Epic finishes for Northampton Saints and London Welsh prove play-off’s worth

Play-offs are not the most popular means of determining who wins a league title, as is the case in English rugby’s Premiership.

They might be acceptable for its use, as in football’s Championship, League One and League Two, of deciding the third (or fourth) team to earn promotion.

Friday night lights for Northampton’s 21-20 win over Leicester at Franklin’s Gardens

But, detractors of play-offs argue, for nine or ten months of a season to come down to a knock-out format could easily penalise the best and, to date, most consistent team of the year.

I have a certain sympathy with that point of view. Saracens fans may bemoan the fact they have to travel to Twickenham in just under a fortnight to win a crown which in most other sports would have been theirs by rights after they finished nine points clear at the top of the table.

Were they to lose the final to Northampton, at least they wouldn’t feel as robbed as Gloucester in 2002-03, who finished 15 points clear but who lost out to Wasps in the final.

Still, everyone knows the rules at the start of the season, and anyway, when play-offs produce the kind of spectacles we’ve seen this weekend, any lingering doubts surrounding their place in domestic rugby should be cast aside.

I was at Franklin’s Gardens on Friday evening for one of the best matches of club rugby I’ve ever watched, as Northampton staged a brilliant comeback to knock out defending champions Leicester.

Franklin’s Gardens panorama

The Saints have been my adopted English team since I moved to Northamptonshire, and I was pretty disappointed when they lost last year’s Twickenham final to the Tigers.

Friday threatened to go the same way – Leicester, England’s most successful club in recent years, running away with it. When they went 17-6 up at half-time, I thought the game was up.

And when,with just over 20 minutes on the clock, Salesi Ma’afu was red-carded for a punch, it looked like the Saints would be unable to overcome the deficit, which at that stage was still eight points.

By then, the 14,000 crowd was growing tetchy. But it was still as loud as it had been at kick-off, helped by a sizeable (if not sold out) contingent of away fans desperate for their side to retain East Midlands bragging rights. And when George North crossed for Northampton’s first try with a quarter of an hour remaining, the atmosphere only intensified.

The final act was perfect for Saints fans, who hadn’t witnessed a win over their closest rivals since 2011. Wave after wave of pressure finally took its toll on Leicester’s dogged defence, as the ball was spun wide for Tom Wood to step inside and crash over with barely two minutes left on the clock.

Northampton had the slenderest of leads – Stephen Myler’s conversion attempt hit the upright – and their first lead of the game. They had trailed for all but 12 of the preceding 78 minutes, but, successfully negotiated the final few plays to secure a remarkable win.

It was pandemonium in the stands, and I was the happiest I’ve been at a domestic rugby game since Ebbw Vale beat Toulouse in 1998.

Northampton Saints fans acknowledge their team’s lap of honour at Franklin’s Gardens

This afternoon, it was London Welsh’s turn to pull off a sensational, last-ditch, come-from-behind win. Their opponents at the slightly less feverish Kassam Stadium were Leeds Carnegie, who led by seven points from the first leg of their Championship play-off.

The first 50 minutes was quite dull, to be honest, with Welsh ahead on the day but behind on aggregate. And when Leeds racked up 13 quick points to put their overall lead at the same margin, I was on the verge of switching off and heading out into the sun.

Good thing I didn’t. Almost out of the blue, Welsh scored two excellent tries, with near-namesakes Seb Stegmann and Ollie Stedman touching down within two minutes of each other. Gordon Ross missed one of the conversions but slotted an even-later penalty to give the hosts a two-point aggregate win. Wow.

You’ve got to think that the fact both games were play-offs added a crucial element to the drama. It certainly amplified the occasions, as well as the victors’ elation and the losers’ disappointment. Both matches were pure theatre.

And in both instances, the best two teams, the two who finished first and second in the league table, are in the final. Northampton take on Saracens at Twickenham, while London Welsh face heavy favourites Bristol in a two-legged decider.

Both my teams will be underdogs. But if they show the same fighting spirit as they did late on in their respective games this weekend, who’s to say London Welsh next season won’t be playing in a Premiership whose trophy sits proudly in the Franklin’s Gardens trophy cabinet?

Rugby playoffs: are they fair?

Thanks to sporting play-offs, it’s been an exciting couple of weeks in my adopted county of Northamptonshire.

Last Saturday, Northampton Town FC made their first trip to Wembley for 15 years for the League Two play-off final. Thousands of fans descended on the capital – although it’s probably best to gloss over the result.

This Saturday, it will be a similar story, as the Northampton Saints face East Midlands rivals the Leicester Tigers in the Premiership final at Twickenham. The match is a sell-out.

Both the football and rugby teams can be grateful the play-off systems in their respective leagues allowed them a day in the sun: Town finished sixth in League Two, while Saints ended the season fourth in the Aviva Premiership.

Leicester Tigers defeated Harlequins 33-16 at Welford Road in the Premiership semi-final

And let’s not forget London Welsh only earned their place at English rugby’s top table after taking advantage of last season’s Championship play-offs.

So I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining too much about the play-offs. I was at Welford Road for the Tigers’ victory over Harlequns and I’m off to Twickenham on Saturday, where I will be able to cheer on my local team.

But how can it be fair that Northampton, who finished three places and 12 points adrift of table-toppers Saracens, should be able to wipe out that advantage over the course of an 80-minute semi-final?

