Dixon: 'Premiership is the tough one'
Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:35
Bath hooker Pieter Dixon, currently playing his fourth season for the reigning European Challenge champs, spoke to rugby365.com about his club’s Premiership objectives, as well as Europe’s platinum rugby prize, the Heineken Cup.
Born in Zimbabwe, the former Stormers No.2 moved to the Recreation Ground at the start of the 2005/06 season. During his time with the South African franchise, Dixon made nearly 30 Super 12 starts and scored seven tries.
He has now focused his new career on making an impact at Bath and, soon after his arrival, made his intentions clear with a try against Bristol during their Powergen Cup fixture in October of 2005.
A strongly built, and yet mobile hooker, Dixon has always been known for his good ball skills, strong scrummaging and, particularly, his reliable line-out work - both in South Africa and now in the Guinness Premiership.
With the Premiership being just one of
three trump Cups on offer, the turn-around in European rugby is as demanding as ever. Although Dixon, speaking exclusively to rugby365.com, admits that some Cups are more equal than others.
"You don't really get a break, you're just playing non-stop," Dixon said.
"You obviously set your goals at the beginning of the year – the Heineken Cup and Guinness Premiership are the two Cups that we really try focus on; they’re the big ones you want to win.
"Then the EDF Energy Cup, which is the third or smaller [tournament] we’d like to win, can also be a great opportunity for good squads to bloody some of their youngsters."
Having lost their opening round EDF fixture to Leicester (15-19), Dixon admitted that Bath were pretty much out of the running for that final.
And although the Rec boys are currently topping the Premiership table – thanks to four wins in five outings – taking the silverware home is another feat altogether.
"[The Guinness Premiership] is a hell of a tough tournament,” he said, with play resuming on November 15 with a home clash against the Tigers.
"It doesn't matter if you’re leading the Premiership. You’ve got 11 sides that, on their day, can beat anyone. If you're not on your game, the guys at the bottom are going to beat the guys running near the top.
"The Heineken Cup is tough, but it’s not as long and strenuous [as the Guinness Premiership]. If you had to speak to the whole squad, they still feel the Guinness Premiership is the tougher tournament to win.”
Bath were unfortunately snagged with a loss in their opening round of the Heineken Cup (16-18 away to Toulouse), but bounced back with a 13-9 home win the following weekend against the Newport Gwent Dragons.
While Dixon, for the most part, has been alternating the No.2 shirt with first choice hooker Lee Mears, tournaments like the Heineken Cup have at least given him the opportunity to front up against some venerated opposite numbers.
"[In the Heineken Cup] you're obviously playing against talented hookers," Dixon confessed.
"Guys like [Rafael] Ibanez, [Phil] Vickery, and young guys like [Dimitri] Swarzewski…are world class opponents. I think that’s the beauty of the tournament – playing against different guys from different countries.
"Ibanez, I think, is still one of the leading hookers in world rugby, and at my age, you want to play against the best all the time. “
And with the upcoming November internationals affecting respective club's personnel departments due to national call-ups, it can also be a good time to secure vital campaign points.
"We've [Bath] only got two guys that are in the England squad, so it wont disrupt our squad too much, which is great,” added Dixon.
"Losing our captain [Michael Lipman] is going to be a battle, but Alex Crockett will take over. He's our other club captain so it's not going to be a massive change for us.
"Obviously we [also] want to try take advantage of other teams who are going to lose a lot of players, and that's a good opportunity to get some points."
By Nick Pawson
Interview opportunity courtesy of Rugby Expo 2008, which takes place on November 17-18 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London. For more info, visit www.rugbyexpo.com
