puja]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/bridging ... es-a-chasm

With Exeter and Saracens duly cementing their place in the Prem final, is there a team on the horizon who can challenge the stranglehold they have on the premiership?
Some promising signs from Saints and Glos but is it going to amount to much, and what about the other teams?
Right now the top 2 look untouchable and i'm not sure another side really has it in them to challenge, at least for next season.

Sarries and Chiefs have been brilliant at planning and consistency at the top of the club, they deserve their status and success. Other clubs have chopped and changed, and in some cases squandered a natural advantage.

You rang?

I don't think the gap is at all insuperable - both teams have made it to the top by focussing on their youth development and supplementing that with stars, rather than trying to buy in squad depth and buying mediocrity in bulk (pinging Leicester again). That's something that can be copied, although it takes a long time to come through to the first XV - Sale are already a way down the road and Leicester have restarted their engine, although it's a long way off affecting the league position as of yet.

I think Sale will be a really dangerous side next season. They've bought in some real quality in their weak areas and with the young talent they have, I can see them in the playoffs.

Puja

[Raggs]

Wasps failed to solidify after a bit of a run. Hopefully they'll build up again now.

[Scrumhead]

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/bridging ... es-a-chasm

With Exeter and Saracens duly cementing their place in the Prem final, is there a team on the horizon who can challenge the stranglehold they have on the premiership?
Some promising signs from Saints and Glos but is it going to amount to much, and what about the other teams?
Right now the top 2 look untouchable and i'm not sure another side really has it in them to challenge, at least for next season.

Sarries and Chiefs have been brilliant at planning and consistency at the top of the club, they deserve their status and success. Other clubs have chopped and changed, and in some cases squandered a natural advantage.

You rang?

I don't think the gap is at all insuperable - both teams have made it to the top by focussing on their youth development and supplementing that with stars, rather than trying to buy in squad depth and buying mediocrity in bulk (pinging Leicester again). That's something that can be copied, although it takes a long time to come through to the first XV - Sale are already a way down the road and Leicester have restarted their engine, although it's a long way off affecting the league position as of yet.

I think Sale will be a really dangerous side next season. They've bought in some real quality in their weak areas and with the young talent they have, I can see them in the playoffs.

Puja

Yeah. I’d agree with all of the above.

Quins and Saints could also get there. It’s early days for both Gustard and Boyd and if they can assemble their own squads, I think they will be able to make a more sustained challenge.

The problem is that Saracens are still getting better. The likes of Tompkins, Isiekwe, Kpoku and Earle will keep improving, Singleton is a significant upgrade on Tolofua and Daly will add a lot of quality to a set of backs that is already very good.

It may sound strange, but I don’t feel the same about Exeter. As effective as they are in the Premiership, I think they’ve reached a bit of a plateau and are lacking the tactical variation to kick-on to the next level. The next season or two will be interesting, but my gut feel is that they will carry on being a good Premiership side who can’t crack Europe. If that is the case, I think a few other teams could start bridging the gap.

[Timbo]

As mentioned above, the keys are continuity and cohesion, keeping a quality coaching team together and a high class academy with clear pathways for the top talent through to the first team.

It’s encouraging that both Glos and Saints have kept their squads together and hopefully Boyd and Ackermann are going to stick around for a good few years. I can see both Sale and Bristol pushing on significantly over the next couple of seasons too. Quins have had a big player upheaval, so it’ll be interesting to see how they manage that next season.

[Timbo]

It may sound strange, but I don’t feel the same about Exeter. As effective as they are in the Premiership, I think they’ve reached a bit of a plateau and are lacking the tactical variation to kick-on to the next level. The next season or two will be interesting, but my gut feel is that they will carry on being a good Premiership side who can’t crack Europe. If that is the case, I think a few other teams could start bridging the gap.

I still think it’s just a matter of time before they have a good run in the Champions Cup. Even though they haven’t had the consistent run of results to progress further, I do think they’re in the top 8 or so teams in Europe.

[twitchy]

Exe have a really solid base and need to start adding "x factor" players into the equation. Hogg is definitely one of them (but obviously losing cordero who is amazing). That being said they don't have the "creative" approach to financing that sarries have. So they have to try and play it with a relatively straight bat.

[Scrumhead]

Fair point on the financial side. Previously Baxter has shown that he’s a canny operator when it comes to making new signings - Woodburn and Devoto spring to mind - but they’ve not really been in a position to bring in reinforcements recently as a lot of players had significant pay rises when their contracts were renewed (LCD, Slade, Nowell) etc. They also have a big squad that includes a lot of players that haven’t seen much game time at all (Low, Holmes, Short etc.) so they need a good chunk of those to leave/retire (as Low has) to free up space in the cap.

My issue with their gameplan is that when plan A has worked this season, plan B has been ‘give it to Cordero’ in the hope he can create something from nothing. Next season that will probably change to ‘give it to Hogg’, except Hogg is not going to be as available as Cordero has been given his commitments with Scotland.

They’ve definitely missed Sam Simmonds, but at the same time, Kvesic has been one of their best players so one of Baxter’s next tasks will be to find a way of accommodating both.

Woodburn is another key player who has also been missed for most of the season. With those two back plus the addition of Witty (who is an upgrade on Atkins), they’ll be very good again next season, but to really kick on, I think they need to vary their gameplan more.

To me that probably means giving Joe Simmonds the freedom to play what he sees a bit more. He’s shown he has a bit more spark than Steenson so it would be good to see him encourage a slightly less structured way of playing.

[Digby]

Exe have a really solid base and need to start adding "x factor" players into the equation. Hogg is definitely one of them (but obviously losing cordero who is amazing). That being said they don't have the "creative" approach to financing that sarries have. So they have to try and play it with a relatively straight bat.

I've no idea if Exeter are essentially cheating the cap as it seems Sarries do, it wouldn't surprise me if they were though, and if Sarries aren't brought up for it I'm confident Exeter soon will be doing the same