General Rugby Discussion II

Quin_Dub

Loads of Argentinians looking for teams in Europe so..

hahashake

Argentinians will be the biggest losers. Though has to be said that their international results didn't dramatically improve with the Jaguares.

Eod100

Eod100 wrote: »

Champions Cup fixtures out

https://twitter.com/ChampionsCup/status/1283749075515576322/photo/1

Is the only way for Saracens to get into next year's Champions Cup is to win the whole thing?

Quin_Dub

Deleted User wrote: »

Is the only way for Saracens to get into next year's Champions Cup is to win the whole thing?

As I understand it , even then it won't matter

They can't qualify as they will not be competing in one of the "member leagues"

Only teams from the Premiership , Top14 and Pro14 can enter the competition.

They won't be in any of those leagues and so are barred , even if they were the holders.

Paul Smeenus

Quin_Dub wrote: »

As I understand it , even then it won't matter

They can't qualify as they will not be competing in one of the "member leagues"

Only teams from the Premiership , Top14 and Pro14 can enter the competition.

They won't be in any of those leagues and so are barred , even if they were the holders.

I think this is right - the English Championship league is not a "feeder" league, so they're simply not eligible.

Yeah_Right

thomond2006 wrote: »

NZ Rugby have confirmed they are working towards a 8-10 team competition containing Australian teams along with a possible Pacific side.

Back to the good old days of the South Pacific Championship. Next step is to get rid of the SR franchises in NZ and go back to the NPC provinces qualifying for it based on their performance in the previous year's NPC. Let's go North Harbour!!! Syd, you'll have to pick between Otago and Southland.

I actually wonder if 1 of the Pacific teams will be based in Hawaii. I was reading an article about a group of former ABs setting up a team in Hawaii that has accepted into MLR next year. In the article they mentioned the possibility of joining SR as well.

CatFromHue

How is that going to work financially?

My understanding that SA TV rights made up most of the income for the Super comp.

molloyjh

awec wrote: »

It's not massively surprising. I think the time zone thing makes it difficult for the competition to get good tv viewer numbers.

Definitely, but the size of the market in the Pacific countries would be pretty small too I'd imagine. My (albeit VERY limited) understanding was that the SA money was what was keeping things afloat down there.

Bazzo

If they can actually successfully get the Australian public on board there's tonnes of money to be made. But that would likely take years of clawing back what they've lost over the last couple of decades, not to mention they've been failing miserably at doing just that. So it's hard to see where the cash will be coming from.

Sheep Shagger

iRFU renew kit deal with Canterbury and like Munster and Leinster, have given sole distribution rights of the gear to a single retailer, in this case Elverys.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2020/07/20/canterbury-renews-irish-rugby-football-union-partnership-until-2024/

salmocab

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

iRFU renew kit deal with Canterbury and like Munster and Leinster, have given sole distribution rights of the gear to a single retailer, in this case Elverys.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2020/07/20/canterbury-renews-irish-rugby-football-union-partnership-until-2024/

This sole distribution thing is a right pain.

Sheep Shagger

salmocab wrote: »

This sole distribution thing is a right pain.

Yep, not good for supporters.

thomond2006

Ben Betts has retired: https://www.drfc.co.uk/ben-betts-released-from-knights-contract/

thomond2006

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ben Betts has retired: https://www.drfc.co.uk/ben-betts-released-from-knights-contract/

And that brings to an end one of the more ridiculous chapters on boards.ie rugby!

Buer

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ben Betts has retired: https://www.drfc.co.uk/ben-betts-released-from-knights-contract/

Surely this will put to bed the rumours about joining Leicester?

thomond2006

Buer wrote: »

Surely this will put to bed the rumours about joining Leicester?

I never heard that one.

blackwhite

thomond2006 wrote: »

Ben Betts has retired: https://www.drfc.co.uk/ben-betts-released-from-knights-contract/

The cynic in me wonders what AIL club he's joining.

The Lost Sheep

blackwhite wrote: »

The cynic in me wonders what AIL club he's joining.

back to the cookies I guess.

sydthebeat

Leicester move quickly to sign some backs to cover those that they have lost


Fijian center kini Murimurivalu is joining from La rochelle and south african wing Kobus van wyk is joining from hurricanes

salmocab

[Deleted User] wrote: »

And that brings to an end one of the more ridiculous chapters on boards.ie rugby!

If you think ‘Ben Betts is off to a retirement home’ isn’t about to be a thing your very wrong.

molloyjh

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

Yep, not good for supporters.

At least with Elveries you can be sure of stock in-store. Lifestyle is incredibly hit and miss in that regard. I've always found Elveries far better.

CatFromHue

Anyone listen to Off The Ball last night?

They'd Shane Jennings on talking about his career. It was a good listen.

There was a pretty funny bit when he was talking about going to Leicester and they were showing him clips of what they'd liked about him. Only problem was one of the clips was Niall Ronan scoring a try and not him :pac:

Exclamation Marc

molloyjh wrote: »

At least with Elveries you can be sure of stock in-store. Lifestyle is incredibly hit and miss in that regard. I've always found Elveries far better.

Lifestyle are awful for stock. I remember last year around January looking for a jersey in XL (but would have settled for a baggy XXL) and there was only one XL and no XXL across all of their Dublin stores. It was farcical from the "official supplier".

