super clubs and Anglo Welsh Cup
Another appaulling show by our so called Professional (Regions), wont be long before RFUpull the plug on this competition as well . Another feather in the cap for our glorious WRU. Gareth Davies is said to be so proud of this achievement that all 4 teams squads are so strong that they prop up the rest of the teams in their relevent pools.
Comments
I feel sorry for the youngsters exposed to competitions including the BIC where they are getting stuffed on a regular basis. Surely this is not good for development or player pathway.
Here lies the rub, because they are so poor the argument from the regions is that they need more money (from the premiership table) to compete. In any other world you wouldn’t keep spending good money after bad. The 100k that Ponty receives from the WRU produces an exceptional return on investment whereas each region receives 40 times as much and churns out excuse after excuse. Unfortunately for us, yet again, it’s only the premiership under review. As the regions now hold significant power at the WRU (on every board) they’ve become untouchable. Remember that PWC report into the regions that’s been swept under the carpet.
Each of the mismatch failures will imo play into the hands of the misguided Regional A concept.
COTP
Agree with all that. Didn’t the PWC report into the regions say they were unviable going forward? And here they still are bleeding welsh rugby dry.
Yes. Spot on. Hence the money grab.
It doesn't help when Pooler's chairman is singing the praises of these plastic A teams by saying it's the way forward. His comment yesterday about the Premiership clubs basically being too cosy and having it their own way for far too long, made me laugh. If Pooler were in the Premiership, you can bet your last pound that he would be keeping his gob shut. We all know the region's, sorry superclubs are not viable, they never will be. These plastic A teams will be full of academy players anyway, and who funds them, the wruin. So what are they planning to do with the extra 1.7million from the Premiership? I know, if we pay the academy players more, they will become better lol. Let them carry on, Welsh rugby is practically on it's last legs anyway, and let's face it these discussions will still be taking place in 5, 10, 20, 50 years time, but who are they going to blame then? They certainly won't be able to blame the Premiership because we will be amateur. They will not admit they cocked it up 14 years ago, and they're about to do it again. Educated people my arse.
I agree the money argument really winds me up, have a strategic plan to better train coaches at all levels, it is not the premierships fault that players are becoming gym monkeys at an early stage with skills coming second. I've said it before you can make an instinctive footballer a better physical animal but you cannot make a power lifter an instinctive player, That said the Superclub academies seem to do a sterling job of actually coaching out flair in return for bench presses. I doubt NZ do it this way around!
What the wru need to do is not allow the regions to dictate how they spend their 4 million a season. There are a lot of old heads, foreign players and has beens in the blues squad who are paid very good money. They won't play for Wales.
Agree what a hypocrite, he's only whining because he can't get into the Premiership. Let's be honest the Premiership is the bread and butter of Welsh rugby and players with ambition want to test themselves in this cauldron not as bottom dwellers in an A team league which has the appeal of a barbed wire sandwich!
He is best ignored he works to his own agenda, and if Pooler were in the Premiership he wouldn’t say a word. Yes Pooler are having another fantastic season and have a great team at the moment, but remember he is paying stupid level wages in the Championship so it’s a similar situation to Merthyr and RGC where because of funding they can buy a squad to secure titles.
Just my view, if you look down the road, our PLASTIC SO CALLED REGION! has a foreign player at 8 for example, a very fine player coming to the end of his career, and at Merthyr they have a Welsh boy also an outstanding player in Phil Rees, no wonder Welsh Rugby is a mess.
It’s a great point, the Blues have largely signed foreign journeymen, none of whom can qualify for Wales as they have already been capped, and most of which are decent but not outstanding players at the top of their game or in their prime. Nick Williams had four seasons at Ulster at the top of his game when he was in his late 20’s, he was 33 when the Blues signed him and you have to question why Ulster let him go if he was still at the top of his game. Surely there are talented young Welsh number 8’s who would offer a better long term solution