Defence wins championships: Sheffield RUFC's Zak Poole's call to unbeaten league leaders
‘One game at a time’ is a tried and tested sporting adage, but when a team has won all of its opening nine fixtures and is living up to the billing of pre-season promotion favourites, it is a saying that carries greater significance.
That is certainly the belief of Zak Poole, one of the more experienced members of the Sheffield RUFC team that has shot to the top of National Two North.
Poole’s main source of experience comes from two years ago when he was captain of the Rotherham Titans team that hunted down and ambushed Leeds Tykes in pursuit of promotion from the same division.
At the risk of boring the Sheffield team-mates he joined from Rotherham in the summer, cautionary tales from that season are a constant theme of his team-talks.
Poole said: “What I said to the lads at the start of the season was: I’ve been involved in a two-horse race, there was one team that was concentrating on what they were doing and went about their business and another team that unfortunately for them, fell off.
“We just need to do that from week one, no matter where we are in the league, no matter what point we get to because we can only control ourselves. Take it week by week, let’s not celebrate too early.
“You’ve got to be at the races every day. Whenever you’re top of the league, whoever you’re playing against they’re after a scalp, whether it’s a mid-table team or Sheffield Tigers.
“Whether it’s Macclesfield away or bottom-of-the-table Scunthorpe who we’ve got this Saturday, do your homework. It’s about having the same mindset and motivation every week.”
There is no denying the standards Anthony Posa’s Sheffield have set though, scoring an average of 44 points per game.
For forward Poole, however, it is Sheffield’s defensive structures that is their real strength.
“What I’m most proud of is we’ve only allowed one point against us once this season, and that was the opening game when Otley scored four tries against us,” he said.
“We’ve not allowed any team to score four points or get within seven points since the opening day. That, to me, is what wins championships.”