An aggregate of 146 points separated the sides in the last round of Premiership matches (round 17), at an average of just over 24 points per game, giving more weight to the argument that the decision to continue with the 2019/20 season was a victory for quantity over quality.
However, this total fell just short of beating the highest aggregate points difference this season, including pre-lockdown, let alone in the history of the Premiership.
This season’s ‘high’, according to Stuart Farmer Media Services, came towards the end of February, when big wins for Wasps and Exeter over Saracens and Northampton respectively helped to make up an overall points difference of 147 points from the six matches played in Round 11.
The Gallagher Premiership has long since prided itself on its competitiveness across the board, a competition where any of the 12 clubs can beat another on its day.
But that was not the case in the final round of the 14-team, 1998/99 season when Bedford Blues brought the integrity of the competition into question by fielding a ‘2nd XV’ against Richmond and were duly hammered 106-12.
On the eve of the match, English Rugby Partnership, the forerunner to Premier Rugby, had reminded clubs of their duty to field their best-possible teams but the Blues ignored that dictat with two infinitely more important relegation/promotion play-off games with Rotherham on the immediate horizon.
“We just cannot afford injuries with our Premiership place at stake,” insisted Rudi Straeuli, their South African coach at the time, in an interview with The Independent’s Chris Hewett.
Richmond proceeded to break all sorts of records and ran in 16 tries, including hat-tricks for Mel Deane and Brian Cusack.
Afterwards, ERP CEO Howard Thomas lamented: “This doesn’t do the Premiership any good whatsoever.”
With Bath having downed London Scottish 76-13 the day before and Leicester thrashing West Hartlepool 72-37 at the same time as Bedford suffered their 94-point defeat, there were three major mismatches that weekend, contributing to a record aggregate points difference of 225 points across the round.
While current Premiership DoRs continue to mix and match their sides according to the demands of the congested fixture list, no doubt there will be a few more lop-sided scorelines from now until the end of the season, but it is doubtful that the 21-year record set in 1998/99 will ever be broken.
