Championship Clubs V RFU

[Neils]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/67937322

[NellyWellyWaspy]

For consulting read dictating.

[Rossco]

The RFU have given the time frame until the end of March to sort out the Championship and Prem 2.
There is an interview with Connor O?Shea in the Guardian!!!

[Neils]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/feb/20/conor-o-shea-english-premiership-england-rugby-union-rfu-breakdown

[NellyWellyWaspy]

He makes the mistake of equating the number of fans to the viability and future of professional rugby.

Fans will not, cannot make a team financially viable. Not in rugby, football, tennis, cricket, golf, or whatever. Fans make an atmosphere, make a contribution, motivate the players during the game.

As such, any article that considers attendance an important factor is missing the point.

Fans are there to make TV coverage look good. To give the huge sums paid for the broadcast rights some legitimacy, to help justify the money big money sponsors and advertisers spend.

[westwaleswasp]

Frankly, all sides,RFU, Prem clubs, and the championship clubs need to be smashed to a pulp. Championship clubs don't like old prem clubs parachuted in? Tough, those clubs were above you in crowd numbers and on the pitch. Bigger and better clubs.
End of. At the very minimum their presence enhances yours. Prem clubs want a closed shop. Tough. Jersey should have been promoted as should Ealing.
Rfu want to sort the game out- they had the opportunity 25 years ago and bottled it.

[Andywasp50]

I'm beginning to think Sweeney was appointed with the objective of destroying English Rugby. So far, he's stayed hidden behind his charges and sent them out to take the flack for the dismantling of the professional game.

He emerges now and again with a bit of corporate bluster on how he loves English Rugby, but it's staggering that his tenure has overseen such a malignancy in the game and he's still in a job. This is a man that was accused of being 'asleep on the job' whilst living in an 'ivory tower' by MPs, saw the demise of three professional clubs without lifting a finger to help, allowed a Northern hemisphere powerhouse to become a run of the mill outfit - denigrating the Premiership at the same time as English based top representatives are routinely thumped by anyone but the very weakest Six Nations sides in years - shown no vision with International managerial appointments, was looking to sell Twickenham to buy shares in Wembley, imposed tackling law levels without consultation that can't be managed at grassroots level and is now bullying the  Championship clubs to meet the requirements of a predictable and average standard competition.

The bagpipes and Scotland shirts and songs in Covent Garden this evening signalled a fourth successive defeat at the hands of the old foe, but the shame is it wasn't a surprise - we used to give Scotland a game but not any more, it's just the norm. That's a massive fall from grace and damning indictment of Sweeney's reign.

The Premiership is now sat alone in the corner trying to convince itself how good it is whilst the Top 14 and URC dominate the game in the NH.

Everyone likes beating the English and thanks to Sweeney it's open season.

[westwaleswasp]

Used to give Scotland a game? We went 34 years unbeaten at home against them. 
That shows us where we are.

[Heathen]

Scotland and Ireland are loaded with project players fron NZ, Oz and SA. WR need to sort this out.

Alternatively, the RFU need to get on the bandwagon. Oh, hang on, they cannot organise the proverbial.

[westwaleswasp]

Of course they have imported players, and have done for a while.
England, however, should be smashing Scotland. Money, players, you name it England have more.
Our domestic self interest and rfu incompetence has a lot to answer for. It is beyond Eddie Jones, who was unorthodox in every way apart from tactics, we have not had a progressive coach in terms of tactics since Ashton, and only two since professionalism. Conservative coaches are fine, you need pragmatism sometimes. But it is too easy to blame Eddie for England's woes. It is deeper.

25 years ago we needed an Anglo Welsh league. Looking domestically and internationally at both England and Wales, we need one again.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Of course they have imported players, and have done for a while.
England, however, should be smashing Scotland. Money, players, you name it England have more.
Our domestic self interest and rfu incompetence has a lot to answer for. It is beyond Eddie Jones, who was unorthodox in every way apart from tactics, we have not had a progressive coach in terms of tactics since Ashton, and only two since professionalism. Conservative coaches are fine, you need pragmatism sometimes. But it is too easy to blame Eddie for England's woes. It is deeper.

25 years ago we needed an Anglo Welsh league. Looking domestically and internationally at both England and Wales, we need one again.

So much for England players having fewer games and not being released to their clubs in 6N rest weeks, they looked like they hadn't met each other at times and definitely looked over coached and to be forgetting plays. Although TBF the first try was well worked.

Rather than pick up waif and strays from the southern hemisphere they should allow Borthwick to select England players playing overseas. He might not have them for as much time which may be a good thing as there'll be less time to coach spontaneity out of them.

But the main reason for doing it will be to provide some competition to the cosy club that the Premiership is becoming and give players more of an incentive to become adventurous.