Phil Davies shook Toulon, now he's backing Saracens to follow suit in Heineken Cup final
IF ANY team in Europe stand a chance of withstanding mighty Toulon in this evening's Heineken Cup final in Cardiff, it is Saracens, the nearest thing the champions have to an English equivalent.
Just ask Phil Davies, the Cardiff Blues coach whose team inflicted Toulon's only European defeat this season, in the dim distance of last October at the Arms Park right next door to the Millennium Stadium. Not that ultimately it did Davies any good: five months later he resigned.
The Blues had failed to capitalise in the Pro 12 and they had gone on to lose the return in France in January. They had also conceded a Heineken double to Toulon last season. No coach in these islands has more first-hand experience of the quality big French money can buy.
"Everybody talks about their individual players but what we found from one year to the next is how their resilience as a team had developed," said Davies. "What you have to do is make sure when they increase the pressure you are able to stay with them.
"It will certainly happen, but if you can do that they will give you opportunities and, when they do, you have to capitalise. Saracens are more than capable of that. They are extremely competitive at the breakdown on opposition ball but I've been impressed with how their counter-attack has developed.
"Look at the way they beat Clermont in the semi-final. I had watched Clermont's quarter-final against Leinster and Leinster had their opportunities. But they didn't take them and this is what made Saracens' performance different."
When Cardiff beat Toulon, it was only a week after a thrashing by Exeter that had put Davies' job on the line months before he finally quit. He contends that the impression Toulon gave of terminal complacency was misleading.
"They were desperate to win that game, so much so they came a day earlier than they normally would," he said. "Whereas we had been taken to the cleaners by Exeter's physicality and emotion, we turned that round and showed the art of the possible with a bruised team.
"But the thing about rugby at the elite level is it's all about consistency. To get that, you need experience. From experience comes leadership and ultimately that experience and leadership give you consistency.
"This is what Toulon have done over the past year or two, when their consistency has been phenomenal. But so is Saracens. These are two different examples of how to build an elite team, Toulon by assembling the best stars, Saracens by growing a culture."
The Toulon example is reflected in a XV of just three Frenchmen and even more South Africans than Saracens, who after all are in South African ownership but include no fewer than nine England internationals.
Among them is skipper Steve Borthwick, who is retiring when the season is over and was selected yesterday despite a shoulder injury that means he cannot hope to be 100 per cent fit. Like Toulon's fabled captain Jonny Wilkinson, he will have a domestic final still to play.
"When Toulon start performing, getting their big forwards coming round the corner with Jonny Wilkinson pushing them back into the corners, as long as Saracens manage those moments accurately they have more than a chance, because Toulon will allow them opportunities," said Davies.
"They play at such a pace and try to build such momentum there are times at the contact area where you can turn them over because their forwards are coming round with such venom they sometimes forget about the ball.
"The Blues did it successfully on occasions when we played Toulon in Cardiff and we weren't bad in the second game either but not as effective. Saracens have enough about them, especially with their impressive counter-attack conversion rate, to swing the game."
