Tait plays down start of season importance
Newcastle coach Alan Tait has played down the significance of getting off to a good start in the Premiership.
His Newcastle team will play Sale in their opening league game of the season but Tait says not winning the first few games of the rugby year is not the end of the world.
However, many pundits agree that the only reason Tait has come out with such comments may be because he expects his team to lose to Sale and start off on the wrong foot.
Tait does have a point because a domestic rugby season is long and Bath proved last season that teams can recover. However, any rugby club will want to win matches at any stage.
A long season
Heading full power into the first two or three matches of the season can cause one or two negative things to develop. Players will be up for starting the season but they are just as likely to get injured at the start of the rugby year as they are at the end of it.
Allowing adrenaline and enthusiasm to take over can often mean that problems appear in the side. Some teams will forget about the basics of defending and organisation because they get so caught up in the opening day atmosphere.
A season is long and there is a lot of time to recover if a team starts poorly. Tait and all the other coaches in the country will know that one or two losses early on can easily be forgotten about by the end of the season.
Tait said: "People at the start of seasons are all trying to make predictions about teams and where they will finish, but it's not for me really. For example, if you look at Sale last year, they started the season by beating Leicester, who went on to win the league. But then Sale themselves dropped away and finished next to the bottom."
You want to win
Any club wants to win every match they play. Therefore the start of the season is just as significant as the end of the season. There are points to be had and history has shown that cups and titles can often be won or lost because of a single point.
If a club starts the season well and then maintains that momentum it will give that side a very good chance of being at the top of the table by the end of the rugby calendar.
Tait added: "It just goes to show that the first game isn't necessarily the be-all and end-all of your season, but on the same note it's a great chance to get points on the board and generate a bit of momentum around the place. We are not a Leicester or a Northampton paying top whack for a squad full of established internationals."
Betting advice
In a betting sense you always have to back the team that is in form at the right time. Make a note of all the Premiership results from the first games and look for the significant scores. If the likes of Bath, Leicester, Saracens and Northampton all win in the opening weeks then it will quickly become clear that these are the teams to back.
If you want to back Tait's men then don't be afraid to have a punt but only do so using a match by match basis. Newcastle doesn't have the quality over a longer season to be contenders for the title by next spring. You will be throwing your money down the drain if you back the club to win the league.
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