Northern Hemishpere Rugby 2013

[the plastic paddy]

The Rabo unions need to hold their nerve and let the PRL's back of a fag packet plan unravel. This whole business is about club versus country plain and simple. The FFR have come out, all guns blazing because they know the French clubs are trying to take more control of the game at the expense of the French national team. Bill Beaumont was not born yesterday and will know what Wray is trying to do, remove the salary cap and bring in even more SH stars so the English rugby team becomes like the English football team, with all the money swilling around in the football premiership, shite.

All the while Murdoch has not played his hand, content to let McCafferty etc have enough rope to hang themselves and severely hurt BT sports. As long as the Rabo unions maintain a united front the PRL plan will go bang.

The PRL plan would seriously threaten the game at national level IMHO, that they are talking about South African involvement should make it clear to Aussie and NZ rugby fans that this plan would be an absolute disaster for the international game.

 

[the plastic paddy]

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/...reland-could-miss-2015-world-cup-8831880.html

The logical conclusion to the PRL's plan is Ireland pulling out of the 2015 RWC, that means five fewer full houses at the biggest stadia. The PRL plan would be disastrous for the game, simply disastrous.

 

[JSRF10]

Murdoch Inc will be keeping quiet in public but they've just paid big bucks for Irelands non 6 nations games and have also funded the RFU for a long time with their TV money for their games against the SH. They'll be putting on the pressure in private and I wouldn't be surprised if the Welsh and the Scots are thrown some Sky money to keep them onside.

Never thought I'd say this about a company associated with Rupert Murdoch but they are playing an absolute blinder here and are doing it with class.

 

[the plastic paddy]

Murdoch Inc will be keeping quiet in public but they've just paid big bucks for Irelands non 6 nations games and have also funded the RFU for a long time with their TV money for their games against the SH. They'll be putting on the pressure in private and I wouldn't be surprised if the Welsh and the Scots are thrown some Sky money to keep them onside.

Never thought I'd say this about a company associated with Rupert Murdoch but they are playing an absolute blinder here and are doing it with class.

Is McCafferty secretly working for Murdoch? I just can't believe the bluffing that is going on. Another conspiracy theory of mine is that the old school English club owners are giving Wray enough rope to hang himself so he pisses off. The RFU won't lift the salary cap with Wray hanging around like the smell of urine in a bus shelter, but they might do if he goes off and gets interested in football which I am sure would suit him considerably better. If BT retreat as a result of it all, the RFU will be able to go to Murdoch and ask him how grateful he is. Murdoch will splash the cash and for once be regarded as a saviour rather than a parasite. The vital thing is that the unions keep control of the game because if they don't the international game is in existential trouble in both hemispheres. Murdoch's global reach means he is concerned for the game as a whole, BT care about the English market and the English market alone.

 

[the plastic paddy]

I think the French are about to royally shaft the PRL, great news for our wonderful game.

 

[the plastic paddy]

The debate is finally opening up as the English press, at fecking last, stop regurgitating PRL press releases and acknowledge that this debate is really about club versus country.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/ru...r-European-breakaway-would-be-calamitous.html

Now that the press are starting to report the issue slightly more sensibly it might be time for the IRFU, WRU and SRU to start chucking out some ideas along the lines of boycotting RWC 2015.

It shouldn't apply to lads like Sexton or Niall Morris who are already there but I hope the IRFU will leave any Irish players thinking of playing in this made up tournament under no illusion that they will be turning their backs on their Irish careers and they won't be waltzing back into a province to avail themselves of any tax rebate either. This proposal would send International rugby the way of the Dodo so it is time to start playing serious hardball with these arrogant English pricks.

 

[JSRF10]

It shouldn't apply to lads like Sexton or Niall Morris who are already there but I hope the IRFU will leave any Irish players thinking of playing in this made up tournament under no illusion that they will be turning their backs on their Irish careers and they won't be waltzing back into a province to avail themselves of any tax rebate either.

