The winning/entertainment debate sparked by Saracens' unbeaten start to the Premiership season is tackled by Paul Rees in The Guardian.
"English club rugby has never been better supported but, as a new wave of spectators is attracted to it, so they have less regard for the nuances of a complex game. Saracens were last Sunday striving to make their best start to a Premiership campaign and go top of the table but, after they indulged in another bout of aimless kicking with Gloucester in the second half, a large section of the crowd booed.
"Saracens went on to win but the unhappy supporters were looking to see the ball in hand and therein lies the problem. The first month of the Premiership campaign has been played in largely dry and sunny conditions but few games have flowed and tries have been at a premium. Only two sides, London Irish and Northampton, have recorded try bonus points, with the bottom club, Leeds, twice the victims. Five of the 12 sides in the table are averaging less than a try a game, with only Irish, Northampton and Wasps, who were unusually try-shy last season, returning more than two tries a match.
"Whereas the 2007-08 Premiership campaign was notable for a greater sense of adventure than was traditionally associated with the English game, the start of last season was blighted by a combination of the experimental law variations and a refereeing crackdown at the breakdown that left sides reluctant to move the ball in their own half for fear of being caught in possession and penalised."
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