Failure in Europe marks fractious season

The French still wallow in the grandeur of Napoleon's 100 days, a fairly lively three months or so that caused Europe no end of trouble. In precisely 101 days - rugby always takes a little longer than most concerns to get its act together - the new Zurich Premiership season will begin in the ultra-glamorous surroundings of Stockport, where Sale will christen their new home with a Friday night game against Northampton. Unless England's élite clubs make significant progress in the interim, it will be Europe's turn to inflict some grief.

The French still wallow in the grandeur of Napoleon's 100 days, a fairly lively three months or so that caused Europe no end of trouble. In precisely 101 days - rugby always takes a little longer than most concerns to get its act together - the new Zurich Premiership season will begin in the ultra-glamorous surroundings of Stockport, where Sale will christen their new home with a Friday night game against Northampton. Unless England's élite clubs make significant progress in the interim, it will be Europe's turn to inflict some grief.

Competitive and enthralling as the 2002-03 campaign was, it cannot ultimately be regarded as anything but a failure. For the first time since they made their first appearance in the tournament seven years ago, leaving aside the mass boycott of 1998-99, the English failed to register a presence in the Heineken Cup final.

They did not even produce a semi-finalist, thanks to Leicester's pratfall in the last-eight tie against Munster at Welford Road. That it was undeniably one of the seminal moments of the season did not make Dean Richards and company feel any better, for they took nothing but negatives from the occasion.

As was argued in these pages some weeks ago, there is no great likelihood of the Heineken Cup returning to England this side of the 2005 Lions tour of New Zealand, which will generate all manner of committee-room pandemonium, particularly if the All Black hierarchy backs a 13-match programme, with games against all five Super 12 provinces and the Maoris.

If the Lions are confronted with a challenge on so Himalayan a scale - New Zealand were rugby's version of Mount Everest long before they gave Ed Hillary to the world - they will have no choice but to name their squad far earlier than usual and push for a wholesale reduction of club commitments for those selected. Where will that leave the Premiership teams' European ambitions?

Gloucester, who would have won a first league title but for the dog's breakfast arrangements sanctioned by the money-obsessed board of Premier Rugby, are unlikely to worry Toulouse or Stade Français or Munster next term - or, come to that, the best of the new Welsh regional teams. Their tight forwards, the pride and joy of many a Cherry-and-White vintage, are either elderly, injury-prone or, in the case of Olivier Azam, history. They need an outside-half from somewhere, not to mention an outside-centre.

Maybe James Simpson-Daniel will get a decent run in the position, always assuming he stays fit for longer than a fortnight.

It is difficult to make a case for Leeds, despite their marvellous work ethic, or Sale, regardless of the fact that Jason White, the hard-hitting Scot, looks one of the more inspired signings of recent times. Leicester, bolstered by Daryl Gibson and Julian White among others, will take time to bed in a new line-up.

So we are left with Northampton, those perennial under-achievers, and Wasps, the champions by the good grace of the men in suits and one phenomenal, 80-minute piece of razzmatazz at Twickenham. Of the two, the Londoners are the livelier prospects.

Yet Warren Gatland, their excellent coach, sees trouble ahead. "I'd say we have 22 top-class players, and that isn't really enough," he confessed on Saturday, after his side's comprehensive dismantling of the Gloucester hordes. "Three or four injuries to the wrong blokes would hurt us."

Those "wrong" blokes are the blokes who do everything right, like Lawrence Dallaglio and Joe Worsley and Alex King, and they will play precious little club rugby in World Cup year. Gatland intends to build on what he has just achieved, but acknowledges the difficulty of doing so.

This being Clive Woodward's year of years, it is appropriate that the England coach should have derived more satisfaction from a fractious club season - rows over alleged slush funds, putative mergers, promotion criteria, relegation and top-flight enlargement all blotted the union landscape before the rumpus over the Premiership grand final came to dominate the agenda - than the clubs themselves.

Woodward saw Lewis Moody of Leicester develop rapidly as a Test-class flanker, blooded the likes of Simpson-Daniel and Michael Worsley, experimented boldly with Charlie Hodgson as second outside-half to Jonny Wilkinson's first outside-half and saw Josh Lewsey, who was marginalised to within an inch of his international career after the 1998 "tour of hell", strike a blow for patience, commitment and up-yours determination.

There are probably more extremely good players, if not world-class ones, in England now than at any time since the Second World War, and it will be fascinating to see how many of the brat-pack - the Garveys and Cuetos, the Smiths and Noons, the Barkleys and Walders, the Sheridans and Joneses and Forresters - tweak Woodward's tail in the months following the World Cup.

If England go well in Australia this autumn, it will be no surprise if the coach hangs in there for another 18 months or so, leading into the Lions tour. If he is not already being actively considered as headmaster for that particular school outing, there is something drastically wrong with the universe.

For all the baggage the Premiership carts around from weekend to weekend, it remains the most unremittingly competitive club tournament in Christendom - the French have more outstanding sides, but they also have more non-events in terms of mismatches.

It is for this reason that any team good enough to negotiate 22 separate elephant traps and still finish top of the pile deserves rather more than a pat on the head and a few "hard lucks" when they mess it all up on the last weekend of May. What happened to Gloucester on Saturday could easily happen to Wasps or Northampton 12 months from now. The Premiership community should put an end to it immediately, but does not have the slightest intention of doing so. Money talks louder than justice, as any lawyer will confirm.

CHRIS HEWETT'S TEAM OF THE SEASON

15 BRUCE REIHANA NORTHAMPTON
A seven-a-side specialist, but no monkey when it comes to the grown-up game. Flexible, strong-running and very handy with the goal-kicking, when asked. An excellent signing.

