Bears have finished the first block of six Premiership games sitting pretty in third pace in the table on 24 points with four wins and eight bonus points. I think that fans would have taken that at the start of the season and if we had managed to beat Gloucester and Sarries at home then it could have been even better.
This return on investment is not surprising given the form we showed at the end of last season and clearly results from both a game plan and a mindset change that was instigated post-Six Nations last year and has been well documented.
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After a surprisingly slow and scrappy start against Saints on Friday night the Bears finally located the gear stick in the second and cruised in as comfortable 31-23 winners. What was so good was the fact that we stuck to our guns when it wasn’t quite working. In the past I feel that we might have panicked by trying to force the game but on Friday it became clear how our system works, and also how it has to be based on three really important elements – insane skill execution, maximum fitness and what I am calling ‘bench continuity’.
Scoring great tries involves using quick ball but also requires serious and relentless defence when the momentum has turned meaning that everyone has to contribute regardless of whether they start on-field or on the bench. There was a beautiful passage of play mid-way through the second half when the ball was rapidly moved out wide to Steve Luatua via Kloska, Batley and Thacker and then after a couple of phases Heenan threw a no-look pop pass round the back which created the space for Ravouvou to score his second. It was both rugby poetry and art all wrapped up together in one, and perfectly encapsulated where the Bears are at the moment.
At that point the TV Comms team described the Bears as ‘making the extraordinary, ordinary’ and I for one don’t think that hyperbole is far off the mark. We are so ambitious in our outlook and when you add ‘clinical’ to the equation, in terms of passing, breakdown clearance and support play, I think that we are unstoppable, and it will be interesting to see if the wider squad can take this form into the Prem Cup.
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