‘Science and gut’ – How PREM sides prepare to ‘fight on two fronts’ as European and domestic season reaches its climax
Johann van Graan (right) and Rob Baxter (left) are fighting on two fronts heading into the final few weeks of the season.
Fighting for silverware on one front is hard enough for English clubs, but for Exeter Chiefs and Bath, they are still very much in the hunt for a historic domestic and European double.
For all the talk of French dominance over the continental game, PREM clubs have been punching above their weight too. In each of the past three seasons, there has been English representation in the semi-finals of both the EPCR Challenge Cup and Investec Champions Cup.
2023/24 saw Gloucester make it in the EPCR Challenge Cup and both Northampton Saints and Harlequins in the Investec Champions Cup. 2024/25 also saw Bath and Northampton reach the latter stages of the Champions and Challenge Cup too. Of that cohort, Gloucester, Bath and Northampton went on to reach the final, with the Blue, Black and Whites lifting the trophy as well.
Johann van Graan‘s juggernauts are once again back in the big time this season, in Europe’s premier club competition at that, after a gripping 43-41 win over the Saints in arguably one of the games of the season at the Rec.
Exeter Chiefs soon followed suit, this time in the Challenge Cup, as Henry Slade slotted a 79th-minute penalty kick to give them a 44-41 win over Benetton.
‘Science and gut’
But, while they might be just continuing on a trend from across the past few seasons, this year feels different. In those aforementioned seasons, only Bath reached the play-off stages of the PREM alongside their European adventure, with Gloucester and Northampton finishing ninth and eighth respectively in the same season they reached the final. This year, though, both teams are fighting for silverware on two fronts.
Bath currently sit second in the PREM table heading into round 13 and are certainly among the leading contenders to make it to the showpiece final in June. Exeter are in that same conversation as well, with the Devonians sat fourth and four points above fifth-placed Bristol Bears at the time of writing.
Competing for silverware on two fronts is some balancing act, but it’s one both coaches are prepared for.
“There’s going to be a bit of science and there’s going to be a fair bit of gut,” says Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter. “That’s the best way to describe it.
“You can tell when guys are on their toes and wanting to play, so you can manage their training week so they can play high minutes. Other times you can see guys come in and look a bit flat, and that’s when you have to start being proactive in how you manage things.
“As you get deeper into European competition, it does create other challenges as well; but at the same time, we only have a seven-point gap on Bristol with a third of the season left, so we can’t let too many opportunities for points (in the PREM) slip.
“It’s a challenge, but isn’t it a positive challenge?” he continues. “I’m really enjoying being at this stage in the season and my biggest challenge is how I rest and rotate my players because we’re alive in two competitions that we want to win. This time last year it was a different story and how we win the next game.
“There is a bit of management to do over the next few weeks, but we’ll work through that as we go game-by-game.
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“(The science is) metres run in a game, high-speed actions, repeat speed, recovery in training, contact load in games. They give you an idea, but then when you see a guy bouncing around in training and he’s the highest-loading player, every player is a bit different. It’s not just ‘this amount of load is good’ or ‘this amount of load is bad’, every player will handle it slightly differently and over a number of weeks as well.
“That’s why I say it’s part science and part gut and experience. It’s looking at guys and seeing how they look and asking them how they look and asking them how they feel.”
Squad rotation is nothing new for Bath, though, who regularly chop and change their match-day 23 depending on the game or competition, but Van Graan has already factored in a push on two fronts.
“There were only two ways last Friday night (again Northampton) could have gone, we won or we lost,” he says. “We planned for both scenarios, and the inner circle, the players, know exactly what’s happening over the next few weeks.
“The bit where I think you fail is if you haven’t planned for those eventualities. We believe in open communication and the players know when they’ll play over the coming weeks.
“If we win or lose, we plan for everything, and then even still, when rugby throws up scenarios we haven’t planned for, we adapt accordingly.
“For us, it’s a massive positive. I know there are questions on the outside about being in both competitions, but we want to play in as many games as possible; last year we played in every play-off game possible. It’s great to be alive in the Champions Cup and within a shout of making the play-offs.”
‘You have to not be too clever about it all’
Fighting on two fronts at this stage in the year is nothing new for either side, who both have somewhat recent experiences competing at the sharp end of both European and domestic competitions in the same season.
Exeter Chiefs completed their rise to the top table of European rugby in 2020 with their maiden Investec Champions Cup title, a week before beating Wasps in the PREM final to secure a famous double, and also reached the semi-final stages in 2023 alongside a push for the play-offs.
“You have to not be too clever about it all,” Baxter explains. “When you have a team that feels good about themselves, it runs itself and you just keep reminding them of the important bits. But it’s only reminders; you don’t need to keep driving them in a direction every week when they’re in a good place.
“It’s being comfortable with that and not thinking you’ve got to tinker too much or add too much. Sometimes, it’s just staying on track when the lads know what they’re doing.
“We’ve got to keep their feet on the ground, but also let them fly in the right way as well. That’s the bit to remember, when they’re in a good place, you can let them stay there.”
Van Graan only needs to look back 12 months to his experience with Bath, after taking the Blue, Black and Whites to a historic treble with the PREM Rugby Cup, EPCR Challenge Cup and PREM titles.
“It emphasised that no player can play every game,” he explains. “I’ll take you back to Leicester two years ago over New Year’s when we went with a heavily rotated squad, or Sale away last year and this year, it doesn’t matter who plays in our jersey, the players perform and are proud of it.
“Ultimately, as we felt last year at Twickenham, Cardiff and in Exeter, we win together and lose together. I’m so proud of the way these lads are performing when they get their opportunities.”
They both face an unenviable task if they are to first get to Bilbao let alone win there, with Bordeaux-Begles and Ulster lying in wait, but both men have a plan. Both men know what it takes. Both men have been here and done it.
You shouldn’t be surprised if they do it.
