Pro 14 - General Thread

[wixfjord]

Yikes, sh!t is really hitting the fan.

Statement from Ken Owens/WRPA:
https://www.wrpa.co.uk/blog/welsh-rugby ... ivelihoods

Statement from Ospreys:
http://www.ospreysrugby.com/News/Article/54260

As much as it's fun seeing Welsh rugby in such dire situation, this cannot be good for the league.

[The Doc]

Sounds like a right oul mess.
Scarlet Ospreys? Surely they could do better than that.

That's only a working title.

I hear they're going to be called the Chameleons.

Or I saw somewhere on line - The Western Farce

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Brilliant

I know the Pro14 isn't responsible for this situation but I have to wonder about their long term planning, seems like there isn't any. It just feels like there's no substance to anything they do, just a constant rearranging of the deckchairs.

I have to be honest, I couldn't give a toss about the league. I love the needle in some of the interpros and watching the young players develop, but in terms of the actual trophy I've lost interest. Maybe that's partly because we're so far ahead this season (although I don't think that will mean much when we get to the semis, apart from home advantage of course) but a lot of it is just because I really don't care about the SA teams and because I fully expect the landscape to change several times over the medium term.

For me, expansion to ensure financial security was the wrong way to go about it. The biggest threat/opportunity for the league was how competitive the Scottish and Welsh teams were. The league's argument would obviously be that they've chased funding to ensure their futures, but I reckon scheduling, TV coverage, and sponsorship were far more important. I'm not saying they haven't tried those things, but how can you pitch to broadcasters or potential sponsors when you're so uncertain about which countries will even be involved?

Just spitballing here but maybe they could go to a company like Adidas and ask them sponsor the league and provide all the kits with a view to adding a US team in five years time after their league has had time to grow, and then you can go to NBC with with a heavyweight sponsor, and established league, and the prospect of a US all star team combining when the league is over to take on the Europeans. Maybe that's garbage, but everything just seems to be piecemeal right now with no long term vision.

[neill_m]

In late December, the Scarlets received a high-level approach from the Ospreys to explore the option of a merger as they had come to the conclusion that their position as tenants at the Liberty Stadium was proving to be challenging. This was discussed at the two-day strategy meeting of PRB on January 8th and 9th. The loss of a region would have put Welsh rugby in breach of its commitment to having four regions playing in the major competitions. As a result, the option of a team playing out of North Wales was raised.

By the time of the next PRB meeting on February 5, discussions had broken down between the Scarlets and Ospreys and we were told that the Ospreys and another region were in talks over a possible merger, again with North Wales being the option to maintain four teams. Subsequently, those discussions also broke down and we were approached again last week by the Ospreys to reconsider a merger.

Heads of terms were agreed and signed by the Ospreys and Scarlets on March 1 on terms we believe our supporters would be happy with. This was to be proposed at a meeting of the PRB on Tuesday afternoon, but we were told at the start of that meeting that the Ospreys had changed their mind. The merger is off the table.

https://www.scarlets.wales/en/team-news ... verywhere/

[paddyor]

Nobody does a sh*t show like the Welsh. Have they ever managed 5 years without some "internal" strife?

[dropkick]

Sounds like a right oul mess.
Scarlet Ospreys? Surely they could do better than that.

That's only a working title.

I hear they're going to be called the Chameleons.

Or I saw somewhere on line - The Western Farce

[dropkick]

Nobody does a sh*t show like the Welsh. Have they ever managed 5 years without some "internal" strife?

Indeed but I think it probably helps their national side. What I mean is most of their squad are only interested in playing for Wales so while Irish provinces are battling in Europe and battling at the top of the pro14 the Welsh players are coasting through the season waiting for the 6N to start.

[Ruckedtobits]

Nobody does a sh*t show like the Welsh. Have they ever managed 5 years without some "internal" strife?

Indeed but I think it probably helps their national side. What I mean is most of their squad are only interested in playing for Wales so while Irish provinces are battling in Europe and battling at the top of the pro14 the Welsh players are coasting through the season waiting for the 6N to start.

For any international sportsman, playing the majority of your career (i.e. your Club team) in a losing environment is a very tough ask and generally detrimental to your international success. Gatland has done an excellent job with Wales through a decade. But for at least part of it, Ospreys and Scarlets provided a winning backdrop for the National team and his selections reflected the winning culture of each Club.

Welsh rugby has had a litany of poor administration since the advent of the Pro game. Money (illicit) always existed in Welsh rugby, certainly as early as the post-war era and right through to the 90's. "Boot money" kept many a "Valleys player" from "going North" to Rugby League. Since the professional era, their largesse has been spread too thin and their player base eroded as the industrial base in the UK shifted.

Wales will solve their problem with leadership, eventually. For the short-term, they'll have to rely on Gatty.

[paddyor]

Nobody does a sh*t show like the Welsh. Have they ever managed 5 years without some "internal" strife?

Indeed but I think it probably helps their national side. What I mean is most of their squad are only interested in playing for Wales so while Irish provinces are battling in Europe and battling at the top of the pro14 the Welsh players are coasting through the season waiting for the 6N to start.

