artaneboy wrote:
This "unfair advantage" stuff is so obviously BS! As you note, the English clubs (they rather than the weedily compliant RFU demanded it) made the decision to adopt their commercial/ decentalised contract model. For years they lauded its effectiveness and value. Now that its not working as well for them- its the Irish system (which they sneered at previously) that is 'unfair'.
There are all sorts of analogies to the UK and Brexit that i will not introduce- but it's the same mind set. A built-in sense of superiority/ entitlement, which when reality does not deliver as they believe it should, leads to cries of cheating and demands that the rules be changed to suit their personally tailored reality.
Todd Blackadder is a New Zealander. He didn't set-up or invent the English professional rugby system, he's just employed in it. I think it's pretty legitimate for him to give his opinions on the difficulty his club faces in European competition. He's well-placed to give it. These are the problems as they see them. You ask the coach of Wasps or Bath what he thinks, you're going to get an answer heavily flavoured by Wasps'/Bath's current problems/blessings.
If you're expecting the coaches of English clubs to start telling the English rugby media that the Irish provinces are just better than us, they're better coached and conditioned and the Irish system is just super-duper, you'll be waiting a long time. When did anybody in Irish rugby ever say that about Toulon when they won three in a row? All we did was b*tch and moan about them buying their way to the cup [me included].
Over the last five years, the cup has been won by a team from Ireland, a team from England and a team from France. The English thought it looked unbalanced when Irish provinces won four in five years from 08-12, we thought it looked unbalanced when Toulon won three in a row from 13-15. It's not particularly unbalanced. It's like that phrase
"not a vintage Six Nations": only one team wins the Six Nations each year, and if it wasn't your team it was
"not a vintage Six Nations".
I agree on the club owners/Brexit analogy. Those lads are full of sh*t and all the stuff about "delivering five multinational partners" doesn't get brought up often enough. But the guys coaching teams are operating in a system they have no power to change. I wouldn't be too hard on them if they're a little bit whiny once in a while. They work for arseh*les.