Northern Hemisphere Rugby

[The_Brown_Hornet]

Big time reckoning coming for the club game in the UK and Ireland I think. As bad as it is for those Unions and their clubs, this might actually help us down here with the player drain. I've quietly felt for a long time that the whole club over country situation and the number of overseas players in the European leagues was unsustainable. Maybe this situation is the tip over the edge?

 

[Members Section]

Yes, as a Munster fan i'd love to know the salary break down of all 4 provinces. I don't see Leinster having a bigger wage bill then Saracens, Toulon, Racing though. Leinster really don't have a lot of Foreign imports in the squad, a few of the players would have turned down overseas offers to stay at Leinster.

Saracens pay i think 5m pounds with 1 player outside the cap the french sides pay 10m euro there is no cap in the urc.

 

[Wallaby Man]

Yes, as a Munster fan i'd love to know the salary break down of all 4 provinces. I don't see Leinster having a bigger wage bill then Saracens, Toulon, Racing though. Leinster really don't have a lot of Foreign imports in the squad, a few of the players would have turned down overseas offers to stay at Leinster.

I wouldn’t put Saracens in that list any more. I’d suspect Leinster would be one of the highest but might not be the highest. As you’d prob know better than me, but the Irish long term tax back scheme is the big point of difference for player retention. Could technically reject bigger offers in France over a career but end up with more money in the long run from the tax rebate for athletes by staying in Ireland.

 

[Dan54]

SA teams would be pretty level money wise with all the other URC clubs, none are big spenders in comparison to England/France. IRFU is central controlled, Walsh clubs are broke, Scottish broke and I really don't know how much money the Italian sides have.

Ok just from what I read it said the SA teams were not spending a lot, mind you I can't remember where it was, and even how reliable info was. But I must admit I didn't think Welsh/Scots clubs would be rolling in it.

 

[qwerty51]

Tahs should offer Launchbury a lifeline.

 

[Members Section]

Ospreys to join the premiership the latest rumour???????

seriously the richest union in the world & they let a team from outside England in!!!!!!! Maybe the nz/ra/rsa/ifru way is the answer

 

[Derpus]

'pays foreign players overs to poach them from their respective unions'
...
'goes fucking broke'

Fuck em, hard.

 

[Dan54]

Ospreys to join the premiership the latest rumour???????

seriously the richest union in the world & they let a team from outside England in!!!!!!! Maybe the nz/Rugby Australia/rsa/ifru way is the answer

I thought perhaps they would offer in first instant to promote from within England, there would be a club or 2 there that must be capable of stepping up, and if they get the word early enough could sure strengthen their squads with some Warriors and Wasps players?

 

[Members Section]

I thought perhaps they would offer in first instant to promote from within England, there would be a club or 2 there that must be capable of stepping up, and if they get the word early enough could sure strengthen their squads with some Warriors and Wasps players?

no club in the 2nd tier reaches the minimum capacity ground required to play in the prem

 

[KevinO]

I thought perhaps they would offer in first instant to promote from within England, there would be a club or 2 there that must be capable of stepping up, and if they get the word early enough could sure strengthen their squads with some Warriors and Wasps players?

Earling might get promoted, they should have been promoted already if it wasn't for the ground requirements. They have better training facilities then most teams in World rugby. Just stadium capacity letting them down. Have seen images of the team bus for away games on Jordy Reids socials and it's nicer then any other team transport I have seen.

 

[Dan54]

Earling might get promoted, they should have been promoted already if it wasn't for the ground requirements. They have better training facilities then most teams in World rugby. Just stadium capacity letting them down. Have seen images of the team bus for away games on Jordy Reids socials and it's nicer then any other team transport I have seen.

Ealing was the club that I was trying to recall KevinO, hopefully they can work out a deal on a ground.

 

[KevinO]

Ealing was the club that I was trying to recall KevinO, hopefully they can work out a deal on a ground.

Played 5 games, won 5 with a points difference of +150. Think they are ready to go up, Doncaster is prob the second best team in that comp and they beat them by 19 points already this season.

Preseason they lost to Biarritz by a point and beat Zebre by 30. I know it's preseason but that's still impressive results.

 

[KevinO]

Doncaster and Ealing have Premiership promotion hopes dashed over stadiums

Doncaster Knights and Ealing Trailfinders have been denied a potential promotion to the Premiership after failing to meet minimum standards criteria

www.theguardian.com

Min 10k ground, both clubs were blocked promotion because of this.