Not disagreeing about the coasting thru the domestic season part, but livelihoods on line here for a lot of guys.

With this and the RFU announcement can't help but feel we're being bounced into a CVC buyout.

[neill_m]

New owners for Southern Kings.

A consortium of Eastern Cape business people has acquired a controlling interest in the Isuzu Southern Kings rugby franchise, SA Rugby was delighted to confirm on Friday.
SA Rugby sold a 74 percent shareholding in SA Super Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the Isuzu Southern Kings’ holding company, to a company called The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (Pty) Ltd (GRC). The Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) has acquired the balance of 26 percent of the shares.

[brotheroffrank]

Can't wait to see what its subsiduary "Y Cwmni Rygbi Mwyaf yn y Byd Gyfan" Ltd does in Wales!

[nirmitpatel]

Great work

[TerenureJim]

New owners for Southern Kings.

A consortium of Eastern Cape business people has acquired a controlling interest in the Isuzu Southern Kings rugby franchise, SA Rugby was delighted to confirm on Friday.
SA Rugby sold a 74 percent shareholding in SA Super Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the Isuzu Southern Kings’ holding company, to a company called The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (Pty) Ltd (GRC). The Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) has acquired the balance of 26 percent of the shares.

Why would a union want to sell off a team, not so sure private ownership has worked out so well for France and England

[ronk]

New owners for Southern Kings.

A consortium of Eastern Cape business people has acquired a controlling interest in the Isuzu Southern Kings rugby franchise, SA Rugby was delighted to confirm on Friday.
SA Rugby sold a 74 percent shareholding in SA Super Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the Isuzu Southern Kings’ holding company, to a company called The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (Pty) Ltd (GRC). The Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) has acquired the balance of 26 percent of the shares.

Why would a union want to sell off a team, not so sure private ownership has worked out so well for France and England

I don’t think national ownership would scale easily to so many teams.

Kings were being culled 2 years ago. SAR saved them but possibly weren’t interested in long term. Running provinces in different competitions is asking for internal political trouble long term.

[rooster]

We reckon The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (Pty) Ltd (GRC) must have some connection to our former failed CEO Logan since he claimed Ulster would be the best side in the world [FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY][FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY][FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY]

[neill_m]

Final on May 25th confirmed with a 6:30pm Kick Off. Same day as the Scottish Cup soccer final but the 2 Glasgow sides can't play each other in the final after the semi final draw.

Live coverage on Eir Sport, TG4 and Premier Sports.

[sunshiner1]

by neill_m

New owners for Southern Kings.

A consortium of Eastern Cape business people has acquired a controlling interest in the Isuzu Southern Kings rugby franchise, SA Rugby was delighted to confirm on Friday.
SA Rugby sold a 74 percent shareholding in SA Super Rugby (Pty) Ltd, the Isuzu Southern Kings’ holding company, to a company called The Greatest Rugby Company in the Whole Wide World (Pty) Ltd (GRC). The Eastern Province Rugby Union (EPRU) has acquired the balance of 26 percent of the shares.

If they make Kings even remotely competitive I'm happy with this

[neill_m]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/ ... -1.3822096

Next season’s Pro 14 campaign will begin four weeks later than usual and games will continue during the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

The competition will kick off on Friday, September 27th and there will be three rounds of games before a break for the weekend of the World Cup quarter-finals on October 19th and 20th. It will resume for round four on October 25th and there will also be a full round the following weekend when the World Cup final takes place in Tokyo on November 2nd.

Then there will be a further series of league games a week later before a break for two weeks when the opening two rounds of the Champions Cup takes place on the weekends starting November 15th and 22nd. Clubs have been told that a further round of the Pro 14 will take place on the final weekend in November before breaking again for the third and fourth series of European games on December 6th and 13th. The usual Christmas derby games will then be scheduled with the two remaining rounds of European pool action on the weekends starting January 10th and 17th, 2020. The Pro 14 is expected to confirm its schedule in the coming weeks, almost six months after the French and English announced their plans for the 2019-20 season.

It is believed that uncertainty over the number of South African teams participating – there were strong suggestions a year ago that two more teams were planning on joining – may have been a factor in the delay announcing the schedule. The uncertainty over the regional situation in Wales is not believed to be a factor as the WRU is committed to fielding fourth teams. The Top 14 in France will, as usual, gets under way in late August with four rounds of games planned prior to the World Cup and another four while the competition is taking place in Japan.

The Premiership in England will not commence until the weekend of the World Cup quarter-final on October 20th. The English clubs will participate in a domestic cup competition prior to the World Cup, while the Premiership final has been put back to June 20th, 2020 as they embark on an 11-month season with defined breaks in-season for players. The Top 14 final will take place on June 26th, 2020, while a date and venue for the Pro 14 final is expected to be announced in the coming weeks amid speculation in South Africa that the tournament decider could be hosted there.

[neill_m]

Josh Adams heading to Cardiff Blues next season. Good signing.

[neill_m]

Crisis, What Crisis? Welsh regions remaining unchanged for next season.