General rugby thread
Discussion
irocfan said:
rumour has it that Haskell may be going to Worcester. Also read that DC may try Japan next year (if there's a WC injury to GF/OF then there's someone there right away....).
Please stop using confusing initials. We've got it bad enough at Quins at the moment, without suggestions that Danny Care might be off to Japan!irocfan said:
Talking of England's rejects - Ashton is currently the top scorer in the top 14
He's still a showboating tosser, though, so happy for him to stay in France.
Kermit power said:
After the England match, I was thinking that England could learn from Ireland's rucking and counter-rucking.
After watching the Prem yesterday, I think they could learn from watching London Irish!
Harsh, especially as LI actually won against Worcester yesterday. All a bit too late now though.After watching the Prem yesterday, I think they could learn from watching London Irish!
prand said:
Kermit power said:
After the England match, I was thinking that England could learn from Ireland's rucking and counter-rucking.
After watching the Prem yesterday, I think they could learn from watching London Irish!
Harsh, especially as LI actually won against Worcester yesterday. All a bit too late now though.After watching the Prem yesterday, I think they could learn from watching London Irish!
Kermit power said:
Err... That was my point! LI won their second Prem match of the whole season, yet England could've still taken lessons in how to prevent being stripped in the ruck from them. There was some very solid Irish rucking and counter-rucking against Wuss that was sorely missing against Scotland for England.
Ha, yes I get it now, though it's a bit late now for LI to have suddenly discovered how to win matches when they've been so poor this season and are as good as relegated.Apologies - I've been in a bad mood about them since about November.... Although the consolation is going to watch games at Championship clubs next season, had a couple of great weekends away in Jersey and Cornwall last time.
I have wondered whether some sort of agreement could have been reestablished between London Irish and the IRFU, so that some of the international talent for Ireland could sign for the club on agreement that they get released at key international points in the calendar. Don't think it will ever happen though
prand said:
Kermit power said:
Err... That was my point! LI won their second Prem match of the whole season, yet England could've still taken lessons in how to prevent being stripped in the ruck from them. There was some very solid Irish rucking and counter-rucking against Wuss that was sorely missing against Scotland for England.
Ha, yes I get it now, though it's a bit late now for LI to have suddenly discovered how to win matches when they've been so poor this season and are as good as relegated.Apologies - I've been in a bad mood about them since about November.... Although the consolation is going to watch games at Championship clubs next season, had a couple of great weekends away in Jersey and Cornwall last time.
irocfan said:
rumour has it that Haskell may be going to Worcester. Also read that DC may try Japan next year (if there's a WC injury to GF/OF then there's someone there right away....).
Happily Alan Solomons has poured cold water on that oneEdited by irocfan on Saturday 24th February 09:05
Kermit power said:
Fingers crossed they survive... OK, it's a big stadium with 24,000+ capacity, but even so, the crowd numbers on Sunday looked pitiful. Surely the finances can't be healthy?
Nope that doesn't help either. Rent on Madjeski is, I recall £17k per game, with a break even on 7-10k attendees, so they've have been losing money pretty much all season.Looks like they'll move to Brentford's new ground next year some time when it opens which is a bit more cosy, so won't seem too empty with 17000 capacity. Hopefully they get a better deal on that than at Reading. But the truth is, not owning your own ground is a slow death for a premiership club today.
It's been a bitter joke that when they sold their original ground in Sunbury (which in truth, couldn't be used for premiership games due to ground size and lack of stands and redeveloped nearby Hazlewood golf course), the club would benefit from having "world class training facilities" which clearly means feck all in the real world if you haven't got a stable income, large regular crowds spending money in your bars and catering outlets and the facility to pay decent players and coaching staff.
In comparison, despite the shock move to Coventry, Wasps were incredibly smart doing a deal to buy a 250 year lease on the Ricoh off the council (though this is now in dispute because the 21 mill paid is deemed to be way under value). They now get the rental off Cov city for games, and all the associated sponsorship money, hospitality, concert events, hotel and casino income etc that you wouldn't get if you were renting. They are set for a long time yet when it was looking very dodgy when they were up at Wycombe.
Edited by prand on Monday 26th February 18:05
The flipside to ^^^^ is that sometimes owning your own ground can bugger up the on pitch performance!
As I understand it, last time Quins wanted to redevelop a stand, they took a gamble on reducing the player squad, saving wages and relying on the fact that no club had been relegated so long as they won their games in the international windows. They did win them, but it wasn't enough, and they got relegated.
Now the management have decided to give away coaching positions in the bottom of cereal boxes to avoid paying decent coaching wages, and they're talking about redeveloping the ground!
As I understand it, last time Quins wanted to redevelop a stand, they took a gamble on reducing the player squad, saving wages and relying on the fact that no club had been relegated so long as they won their games in the international windows. They did win them, but it wasn't enough, and they got relegated.
Now the management have decided to give away coaching positions in the bottom of cereal boxes to avoid paying decent coaching wages, and they're talking about redeveloping the ground!
Well, Quins have made their best management decision of the season... They've postponed this evening's game until Sunday!
Madly, though, "they" (I realise it's the ref, Premier Rugby and both clubs, not just Quins) refused to do so until about 13:30 this afternoon, despite the Met Office weather warnings, the Police asking people to avoid all but essential travel, and SW Railways cancelling all trains after 8pm!
The relevant Facebook pages have gone from people complaining about them not postponing it to now the poor sods who'd already started travelling, in some cases from really significant distances, to get to the game...
On more positive Quins news, however, it seems that we've signed a new-fangled sort of agreement with the All Blacks which will include player and coach exchanges!
So.... We borrow Steve Hansen until, I don't know, let's say November 3rd next year, and they can have John Kingston? That looks like a win from all the important angles to me!!
Madly, though, "they" (I realise it's the ref, Premier Rugby and both clubs, not just Quins) refused to do so until about 13:30 this afternoon, despite the Met Office weather warnings, the Police asking people to avoid all but essential travel, and SW Railways cancelling all trains after 8pm!
The relevant Facebook pages have gone from people complaining about them not postponing it to now the poor sods who'd already started travelling, in some cases from really significant distances, to get to the game...On more positive Quins news, however, it seems that we've signed a new-fangled sort of agreement with the All Blacks which will include player and coach exchanges!
So.... We borrow Steve Hansen until, I don't know, let's say November 3rd next year, and they can have John Kingston? That looks like a win from all the important angles to me!!
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