General rugby thread

[XCP]

phil_cardiff said:

I'm not easily offended. Are opposition fans abused in the Shed or is it the usual 'banter'.

It's very close to pitchside. Shoulder to shoulder standing, very vocal and quite something for opposing players I should imagine. Visiting supporters are fine, Glos are a nice bunch.

I'd rather a game in an atmosphere like that than the last Sarries game I attended. It was like a snooker match in comparison!

[MellowshipSlinky]

As a Tigers fan, I’ve been to Glaws twice - once in the Shed and once in the main stand.
The Shed wasn’t particularly pleasant.

The time in the main stand, there was a little handbaggy scuffle between two blokes - both Gloucester fans...

[phil_cardiff]

MellowshipSlinky said:

As a Tigers fan, I’ve been to Glaws twice - once in the Shed and once in the main stand.
The Shed wasn’t particularly pleasant.

The time in the main stand, there was a little handbaggy scuffle between two blokes - both Gloucester fans...

I'd fit right in then. Nobody does petty tribalism and in-fighting as well as the Welsh!

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP. Away trips to Briz, Bath, Glos, Wuss would be fantastic and the atmospheres would be great.

[The Mad Monk]

phil_cardiff said:

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP. Away trips to Briz, Bath, Glos, Wuss would be fantastic and the atmospheres would be great.

And the pinnacle would of course, be a trip to The Stoop for the Harlequins.

[phil_cardiff]

The Mad Monk said:

phil_cardiff said:

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP. Away trips to Briz, Bath, Glos, Wuss would be fantastic and the atmospheres would be great.

And the pinnacle would of course, be a trip to The Stoop for the Harlequins.

Goes without saying.

[The Mad Monk]

phil_cardiff said:

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP.

Serious question.

What don't you like about the Pro14?

[XCP]

phil_cardiff said:

I'd fit right in then. Nobody does petty tribalism and in-fighting as well as the Welsh!

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP. Away trips to Briz, Bath, Glos, Wuss would be fantastic and the atmospheres would be great.

The supporter experience at Bath is crap. They don't call it the Wreck for no reason, and they only get small crowds due to the size of the place.

[768]

There's no setting like it though. Just about my favourite place in the world.

[RDM]

The Mad Monk said:

phil_cardiff said:

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP.

Serious question.

What don't you like about the Pro14?

PRO14 usually has decent representation in the Euro
Cups, can’t be that bad.

[Kermit power]

RDM said:

The Mad Monk said:

phil_cardiff said:

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP.

Serious question.

What don't you like about the Pro14?

PRO14 usually has decent representation in the Euro
Cups, can’t be that bad.

Part of the reason why the Irish teams have decent representation in European Cups, at least historically, was the fact that they barely had to lift a finger in the Pro 14 to qualify for the European top tier, meaning that Leinster & Munster in particular would rock up for away matches in Wales with not much more than a development squad. It never makes for great rugby if you're not seeing the stars playing.

By comparison, the English Prem clubs have to really fight hard to get into the top 6 in the Premiership, then also fight hard in Europe, often with squads decimated by injuries, so you see some real heroics! Or, of course, you see certain clubs going way over the salary cap!

[Kermit power]

There's a lot of talk about Sarries having to cut salaries and/or get shot of players to get themselves under the salary cap, but how do they go about doing that? I thought the players would all be on fixed term contracts, so if they turned round and said they weren't willing to take a pay cut or leave, what could Sarries actually do to make them?

[iwantagta]

Kermit power said:

There's a lot of talk about Sarries having to cut salaries and/or get shot of players to get themselves under the salary cap, but how do they go about doing that? I thought the players would all be on fixed term contracts, so if they turned round and said they weren't willing to take a pay cut or leave, what could Sarries actually do to make them?

Its a mess is the summary.
Either way they cant keep who they have now, it will never fit.
I think they will be given a free pass for exceeding the cap this season & at the end of it they will need to bomb out a significant number of players.
Some may choose to stay on lower £££. Some will leave.

[irocfan]

iwantagta said:

Kermit power said:

There's a lot of talk about Sarries having to cut salaries and/or get shot of players to get themselves under the salary cap, but how do they go about doing that? I thought the players would all be on fixed term contracts, so if they turned round and said they weren't willing to take a pay cut or leave, what could Sarries actually do to make them?

