Northampton deserved Premiership title as Lawes leaves a legend
Congratulations to Northampton Saints on winning the Premiership final. The East Midlanders’s 25-21 victory over Bath was a reflection of just how good they have been all season.
They finished the Premiership top of the pile, level on points with their final opponents, and came out on top in a thriller at Twickenham to win their first title since 2014.
And kudos to Bath; they were down to 14 men for much of the game after Beno Obano was handed a red card by referee Christophe Ridley.
Something needs to be done about red cards in finals. I don’t claim to have the answers but I do believe it impacts the sport commercially when people are sent off in the biggest games. But that is for another day.
Bath were the better team on Saturday but Northampton deserved the title based on their season-long form, and it is good to see them back on the top of the podium 10 years on from their last title.
Northampton farewell
It is a fitting farewell to the likes of Courtney Lawes, Lewis Ludlam and Ethan Waller – all of whom are amongst the departing Saints.
Lawes has been a true servant to the English game and leaves the Premiership playing some of the best rugby I have ever seen him play.
Often when English players head over to France in their 30s, the teams are getting big names past their prime, but Lawes is in incredible form at the moment and will be a monumental addition to Brive.
Northampton’s challenge now will be to prove this was no flash in the pan. That does not mean they need to go on a run of three consecutive titles, but they need to improve next season like they have done this year and show development.
Last season’s semi-final exit prompted a rethink in strategy – and a new defence coach – and it has led them to glory.
But teams know what they’re about now and that means they’ll know what to do to attempt to stop them.
Northampton must continue to evolve as a team and never sit still, much like both Saracens and Exeter Chiefs did in their run of reaching finals.
Unlucky Bath
Overall I think Bath were unlucky and hampered by the red card, and that’s something the game needs to look at, but the right team won and the Premiership has its fifth different winner in five seasons.
Northampton Saints have been team of the season and their coach Phil Dowson has been manager of the season.
Lawes has been player of the season for me, his older years have been very kind to the back row.
Gloucester, ninth out of the 10 teams, have been my disappointment of the year. They have a squad worthy of better and their Premiership campaign has been woeful.
And as for my early prediction for next season, I think we will see a top four without a London team in it.
At this stage I think it will be this year’s two finalists plus Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks.
Saracens are going through a major rebuild and Harlequins are losing a core of important, if not celebrity, players. They could struggle next year.
But with the season at an end it is time to look ahead to England’s tour of Japan and New Zealand. And beyond that, there’s the small prospect of Antoine Dupont at the Olympics in Paris. What a summer.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance, experts in leadership development behavioural change and executive coaching support. Follow Ollie on Twitter and on LinkedIn @OlliePhillips11