This.

Its time to lay down the gauntlet, drastic action is needed if we can't match the current wages that our stars are on. We also need to be smarter about who gets contracts. Older players who aren't essential need to be moved on quicker as do journeymen who are getting in the way of the youngsters. Think of someone like Shane Jennings who as good a player as he is, he is getting to the stage of his career where he is staring to block some younger guys with a higher potential talent ceiling, he should be moved on. Ditto guys like DOC and Paddy Wallace, the IRFU and respective provincial boards need to be smarter with their decreasing contract pots.

 

[Sandpit Fan]

JSRF10, the plastic paddy, Bardon,

Thanks for the running commentary guys, it's good to get some informed commentary from you guys who are familiar with the goings on there.

 

[the plastic paddy]

JSRF10, the plastic paddy, Bardon,

Thanks for the running commentary guys, it's good to get some informed commentary from you guys who are familiar with the goings on there.

It is vitally important for the future of the game in the Southern Hemisphere as well as the North. If the likes of Wray and Griffiths take control of the game, which is what this is really all about, the fall out will be calamitous for the game we all love. You might be interested in this thread over on munsterfans.com

http://www.munsterfans.com/threads/...ken-Cup-In-Doubt/page59?p=1276357#post1276357

 

[the plastic paddy]

International Rugby Board chairman Bernard Lapasset has voiced his opposition to plans for an Anglo-French led European breakaway competition.

The world governing body is backing European Rugby Cup Ltd in the row over the future of continental club rugby, with Lapasset insisting any future European tournament must be Union-run.

While Premiership Rugby are confident of gaining the endorsement of the Rugby Football Union for the breakaway 'Rugby Champions Cup', the French Rugby Federation has already signalled that it will block French participation in the new competition.

Lapasset pledged that the IRB "will ensure we have a European competition which fulfils its name, which is not confiscated by some nations but has a real international interest.

"The IRB will defend this principle: not a privatisation of a competition in the interest of some people" adding that "unions maintain pre-eminence over the leagues... the unions must remain masters of the game.

 

[Bardon]

Now we have Bruce Craig (deputy chairman of Premiership Rugby) telling the Pro12 teams they'll go bankrupt if they don't approve the new Rugby Champions Cup.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/24224152

Funny how he doesn't mention that the English clubs have most to lose financially as they're the ones who've sold a competition that doesn't exist to BT.

Also what a stupid name for a competition. They've just copied soccer with the Champions League.

This just get messier every day and I have a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that one or more of the Pro12 unions is going to cave leading to all of them eventually cutting their own throats by signing up to this farce.

I notice too that Craig talks about all 38 European clubs being in the new competition. That's the Pro12, Top 14 and the 12 Premiership clubs. So no room for Romania, Spain or Portugal in his new European Utopia.

Forget professionalism, if the English and French clubs get their way in this, it will be the most significant event in Rugby in the modern era. The power of the national unions and the IRB will be forever diminished and the clubs will only grow bolder and stronger.

 

[the plastic paddy]

I really don't think the Celtic teams are going to split because they know what the real figures are and more importantly what is at stake. The RFU are staying very quiet hoping that the combined actions of the FFR, and the rabo unions will counter the bull shit spoofing and nonsense coming out of the PRL. This is about who controls the game, unions or clubs. If the T14 and the AP take charge they will concentrate all the money in their teams and everyone else, North and South will be destroyed. Ironically it is down to the Celtic nations, France and Italy to protect and strengthen the English national team. Makes you feel quite wholesome!?!

 

[JSRF10]

What that clown Craig doesn't realise is that the majority of the funding of the Rabo teams is generated through the 6 nations and international rugby. If we need to replace the Heineken Cup for a season if we play an extra autumn international and a Ranfurly Shield type tournament between the provinces sold to Sky to televise I think we'd replace the Heineken Cup revenue which the IRFU budgets for.

