French provinces for 2014/5 H Cup

[simonokeeffe]

reports in french media today that FFR will (threaten to) put French provinces into H Cup if the clubs boycott it so trying to figure out how/if that would work
suspect a la world cups overseas players would be lent on quite heavily not to participate re contracts but French players might be told national coaches will be at this and and/or you refuse to play you dont get picked for France

for the regions a Paris team is obvious and should be scope for support for it too
A Basque team could well be quite popular in the region as would a Catalan team

thereafter it gets tricky as other than Toulouse and Castres all the other teams fairly spread out geographically and doubt prod2 has gaps same weekends as HC and with 30 league games already.if Pro D2 moved around a bit then regions get more obvious/viable

[artaneboy]

reports in french media today that FFR will (threaten to) put French provinces into H Cup if the clubs boycott it so trying to figure out how/if that would work
suspect a la world cups overseas players would be lent on quite heavily not to participate re contracts but French players might be told national coaches will be at this and and/or you refuse to play you dont get picked for France

for the regions a Paris team is obvious and should be scope for support for it too
A Basque team could well be quite popular in the region as would a Catalan team

thereafter it gets tricky as other than Toulouse and Castres all the other teams fairly spread out geographically and doubt prod2 has gaps same weekends as HC and with 30 league games already.if Pro D2 moved around a bit then regions get more obvious/viable

If true- great to see the French Union showing the balls that the RFU has so far failed to display. I suspect that the French clubs will hang tough for a while but eventually do a deal if the unions hold firm.

[hugonaut]

Have you got a link for that Simon?

[Dexter]

Have you got a link for that Simon?

Mentioned in the IT this morning.
http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/e ... -1.1545438

However, Midi Olympique yesterday cited “several sources” in speculating that the FFR will announce, in the next few days, a hardening of its stance in opposition to the LNR’s attempts to forge a new breakaway competition and, what’s more, if the Top 14 clubs refuse to take part in the Heineken Cup, they will look to enter regional teams from outside the LNR umbrella.

[simonokeeffe]

Have you got a link for that Simon?

entirely in French though :-/

[Lar]

Interesting if true. Wonder how many front line French Squad players contracts fall to be renewed next June? Might we see some sign with the FFR and play for the new regions?

Probably just a hardening of negotiating position by the FFR but very welcome nonetheless. Would leave the PRL out in the cold even if the RFU somehow supported them.

[simonokeeffe]

Interesting if true. Wonder how many front line French Squad players contracts fall to be renewed next June? Might we see some sign with the FFR and play for the new regions?

Probably just a hardening of negotiating position by the FFR but very welcome nonetheless. Would leave the PRL out in the cold even if the RFU somehow supported them.

I think its more of a negotiating position/doomsday scenario to get clubs to play in an Englishless HC

There's already been talk of Bayonne and BOPB merging to keep both afloat/in top flights so tapping into Basque, Catalan nationalism no bad thing plus a Paris team is ironically a McCafferty level gimic but could get some traction

[TrapperChamonix]

Without having done any research, I've always suspected that the teams in the LNF are like a the top of property bubble. Has anyone any facts about the profitability of the French teams?

[Logorrhea]

There's already been talk of Bayonne and BOPB merging to keep both afloat/in top flights

I thought those two clubs (and their fans) did not like eachother one little bit?

The Welsh tried that kinda stuff and it didn't work at all. Fans couldn't bring themselves to support the newly created monster.

[Lar]

An eternal problem L.

Local clubs tend to be rivals and jealous of the success (or otherwise) of the other. Merging clubs tends not to work.

Its one of the reasons the provinces worked well here. We did not try to merge Shannon and Garryowen, or Belvo and Tarf, or Wanderers and Lansdowne etc. We already had an established provincial system.

But I got the impression that the FFR were not suggesting this. Bayonne and BOPB would still compete in the Top14 (or LNR2 as case may be). The regions would only be for the HEC, and may not be drawn from first teamers in the Clubs. All a bit pie in the sky though as I suspect like most others, this is all a negotiating tactic.

[simonokeeffe]

An eternal problem L.

Local clubs tend to be rivals and jealous of the success (or otherwise) of the other. Merging clubs tends not to work.

Its one of the reasons the provinces worked well here. We did not try to merge Shannon and Garryowen, or Belvo and Tarf, or Wanderers and Lansdowne etc. We already had an established provincial system.

But I got the impression that the FFR were not suggesting this. Bayonne and BOPB would still compete in the Top14 (or LNR2 as case may be). The regions would only be for the HEC, and may not be drawn from first teamers in the Clubs. All a bit pie in the sky though as I suspect like most others, this is all a negotiating tactic.

Aye the provinces would be for HC only like Irish provinces in very early days of HC

[Sionnach]

An eternal problem L.

Local clubs tend to be rivals and jealous of the success (or otherwise) of the other. Merging clubs tends not to work.

Its one of the reasons the provinces worked well here. We did not try to merge Shannon and Garryowen, or Belvo and Tarf, or Wanderers and Lansdowne etc. We already had an established provincial system.

But I got the impression that the FFR were not suggesting this. Bayonne and BOPB would still compete in the Top14 (or LNR2 as case may be). The regions would only be for the HEC, and may not be drawn from first teamers in the Clubs. All a bit pie in the sky though as I suspect like most others, this is all a negotiating tactic.

Maybe something akin to how Super 15 teams in NZ lean on players from a group of ITM Cup teams? The French clubs still exist for the T14, but for the Heineken there are regional ones?