Is the Premiership producing talent good enough for world-class international rugby?
Dean Ryan, director of rugby at Worcester Warriors
“I think it is. The Premiership is potentially one of the real buzzing leagues, some of the stuff at the top has been outstanding. England’s failure isn’t because of the Premiership. We’ve got world-class players.”
Conor O’Shea, director of rugby at Harlequins
“There’s an outstanding group of players and they underperformed when it counted most for them. They have some incredible talent. I look out at our training pitch today, at the likes of Jack Clifford and Marland Yarde, and add to them the Mike Browns and Henry Slades. People will moan, ‘Here we go again, we are developing,’ but they are missing the point. They are unbelievable players. That’s the whole way throughout this league.”
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Dai Young, director of rugby at Wasps
“Probably things need to be adjusted slightly, but we are producing good players in this country too. We prepare these players to be the best they can be, we don’t prepare them to win Premiership games and not be internationals. I see a part of my job to produce as many internationals as possible.
“The southern-hemisphere teams seem to demonstrate a higher skill level, but that is something we are working to and I do think the gap is slightly less evident than three or four years ago. The gap is smaller now than for a number of years.”
Do you have faith in the RFU review? What would you say to it?
O’Shea: “They will do a bloody good job. Yet no matter what the outcome, someone will say it is wrong. You have to get it all out on the table. If you don’t, you won’t move on.
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“But I can tell you that five people here [Harlequins’ five England players] will feed back great stuff on the environment. That includes Danny Care, who didn’t play much and was gutted. They loved it. Would they do things differently? Yes. Would Nick Easter have an opinion, aged 37, on things he would do differently? 100 per cent. He will feed it in, but don’t take them out of context.”
Ryan: “The RFU doesn’t have the rugby intellect, fact. Yet they still make the biggest appointment for the next four years. Why are the same people making the same appointments and mistakes? It’s comical. Rob Andrew is supposed to be the rugby intellect there, but you can’t just roll round and round without being accountable. If he is the sole [intellect], make him accountable. Are we going to wait for the next head coach to tell us to emulate New Zealand, back him for four years, then it fails and we throw him out?
“The game has moved on massively, the intellect in the sport sits in the game. Clearly it doesn’t sit in the RFU. To bring those things together, there needs to be some shared decision-making. There’s an opportunity now to look at things slightly differently. I’m really concerned we’re just going to roll on to another cycle and then spit someone else out.”
Young: “You have to acknowledge that conditions play a factor, no shadow of a doubt. No matter how you want to play, it is very difficult to play in November when the pitches are really heavy. It is very difficult to play a fast, high-tempo 15-man game. I do think the climate is a big factor.”
How hard is the England job?
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Ryan: “We’ve got one man — and we’re charging him with community engagement, culture, everything. It’s only going to break him. The head coach should just deal with the rugby.”
O’Shea: “It is up to Stuart to decide whether he has the stomach to take some of the c**p being chucked at him. But when you are in a position where you put your head above the parapet, everyone else knows the right answer and you are there to be shot at.”
On Friday, Worcester Warriors play Sale Sharks (a). On Saturday, Wasps play Bath (h). On Sunday, Harlequins play Leicester Tigers (a).