 

[JSRF10]

Lets hope this nonsense from the Racing Metro president is enough to get SANZAR on board and vote this competition down if hte IRB have to get involved:

Asked by Le Parisien on Wednesday , Jacky Lorenzetti , the president of Racing Metro 92 , has for the first time spoken about the Rugby Champions Cup. According to him, this competition, desired by the English and French leagues, exceed "the European circle." The strong man of the Paris Club goes even further: " We want to recreate a global organization to launch the FIFA Club World Cup. There will be teams from the UK, France , New Zealand , Australia, South Africa." It is a large-scale project which obviously involves huge logistics, including the changing of the calendar. "We are working in this direction ," says the businessman .


Head full of projects, the club presidents of the Top 14, seem determined to develop this new competition , which they claim is more in tune with their needs. After Mourad Boudjellal , Jacky Lorenzetti is the second president to act against the ERC, but also against the FFR : "Today the European Cup is flawed. It is organized by the federations. This is not normal." According to him, the role of FFR must be confined to the XV of France :" We do not want to organize the Six Nations! However, everything about the club must return to the clubs." Which said recently, through its president Paul Goze , the implementation of the project would continue and there would be no more negotiations on the current European Cup .

Jacky Lorenzetti is convinced that the federations "give their consent", which is necessary for the clubs involved in the Rugby Champions Cup because it is "in the interest of clubs." The IRB remains to be convinced. Again, the President of Racing can not see where the problem lies : "We will not do a Europe Cup. We do not want to compete with the current test. I do not see why the IRB would not agree with us. Simply put, it is a political will." Perhaps this is where the problem lies at the moment."

 

[the plastic paddy]

What that clown Craig doesn't realise is that the majority of the funding of the Rabo teams is generated through the 6 nations and international rugby. If we need to replace the Heineken Cup for a season if we play an extra autumn international and a Ranfurly Shield type tournament between the provinces sold to Sky to televise I think we'd replace the Heineken Cup revenue which the IRFU budgets for.

And as this site shows, and Murdoch well knows, that is a product he can sell around the world. One estimate I heard is that 400 million people worldwide have at least one Irish grandparent and a lot of them are in rugby playing countries. I am not a Murdoch fan but his global reach and ambitions are vital for the game of rugby, BT's parochial vision would be terrible for the SH game as Lonzeretti makes clear.

 

[boyo]

To be blunt, I don't think that Murdoch gives a toss about rugby per se. It's a means to an end.

He does give a toss about winning and money.

 

[JSRF10]

To be blunt, I don't think that Murdoch gives a toss about rugby per se. It's a means to an end.

He does give a toss about winning and money.

He has fought and won upstart sports channels as well backed as BT before, hopefully he and his minions are still up for another fight

 

[Bardon]

That's true Boyo, but in this case he would seem to be the lesser of 2 evils.

 

[the plastic paddy]

With permission I am posting this excellent piece by Piquet over on Munsterfans.com:

Mr Wray and his cronies in the PRL need to be spoken to in language that they, as businessmen, can understand, so here goes:

• There is a product, Rugby Union, that is provided in various countries throughout the world.
• A company called the International Rugby Board (IRB)has the World-wide rights to supply this product.
• The IRB Licences certain companies throughout the world to administer this product. (For Instance in Ireland, the company is the IRFU which holds the Franchise for the entire island of Ireland.)
• These Franchisees may for time to time, authorise certain other companies to supply this product.
• If it is proposed to provide this product in a number of countries, then as well as the franchisees in the individual countries, the holder of the World-wide rights must also approve.
• In the same way as any other product that is traded internationally, anyone who attempts to supply this product without holding a franchise for it or having the approval of the Franchise holder is committing an offence.

It's very simple really, isn't it?

 

[the plastic paddy]

To be blunt, I don't think that Murdoch gives a toss about rugby per se. It's a means to an end.

He does give a toss about winning and money.

I think rugby fits quite well with his global vision myself. The silence from Sky up here is deafening though, deafening.