14 MARCEL GARVEY GLOUCESTER
Different, and priceless. He has much to learn on the tactical front and everything to learn about positioning, but forces of nature can afford to skirt around some of the fine detail.

13 STUART ABBOTT WASPS
The best stepper in the Premiership and a root cause of Wasps' strong showing since Christmas, culminating in their Premiership final victory. The South African in him yearns for hard grounds. The Englishman in him yearns for a cap.

12 DARYL GIBSON BRISTOL
How any of the Bristol players managed to get out of bed in the morning is a mystery, given the uncertainty hanging over their futures. But Gibson led from the front, never giving less than everything.

11 GEORDAN MURPHY LEICESTER
A genius in green, red and white. Leicester's performances were strictly military medium, but Murphy's imaginative brilliance ensured full houses for the Tigers every week. A uniquely gifted talent.

10 ALEX KING WASPS
Unrecognisable from the poor poppet laughed out of New Zealand in 1998. Always a lovely footballer, King is now a resilient force in a physical Wasps team, and a quality goal-kicker to boot.

9 BRYAN REDPATH SALE
The injury to Charlie Hodgson put extra weight on Redpath's shoulders, but the Scot responded with familiar tenacity. Sale are frequently an exciting side, but they are shadows of themselves without their captain.

1 CRAIG DOWD WASPS
Eight years in the All Black scrum should be enough for anyone, but Dowd is gambolling around like a spring lamb. He has also discovered the art of scoring tries, which always helps.

2 MARK REGAN LEEDS
Leeds needed some grunt up front, and Regan provided it. When Bath, his old club, used him as a doormat, he laughed in their faces; when sides pitched up at Headingley, he gave them hell.

3 WILL GREEN WASPS
He is not as big as Phil Vickery, nowhere near as nasty as Julian White, not quite as knowing as Jason Leonard. But Green remains the most consistent tight head in England. Wasps are right to cherish him.

4 MARK CONNORS NORTHAMPTON
How Bath could have done with him. Northampton moved in when the Wallaby's West Country deal broke down, and were rewarded with a series of professional, competitive performances.

5 MARK ANDREWS NEWCASTLE
Andrews didn't play much, but he appeared often enough to turn Newcastle around almost single-handedly. The Springbok was the Premiership's most influential player, if only for a few weeks.

6 JAKE BOER GLOUCESTER
South Africa must be one hell of a lot better than they suggested last November if they can ignore the most enthusiastic tackler in Europe. He looks like a cherub, but plays like the devil.

7 RICHARD HILL SARACENS
Ended the season on one leg, which was plenty good enough for most of his rivals. Deep in relegation trouble, Saracens needed him in the closing stages of the campaign whatever the extent of his injuries. Hill obliged.

8 JAMES FORRESTER GLOUCESTER
Fast? You could say. Forrester is one of the new breed, but has enough old-style "dog" to stand him in good stead over the next few years. Expect to see him in England colours post-World Cup.

FINAL RECKONING WHO WON WHAT IN 2003

ZURICH PREMIERSHIP

Final: Wasps 39 Gloucester 3

	P	W	D	L		F		A	B	Pts
Gloucester	22	17	2	3	617		396		10	82
Wasps	22	13	2	7	553		460		11	67
Northmptn	22	13	0	9	512		376		10	62
Sale	22	12	2	8	556		470		10	62
Leeds	22	12	2	8	478		435		6	58
Leicester	22	12	0	10	448		396		7	55
Harlequins	22	9	0	13	461		560		8	44
Saracens	22	8	0	14	499		587		10	42
L Irish	22	8	1	13	432		485		6	40
Newcastle	22	8	0	14	388		545		8	40
Bath	22	7	2	13	385		490		4	36
Bristol	22	7	1	14	504		633		6	36

National Division One: Rotherham

National Division Two: Penzance/Newlyn

National Division Three South: Rosslyn Park

National Division Three North: Nuneaton. North 1: Darlington. Midlands 1: Longton. London 1: Southend. South West 1: Dings Crusaders.

POWERGEN CUP: Gloucester. Runners up: Northampton

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP: Lancashire. Runners up: Gloucestershire

WELSH PREMIERSHIP

	P	W	D	L		F		A	B	Pts
Bridgend	16	14	0	2	529		256		64	42
Neath	16	11	1	4	539		363		66	34
Cardiff	16	10	1	5	449		365		56	31
Newport	16	9	0	7	533		393		59	27
Llanelli	16	6	1	9	414		414		54	19
Pontypridd	16	6	1	9	370		390		37	19
Swansea	16	0	0	10	402		539		46	18
Caerphilly	16	4	0	12	299		682		33	12
Ebbw Vale	16	4	0	12	268		401		28	12

BT SCOTLAND PREMIERSHIP ONE

	P	W	D		L		F		A	B	Pts
*Boroughmuir	18	13	2		3		507		274		10		62
Heriot's FP	17	9	1		7		478		335		12		50
Glasgow H	18	9	3		6		377		374		7		49
Aberdeen GSFP	18		9	1		8		436		403		10		48
Melrose	18	11	0		7		394		423		4		48
Currie	18	7	1		10		359		390		9		39
Hawick	18	8	2		8		375		405		3		35
Stirling County	17	5	1		11		352		420		10		32
Peebles	18	6	1		11		308		400		6		32
Jed-Forest	18	6	0		12		295		457		6		30

* Four points deducted for fielding ineligible player.

HEINEKEN CUP: Toulouse. Runners up: Perpignan

PARKER PEN CHALLENGE CUP: Wasps. Runners up: Bath

PARKER PEN SHIELD: Castres. Runners up: Caerphilly