 

[KevinO]

Now I wanna see Ralston, Hansen and Dempsey, Tuipuloto send the IRFU & SRU broke.

Can't comment of SRU, but no chance the IRFU is going broke anytime soon. 6 sold out home games a year in a stadium they own produces enough income.

IRFU has recently introduced professional contracts for there women's team, invested in 7's program after the Irish team failing to qualify for some major comps a few years ago.

 

[Members Section]

Played 5 games, won 5 with a points difference of +150. Think they are ready to go up, Doncaster is prob the second best team in that comp and they beat them by 19 points already this season.

Preseason they lost to Biarritz by a point and beat Zebre by 30. I know it's preseason but that's still impressive results.

Tizano & Jack Grant absolutely dominating

 

[Wallaby Man]

Premiership needs to go to 10/11 teams and give up on the notion that a 2nd div is a viable option.

They really need to follow the NRL model and work from there. Get rid of the Prem cup, downsize European involvement so only the top 4/5 teams are involved (decreasing squad sizes) etc.

To put into perspective how much the NRL has got it right commercially, their current tv deal is roughly worth the same as the Premiership, Top 14 and Australian share of Super Rugby combined

 

[Dctarget]

Premiership needs to go to 10/11 teams and give up on the notion that a 2nd div is a viable option.

They really need to follow the NRL model and work from there. Get rid of the Prem cup, downsize European involvement so only the top 4/5 teams are involved (decreasing squad sizes) etc.

To put into perspective how much the NRL has got it right commercially, their current tv deal is roughly worth the same as the Premiership, Top 14 and Australian share of Super Rugby combined

with Australia's size and economy we'd be unstoppable if NRL didn't exist. Hurts man.

Don't agree with the Premiership giving up on the 2nd div, why can France do it but they can't?

 

[qwerty51]

Imagine going broke when you own your stadium.

 

[Wallaby Man]

with Australia's size and economy we'd be unstoppable if NRL didn't exist. Hurts man.

Don't agree with the Premiership giving up on the 2nd div, why can France do it but they can't?

But is it really working in France? It was only 4/5 years ago everyone thought England was in amazing shape domestically because of the cash going through the system. I kinda look at France and see similar set up. I don’t actually see how some of these bills are being paid in France either, especially if you take away the generosity of the owners and the infrastructure they provide.

Looking at the tv revenue figures there is a possibility the Prem generates more cash than the Top 14, because nobody buys the rights outside of France and a significant portion of the revenue goes to the ProD2. With them spending more money on wages etc. they are going to need some massive crowds on a consistent basis to make up the short fall and a lot of concerts as well.

Given how small some the the French towns are, I don’t suspects they are flush with corporates banging the door down to align with them.

I think it was the old controversial Toulon owner that said along the lines of - To own a rugby club, you now need billions, not millions. So he left because it was unsustainable for him long term

 

[Dctarget]

But is it really working in France? It was only 4/5 years ago everyone thought England was in amazing shape domestically because of the cash going through the system. I kinda look at France and see similar set up. I don’t actually see how some of these bills are being paid in France either, especially if you take away the generosity of the owners and the infrastructure they provide.

Looking at the tv revenue figures there is a possibility the Prem generates more cash than the Top 14, because nobody buys the rights outside of France and a significant portion of the revenue goes to the ProD2. With them spending more money on wages etc. they are going to need some massive crowds on a consistent basis to make up the short fall and a lot of concerts as well.

Given how small some the the French towns are, I don’t suspects they are flush with corporates banging the door down to align with them.

I think it was the old controversial Toulon owner that said along the lines of - To own a rugby club, you now need billions, not millions. So he left because it was unsustainable for him long term

Well as you say sport can rise and fall very quickly so it's difficult to predict anything beyond 5 years+. But for now French rugby are fine. A sold out RWC23 will keep the coffers healthy. 80,000 fans watched France win the 6N at Stade de France. The 6N have never been so popular.

Top 14 last season had an average crowd attendance of 16,000. La Rochelle have sold out their stadium like 25 times in a row or something stupid. Their women's XV sold out their match against England.

Then of course add in the eccentric billionaires which you can't ever really rule out. They have so many clubs that they can afford for Toulon to rise & fall, or a Worcester to happen for example. We can't really take losing one club here.