Six times since the introduction of the play-off system to choose the English champions was introduced in 2002-03 the table toppers have not lifted the Premiership trophy. Six times the team which proved to be consistently the best squad over the course of the best part of nine months had their glory snatched away over the course of a couple of late-season games. And six will become seven on Saturday as either Richard Cockerill or Jim Mallinder’s men are crowned “champions”.

Of course, supporters of the system would argue the mark of a true champion is one who can perform when the pressure is on. However, isn’t that the point of a cup competition, rather than a league? Does it sort the men from the boys? Does it weed out the chokers – Gloucester have topped the table three times without winning the league – and reward those, Wasps most prominently, who peak at the right time?

The play-offs certainly add extra interest to the final stages of the season in both football and rugby, and in football, it is surely more acceptable that the league winners should not have to face the play-offs.

You can see why the Premiership favours their system of bringing the curtain down on the season in front of a sell-out Twickenham, especially as the cup competition no longer runs. Arguably, it also helps even up the season for those teams which lose players during the Six Nations and the autumn internations (though shouldn’t the same arguments therefore apply to relegation?).

But a major part of the problem, too, is the fact that, unlike the equivalent top flight in football, there could otherwise be very little to play for at the top of the table by the end of the season. With half the league qualifying for the Heineken Cup, teams in third, fourth and fifth could have almost nothing to play for in the season’s final weeks without a knockout phase to come.

So are there any solutions? It’s difficult: teams which finished top used to get a bye straight to the final, but it often meant their momentum stalled and they suffered for that.

Could you give the higher-ranked teams a points advantage in the semi-finals? No, ridiculous idea – it would be both arbitrary and encourage negative, defensive play.

So maybe, to misquote Winston Churchill particularly badly: the play-offs are the worst form of deciding the champions except all the others – at least until we get some reform of European competitions (the subject of another future rant).

Still, if the Saints go marching into Twickenham on Saturday and defeat the Tigers, I doubt the merits of the play-off system will be at the forefront of my mind.

**Disclaimer: I realise the Premiership is not the only league which uses play-offs!

London Welsh finally relegated from Premiership

It’s been on the cards for a while, but London Welsh’s relegation from the Premiership was confirmed following their 31-14 defeat to the Northampton Saints at the Kassam Stadium yesterday.

(They could survive if the Championship winner is not deemed to be fit to take their place in the Premiership – it would be hugely ironic if Welsh were to stay up that way following last season’s off-the-field battles – but Newcastle are the clear favourites to make an instant return.)

The Exiles have done well – performed bravely, the ultimate unwanted sports compliment – this season, considering they had to wait until the summer before their promotion was finally confirmed, considering the unequal financial playing field in the Premiership, considering they were docked five points for an official’s indiscretion.

Indeed, a positive start to the season, in which they racked up 19 points from their first 10 games – more than enough to avoid the drop – gave their fans hope they would follow the example of the Exeter Chiefs and stay up against all expectations.

But Welsh haven’t won since December, picking up only four losing bonus points since. Two of those – away at Gloucester, and the only match I was able to get to, at home to Sale – should really have been wins, but a lack of experience of top-flight rugby told in the end.

London Welsh have used the Kassam Stadium in Oxford this season

In the last few days, London Welsh’s CEO Tony Copsey has both stepped aside and key financial backer Kelvin Bryon has announced he won’t continue to fund the club, hitting out at the RFU and Premier Rugby for not providing equal funding for promoted teams. It has become unviable for them to continue to play at the Kassam Stadium, and the club will decide whether to play their games in Oxford or move back to Old Deer Park in Richmond next season.

It’s been quite a ball for London Welsh this season, and they have defied expectations to be as competitive as they have. But, surely, the RFU has to be prepared to support smaller clubs rather than give them much less generous handouts if the game is ever to be truly evolve.

London Welsh deducted five points

London Welsh are two points adrift at the bottom of the Premiership after being docked five points by the RFU for fielding an ineligible player, scrum half Tyson Keats.

I was fearing it might have been worse for the Exiles, but with only five games to go, Lyn Jones’s side now have their work cut out to avoid an immediate return to the Championship…

It means their fellow exiles London Irish, based along the M4 corridor in Reading, are pretty much safe in 10th place.

LONDON WELSH ARE PROMOTED!

Lyn Jones’s men will play in the Aviva Premiership next season – in place of the relegated Newcastle Falcons – after the Rugby Football Union’s (RFU) decision to deny them promotion was overturned.

They will play their home games next season at Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium.

Congratulations!

London Welsh appeal heard today

London Welsh RFC are set to find out today whether their appeal against the Rugby Football Union’s decision to prevent their promotion has been successful.

The Exiles won the Championship after a two-legged win over the Cornish Pirates last month, but were denied the opportunity to replace Newcastle Falcons – who finished bottom of the Aviva Premiership – when the RFU decided the Richmond-based club did not meet the league’s eligibilty criteria.

The hearing had been due to take place a week ago, on June 21, but all sides agreed to push back the date to today.

Welsh hope to play their home games at Oxford United’s Kassam Stadium if their appeal is successful. Their Old Deer Park home is too small to host top-flight games, and Lyn Jones’s side had proposed a similar arrangement to Premiership sides including London Irish and Saracens, who share with Reading FC and Watford FC respectively.