Its a mess is the summary.
Either way they cant keep who they have now, it will never fit.
I think they will be given a free pass for exceeding the cap this season & at the end of it they will need to bomb out a significant number of players.
Some may choose to stay on lower £££. Some will leave.

well one who's likely to live will be Williams AIUI since this is his last year on a 2 year deal - that's already a big saving. There are quite a few others coming through or getting old enough that a mega salary is no longer needed (Brad B for example) so that'll help too

[phil_cardiff]

The Mad Monk said:

phil_cardiff said:

I'd kill for Welsh clubs to be ut of the awful Pro14 and in the GP.

Serious question.

What don't you like about the Pro14?

Run by the Irish for the benefit of the Irish.

Awful standard of play.

Awful referees.

No away fans.

Welsh fans don't care about Irish/Scottish/Italian/SA opposition.

League generates insufficient TV money.

Other than that it's great.

[JonChalk]

Pat Sanderson saying after the Glos match that he doesn’t feel like the negative comments heading their way are justified.

fk off!

If you don’t want to be vilified for cheating, don’t cheat.

Sarries would be better off telling team and coaches to say nothing and keep quiet, not try and justify it. Sanderson went on to mutter something about hoping they’d be exonerated later in the season. Fat chance.

That said, we completely screwed up today and made soooo many handling errors, combined with Sarries getting some exceptional lenient reffing. 8 penalties inside the 22 in a 5 minute period and no cards. Not good.

[XCP]

phil_cardiff said:

Run by the Irish for the benefit of the Irish.

Awful standard of play.

Awful referees.

No away fans.

Welsh fans don't care about Irish/Scottish/Italian/SA opposition.

League generates insufficient TV money.

Other than that it's great.

I would like to see the Welsh clubs in the premiership too, but it would then be too large. I suspect that the Welsh clubs v West country clubs would be well attended as they always used to be. Bristol V Cardiff or Llanelli always had an edge to it.

[mr pg]

JonChalk said:

Pat Sanderson saying after the Glos match that he doesn’t feel like the negative comments heading their way are justified.

fk off!

If you don’t want to be vilified for cheating, don’t cheat.

Sarries would be better off telling team and coaches to say nothing and keep quiet, not try and justify it. Sanderson went on to mutter something about hoping they’d be exonerated later in the season. Fat chance.

That said, we completely screwed up today and made soooo many handling errors, combined with Sarries getting some exceptional lenient reffing. 8 penalties inside the 22 in a 5 minute period and no cards. Not good.

Maybe we've set up a business with the ref too?

[magooagain]

phil_cardiff said:

Run by the Irish for the benefit of the Irish.

Awful standard of play.

Awful referees.

No away fans.

Welsh fans don't care about Irish/Scottish/Italian/SA opposition.

League generates insufficient TV money.

Other than that it's great.

The pro 14 welsh clubs can't get into Europe now! Imagine them in the premiership! At least in the pro 14 they get the odd win.

[phil_cardiff]

magooagain said:

phil_cardiff said:

Run by the Irish for the benefit of the Irish.

Awful standard of play.

Awful referees.

No away fans.

Welsh fans don't care about Irish/Scottish/Italian/SA opposition.

League generates insufficient TV money.

Other than that it's great.

The pro 14 welsh clubs can't get into Europe now! Imagine them in the premiership! At least in the pro 14 they get the odd win.

TV money. And there are benefactors here who don't believe in the commercial viability of the Pro14 and limit their investment, or so I'm told.

[phil_cardiff]

XCP said:

phil_cardiff said:

Run by the Irish for the benefit of the Irish.

Awful standard of play.

Awful referees.

No away fans.

Welsh fans don't care about Irish/Scottish/Italian/SA opposition.

League generates insufficient TV money.

Other than that it's great.

I would like to see the Welsh clubs in the premiership too, but it would then be too large. I suspect that the Welsh clubs v West country clubs would be well attended as they always used to be. Bristol V Cardiff or Llanelli always had an edge to it.

My theory is CVC is looking to create a 'Lions league' to rival the Top14. Either a conference system or divisions.