{"id":331724,"date":"2025-12-07T01:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/331724\/"},"modified":"2025-12-07T01:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T01:05:17","slug":"champions-cup-opener-should-be-in-town-that-bleeds-rugby-not-sale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/331724\/","title":{"rendered":"Champions Cup opener should be in town that bleeds rugby, not Sale"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, Fin Smith was the fly half everyone was talking about. He knocked Marcus Smith off his perch as Steve Borthwick\u2019s first choice for England and he helped steer Northampton Saints to the Champions Cup final. When the other Finn had one off day with the boot at Twickenham the English cheerleaders were anointing him as the premature British & Irish Lions Test No10.<\/p>\n

He made the tour to Australia, but was never remotely in contention for the Test 23, let alone to take Russell\u2019s starting jersey. His tour tapered off. There wasn\u2019t one moment when you thought \u201cthat\u2019s why he\u2019s on tour\u201d. As great an experience as being a Lion was, is and will probably always be, in retrospect Smith would have been better off with England in Argentina.<\/p>\n

Instead, George Ford passed, kicked and played his way back into the England No10 shirt. There had been hints in the final match of the Six Nations, against Wales in Cardiff, especially the quality of the left-handed pass sending Henry Pollock over the tryline, into the headlines and onto the plane bound for Australia.<\/p>\n

\"George<\/p>\n

Even if he had been playing for Sale against Glasgow \u2013 and despite his all-round excellence \u2013 Ford is not the biggest box-office draw<\/p>\n

JAN KRUGER\/GETTY<\/p>\n

Ford manipulated the two Argentina Tests. He was masterful. The game goes on around Ford. He is \u2014 when at his best \u2014 the epicentre. In November he built on strong club form early in the season to dictate the three games in which he played. Rested for the physical test of Fiji, he returned to deliver a tactical masterclass against the All Blacks. In his 105-cap career as an England fly half the 32-year-old has never had a keener grip on the England shirt.<\/p>\n

There is no debate. If fit, Ford starts. Maybe that was behind the organisers\u2019 decision to start this season\u2019s Champions Cup with a Friday night in Sale. The northern No10 isn\u2019t a sprinter, he doesn\u2019t tackle like Jonny Wilkinson and he\u2019s smooth where Farrell is all edge. And Marcus Smith may have magic in his boots, but Ford is flowing quite beautifully and has been since before boarding the plane to South America. He\u2019s a gorgeous player to watch, one to learn from. But he\u2019s not what many would regard as box office.<\/p>\n

So why on earth did the organisers come up with a Friday night fixture, Sale Sharks versus Glasgow, as the game to kick-start this season\u2019s Champions Cup? By the time the tournament reaches the semi-finals, it will have discovered all its flow of old, but it\u2019s a brave man or woman who doesn\u2019t think the beginning needs one hell of a bang. That\u2019s not Ford. Especially on a Friday night when he wasn\u2019t even involved. Along with two of the Sale front row, he was rested. \u201cTune in to see whether Tom Curry can control himself.\u201d There\u2019s something to the headline, but it\u2019s not exactly what European rugby either wants or needs.<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Sale\u2019s average attendance at the 12,000-capacity CorpAcq Stadium is about 8,000<\/p>\n

NAOMI BAKER\/GETTY<\/p>\n

And then there is the undeniable fact of Sale\u2019s small crowds. The ground lacks atmosphere, especially from the comforts of the sofa \u2014 and that, of course, is where most of the money is made. You want your television to crackle. The game itself was an irrelevance of sorts. It was not the right venue for opening night. Toulouse, Bordeaux, Limerick, Bath or Northampton \u2014 yes \u2014 but not Sale, not until it is packing them in. Last season Bath lost to La Rochelle in front of a packed Recreation Ground. Not the greatest game, but the noise would have got fans onto the edge of their seats back home.<\/p>\n

The absence of Ford only enhanced the error of this season\u2019s choice. Sale fielded a stronger team for the visit of Exeter Chiefs last week. They lost that game and are the lower side of mid-table. In Europe they omitted three England internationals, including the fly half who makes them tick. We were asked to watch a struggling side more focused on its domestic challenges than the so-called Champions Cup. It was a bad choice from day one.<\/p>\n

Sunday\u2019s 1pm game would have fitted the bill as Friday\u2019s main course. Section Paloise, otherwise known as Pau, is a quintessential French rugby town. It bleeds rugby in a way that Manchester does not. Flying high at second in the Top 14, they will give a good account of themselves against last season\u2019s runners-up, Northampton. They are not financial powerhouses with giant squads like Toulouse and Bordeaux, but this is the heart of old time French rugby. The Saints supporters who have made their way to Pau will enjoy a wonderful weekend of hospitality.<\/p>\n

\"Rugby<\/p>\n

Pau bring atmosphere to the Champions Cup and their match against Northampton would have made for a better curtain-raiser for this season\u2019s competition<\/p>\n

EWEN GAVET\/ICON SPORT\/GETTY<\/p>\n

Northampton are third in the Gallagher Prem<\/a>, level on points with second-placed Exeter, but have selected a side to suggest they are giving Europe their best shot again, after their heroics in defeat against Bordeaux B\u00e8gles in last season\u2019s final. The spine selected is clever. George Furbank takes another step towards Test contention at full back. Thereafter the Saints have picked pairs. Rory Hutchinson and the ever-influential Fraser Dingwall as a midfield partnership. The gangling Alex Coles, improving game by game, locking down with the colossal JJ van der Mescht are a formidable and well-balanced second row. Then, hoping to run the show, are the first-choice half-back pairing of Alex Mitchell and Smith<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Mitchell is a threat on the fringes. Smith has to capitalise on the space created with the England scrum half\u2019s late arrowing movement. Outside him is one of English club rugby\u2019s best centre pairings, while his skipper, Furbank, is there to offer assistance from full back.<\/p>\n

Smith could do with someone taking the decision-making burden in the back line. Furbank, every inch a thinking No10 as he is a No15, can force the French to focus elsewhere. Fin Smith is a fine player, but for the moment he can forget about Ford and concentrate solely on guiding his club to what would be a decent victory against Pau with their noisy fans, their heart and soul\u2026 I\u2019m getting excited already, even though, alas, my view is from the sofa.<\/p>\n

Pau v Northampton Saints<\/p>\n

Sunday, 1pm
TV Premier Sports 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Earlier this year, Fin Smith was the fly half everyone was talking about. He knocked Marcus Smith off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331725,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-331724","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-rugby","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}