Leinster Team Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread XII (The Byrne Supremacy)

Blaming the EPCR for the crappy tv service is probably justified in some ways, but I'd like to see some proper joined up thinking from World Rugby around 21st century TV rights. The old days of giving the subscription to Sky or BT or having them on FTA is killing the game. If they could set up a rugby pass style service, similar to URC TV, but inclusive of all club and international rugby north and south of the equator this would be a really attractive proposition to millions of rugby fans.

They could then sell domestic packages to allow each country to show matches involving their home teams on FTA tv, this would grow the game globally, attract a bigger audience, and hopefully build subscriptions to the online subscription service.

Stick up the weekly highlights onto free video streaming platforms like Youtube where people can subscribe to the weekly highlights in a professionally produced show that breaks down all the results and talkingpoints across the major tournaments.

Bigger tournaments like the 6 Nations or the Rugby Chanpionship could be on a higher tier, or also sold as individual PPV games so if I only want to see NZ vs Australia, I pay them a fiver, or a tenner for a weekend pass etc.

EPCR went chasing short term TV money at the expense of long term growth. People are cancelling their satellite and cable subscriptions all over the shop, there's no need to go through these 3rd parties anymore.

There are millions of people who really want to watch these matches and are willing to pay a fair price but cannot access them easily in a legal service so they end up going to illegal streaming sites and get a crappy experience and end up not bothering to follow these sporting leagues

There are a number of weak links in the revenue stream now, chief among them being gate receipts and TV revenue from games that may not exist.

I'd much rather see the whole thing mothballed and furloughed for the remainder of this season than risk the bankruptcy of the structures which underpin the competition. I really think it has to be called off now to protect it for future years.

As for the Clubs, Leinster really are royalty in the sense that years of success have given us a hefty financial backstop. The same can't be said for all of the 30 odd Clubs that can expect to play in Europe in any given year. We can't ask them to burden more costs without any reward.

It may come down to average sized Clubs temporarily laying off some players and staff, leaving just enough to fulfill their domestic competitions. But better that than bankruptcy and a serious threat to professional Club rugby in Europe.

Cancel the Champions Cup, so as to protect it in future years?

What?

I'd like to say toys out of the pram, but this is more like toys out of the pram and then setting the pram on fire.

I can't believe you're serious about this.

Cancelling the CC means refunding millions of euro of TV money back to the broadcasters, it means zero prospect of any future gate receipts and probably large rebates to sponsors too.

You are winding us up, right?

Absolutely not.

Cancelling it means sitting down with all stakeholders and making sure everyone lives to fight another day, another season.

Answer me this Former, how would you characterise the condition of the competition right now? The state of it? Will you stand over playing it out any which way at all, with continuous rejigging and truncating and arbitrary treatment of Clubs? Tell me how much can the word Sport be stretched until its completely gone out of it?

What is the point in responding to someone who has no idea what they are talking about and isn't interested in trying to understand.

So what's your take on the state of play Einstein?

The RTÉ sport weekly rugby podcast was posted about an hour ago.

Maybe some of the posters here ought to take a listen to it from about time index 26:00 onwards, to challenge some of the confirmation bias.

If you aren't interested in what I have to say, maybe it'll sound more palatable from those analysts and writers.

I'm done with the topic anyway for now, let the dice fall as they may for the remainder of the season and the future of the competition. If it does disappear, it will be in no small part down to the lack of any passion among the grassroots support, to save it.

Shot in the dark here, and I can't remember if I've asked this before, but would anyone have a copy of Leinster semi-final and final games in 2013 from the Challenge Cup? So, against Biarritz and Stade Francais. My usual place doesn't have it anymore and nobody has any reseeds. Figure one of you has to have it somewhere. I used to have it on an old HD which failed.

[Got sorted on this, huge thank you to the poster in question!]

The Toulon comparison is bogus.

On the first weekend of April last, case numbers in both Ireland and France were relatively low and public health measures were keeping a lid on them pending the increase in vaccination rollout.

When Toulon got canned for one positive case, that was the rule everyone signed up to and it would have been dangerous to do otherwise. And for the record, I'd have rather seen the match played in all circumstances.

What has happened to Leinster is that all sorts of teams have had multiple positive cases, but are being treated differently at the whim of an organiser disregarding their own rules as they go along and using external factors as an excuse.

All those recent games called off should be 28-0 per the rules or they should all be 0-0 with points for the draw awarded accordingly, not one and also the other.

I must have missed the memo about it becoming uncool to want to back your own team against a bunch of pencil pushers in thrall to the private owners in France and England. What a pity.

Please, please, please for the love of god, stop engaging with this BS. This isn’t a discussion or a debate based on facts. It’s like talking with an anti vaxer. No matter what you say, nothing will change his opinion. Leave him to it and move on. Hopefully we still have a game this week. Remember those?

Indeed, yes. I have the tracker from those threads, but nothing moving I'm afraid.