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'In the Championship if you make a mistake you might lose 50, 60 yards, whereas in the Premiership you can make a mistake and it's either three, five or seven points'

Franco van der Merwe (second left) is enjoying his second Premiership season with London Irish much more than his first (Photo by Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)

Franco van der Merwe doesn’t beat about the bush. The 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership season is proving a very different experience for London Irish compared to their traumatic last top-flight campaign.

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Two years ago, their opening weekend win over Harlequins at the London double header was followed by a grim 25-week wait for a second success. In between, there were 14 straight defeats, some by heavy 30, 29 (twice) and 24-point margins. Grim. 

Two years later, the wait for a second success following an opening round win away at Wasps was a mere three weeks. Five rounds in, they are at breakeven, two wins, two losses and a draw at Bristol – a twelve-point haul they are confidently looking to add to on Sunday when struggling Bath visit the Madejski. Sweet.

“We have had a few good results go our way and are very happy about it,” said the veteran South African lock to RugbyPass, reflecting on a promising lift-off in sharp contrast to last time out when a measly three wins and 22 points were snaffled across an entire 22-match campaign. 

“The spirits are pretty good at the moment but it has only been five games into the Premiership. We’re definitely not going to get ahead of ourselves. We said from the beginning we will fight for every point every week.”

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They are. Van der Merwe doesn’t speak ill of the 2017/18 London Irish calamity. After all, he was the skipper and it fell to him to keep lifting the sombre mood. 

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But Premiership business is very different now with Declan Kidney at the helm in charge of an expensively assembled squad of household names such as Waisake Naholo, Adam Coleman, Paddy Jackson and the yet-to-feature Sean O’Brien. 

The project could easily fall flat on its face despite the immense individual talent on the roster. However, despite all the multiple nationalities, it’s somehow clicking on the pitch, breeding optimism that this is potentially a season of mid-season security, not one of getting sucked into another treacherous battle for survival.

“We have a great squad,” agreed van der Merwe readily. “We have had about ten great world-class players coming in. They really slotted in easy. It is because we have got such a good culture and seeing them play on the weekend, you can see the experience coming through.

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“It’s small things, like a high pressured situation. That is when you see the world-class players coming through, you see a little bit of extra class and a little bit of their experience in certain situations. They slot in very well in the squad and the good thing is they share that experience, talking to young players, sharing their knowledge, sharing their experiences with other players. Everyone is getting the benefit of it. 

“We are literally from all over the world and it’s sort of what makes us unique as well because we are a bunch of misfit brothers. That is one thing we sort of take pride in but it is basically just respecting each other, the different cultures, the way everyone prepares for a game or the way they eat their food, or prepare for training or do their strength, whatever it is.

“We have got a couple of socials or whether it is a team dinner or just going for coffees or something low key. It is more driven by everyone in terms of respecting each other. It is not forced upon us and it’s great. You might sit at a table where there might be five different nationalities and then you might sit at another table and there might be ten and then there is another two here.

“It’s great playing with a team that is playing with each other,” he enthused, nodding approvingly in Kidney’s direction for pulling it all together. “I have had a few coaches in my career and I have to say as a director of rugby, he is phenomenal.

“The way he finds the balance between the off-field stuff and the on-field stuff is brilliant. He manages to engage the players in the way we want to play but he also gets the commitment to engage in off-field stuff whether that is study or to find other stuff outside of rugby. He is not a man of a lot of words so when he speaks you listen and you pay attention. He is doing a great job.”

Van der Merwe is long on the go, breaking through at the Currie Cup Leopards in 2004 before going on to play Super Rugby for the Lions and the Sharks before a PRO12 stint at Ulster was followed by the bizarre situation where a deal to join Cardiff Blues was written off before he even got to play. Along the way, there was a sole Test appearance for the Springboks (versus the All Blacks), the sort of high profile exposure that was a world away from slogging it out in the Championship last term.

“It was a really interesting year,” he suggested, reflecting on a very different experience away from the limelight. For instance, London Irish’s average home attendance dropped to 3,770 – a high of 10,106 and low of 2,067 in a 24,000-capacity ground. 

“It was almost like going back to the roots of rugby. The places we played, the travel. It was almost like when you started playing rugby… well, maybe when some of the older boys starting playing. It was a good reality check. I quite enjoyed it and I think quite a lot of guys enjoyed it.

“There was a lot of pressure as well because you had to win every game to get back and the moment you slipped one game there was a lot of pressure because Ealing last season did really well. They played some phenomenal rugby and it went down to the second-last game when we played Richmond away… everyone was just so happy to move up to the Premiership again. 

“You now go to big stadiums and there are bigger crowds, it’s just the atmosphere. That is one thing that is massive. It’s a big change. You don’t have a couple of hundred people standing around the pitch. It’s actually quality pitches as well so even if it rains it doesn’t get too muddy, the ground is good. The facilities are pretty world-class.

“Again in the Championship if you make a mistake you might lose 50, 60 yards, whereas in the Premiership you can make a mistake and it’s either three, five or seven points against you. The small margins start to count in the Premiership whereas in the Champ’ you could get away with it.”

With the club booked in for a long-awaited return to London and a new groundshare with Brentford FC from next season, the hope is they can start attracting back some of their lapsed followers. They have averaged crowds of 4,473 for their two home games so far – 5,324 and 3,622 – but a healthier number is due for  Sunday’s festive fare.

“The brand that we play is really exciting. We score tries, we manage to get points on the scoreboard and you can see the way that players play for each other. There is real excitement, a real buzz among the players. There is really good energy which makes it exciting to watch,” insisted van der Merwe, who starts versus Bath from the bench. 

Set to turn 37 next March, he isn’t sure he will be around next term for the big match-day relocation to the capital. Right now, though, he is optimistic there will be room for an older head in an increasingly younger man’s game. “My contract is up at the end of the season and we’ll see. So far the body feels good so I wouldn’t mind keeping on playing.

“Everyone works really hard at the club to keep the players intact, especially myself being a bit older. They look after me well… but when I am done playing I will probably go back to South Africa or even stay a couple of years longer in the UK. I would love to be involved in coaching and do a bit of farming as well, so between the two I could keep myself busy.”

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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