Buer

CatFromHue wrote: »

Anyone listen to Off The Ball last night?

They'd Shane Jennings on talking about his career. It was a good listen.

There was a pretty funny bit when he was talking about going to Leicester and they were showing him clips of what they'd liked about him. Only problem was one of the clips was Niall Ronan scoring a try and not him :pac:

That's my podcast sorted for this evening's walk. Big fan of Jennings. Was never the best player in the country but incredibly tough and was a very shrewd player for someone that was never the most physically gifted.

Also he was an utter pain in the arse of the other provinces when he played them which was always a bonus. He appeared to save his best work for the interpros.

Cookiemunster

Exclamation Marc wrote: »

Lifestyle are awful for stock. I remember last year around January looking for a jersey in XL (but would have settled for a baggy XXL) and there was only one XL and no XXL across all of their Dublin stores. It was farcical from the "official supplier".

If your talking about a Leinster jersey, then it's Adidas fault not Lifestyle. They make one run of the kits and that's it. When they're gone, they're gone.

Sheep Shagger

molloyjh wrote: »

At least with Elveries you can be sure of stock in-store. Lifestyle is incredibly hit and miss in that regard. I've always found Elveries far better.

Agreed but Elverys pricing is steep (compared to other Irish sellers of IRFU gear). No competition normally isn't good.

Sheep Shagger

Cookiemunster wrote: »

If your talking about a Leinster jersey, then it's Adidas fault not Lifestyle. They make one run of the kits and that's it. When they're gone, they're gone.

Adidas will produce what LSS order quantity wise. Like all retailers they have to guess the anticipated demand. It's a balancing act between selling out early and having to heavily discount stock to clear.

One of the things I miss os CCC used to have gear throughout the season, now with Adidas it all comes out at once so if you want something you have to buy straight away as when its gone it is gone.

PMC83

Sheep Shagger wrote: »

iRFU renew kit deal with Canterbury and like Munster and Leinster, have given sole distribution rights of the gear to a single retailer, in this case Elverys.

https://www.irishrugby.ie/2020/07/20/canterbury-renews-irish-rugby-football-union-partnership-until-2024/

Incredibly harsh on any independent sports retailers. A local one by me in rathfarnham would always have Leintser and Ireland Jerseys in the window, presumably decent money spinners. Then it was just Ireland jerseys after teh Adidas deal, now it wont be any!

thomond2006

https://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/53517744
https://thestormers.com/dhl-stormers-set-to-face-saracens-in-london/

The DHL Stormers and Saracens have announced their intention to play a high-profile game which would see the two teams face each other at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2021.

Saracens, the DHL Stormers, Tottenham Hotspur and the Rugby Football Union are currently working closely together with other stakeholders to confirm the details in line with evolving COVID-19 safety protocols.

The match could provide an exciting head-to-head which would reunite a number of Springbok and England finalists from the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final in Japan.

I'm very intrigued to see how big a crowd this could draw and how this fits into a possible Pro16 calendar.

Stormers coach John Dobson added: "Saracens are one of the top club teams in the world and renowned for their innovation and forward-thinking on and off the pitch, which this match is another good example of.

The Lost Sheep

The first rugby game to be played in the Aviva was this day 10 years ago.
it was Leinster/Ulster u20s v Munster/Connacht which Leinster/Ulster won 68-0. Teams are below if people wanted a reminder....

Leinster/Ulster team
15. Sam Coghlan Murray (Leinster)
14. Craig Gilroy (Ulster)
13. Alex Kelly (Leinster)
12. Luke Marshall (Ulster) Captain
11. Andrew Boyle (Leinster)
10. Paddy Jackson (Ulster)
9. Peter du Toit (Leinster)
1. James Tracy (Leinster)
2. Jonny Murphy (Ulster)
3. Martin Moore (Leinster)
4. Iain Henderson (Ulster)
5. Robert Hynes (Leinster)
6. Steven Lecky (Ulster)
7. Mark McGroarty (Leinster)
8. David McGuigan (Ulster)
Replacements
16. Paddy Carroll (Leinster)
17. Andy Warrick (Ulster)
18. Mark Fallon (Leinster)
19. Paddy Marks (Ulster)
20. Conor Spence (Ulster)
21. Cathal Marsh (Leinster)
22. Michael McAuley (Ulster)

Connacht/Munster
15. Callum Boland (Connacht)
14. Tadhg Leader (Connacht)
13. Daniel Horgan (Munster)
12. Ben Sargent (Munster)
11. Shane Leydon (Connacht)
10. Johnny Holland (Munster)
9. Mark Dolan (Connacht) Captain
1. Aaron Spring (Connacht)
2. Kieran Stokes (Munster)
3. Paul Mullen (Munster)
4. Rob O’Herlihy (Munster)
5. David O’Mahony (Munster)
6. Shane Buckley (Munster)
7. Aaron Conneely (Connacht
8. Danny Qualter (Connacht)
Replacements
16. James Rael (Munster)
17. Sean Wooton (Connacht)
18. Ian Mullarkey (Munster)
19. David Heffernan (Connacht)
20. Ronan Barry (Munster)
21. Gareth Quinn-McDonogh (Munster)
22. Jack Costigan (Munster)
23. Cathal Quinn (Munster)