I really do think Welsh rugby is ****ed for the next 3-5 years. I think we have to move towards a fully WRU owned model with fewer regions, but it's going to take huge amounts of pain to get there.
I read a good article at the weekend comparing the Welsh hybrid model to the Irish one....Will try to find it.
Does Wales have the same problem Scotland does, ie, the only place that could really be described as a 'rugby stronghold' has no one living there?
There's between 2.4 and 4.2 million people living in the Central Belt (depending on which definition you use) so it makes sense to put the teams there. Saying that, the fact that a Glasgow Edinburgh derby struggles to attract 25,000 fans tells you all you need to know about the popularity of rugby amongst those 2-4 million.
Even though The Borders only has 115,000 living there you would get far higher attendances as a percentage of the population, if it wasn't for the fact you couldn't set up a pro side based in the borders without pissing off the inhabitants of the 10 other towns where that side wasn't based.
The traditional strongest clubs were where the population is most concentrated....all along the coastal plain with Llanelli, Swansea, Neath, Bridgend, Cardiff, Newport plus the big valleys clubs - Pontypool etc.
I think any of the regions would give their right arms for an attendance of 25,000. I went to Ospreys/scarlets on boxing day (so local derby)..attendance was 11,500. 2 weeks later for Ospreys/Montpellier it was less then 2000.
I questioned a statement on here a couple of weeks ago about football being the national sport of Wales...I still think if asked any of my friends what the national sport of Wales was, they'd say rugby. But the regions have never attracted the same loyalty, and the worse they get (if they can't afford to get/keep good players), then even less people will go and support them.
England appear to have dropped Smith and replaced with Ford. Not clear if it's an injury or a specific reason, but given Farrell's less than convincing performance on Saturday, that seems quite a surprise decision.
Doesn’t surprise me with Ford coming back in. Borthwick looks like may have decided Smith/Farrell doesn’t work and that Lawrence/Slade looks good. Can’t get rid of Farrell straight away because he is captain but Smith not ready to run the show yet. Ford sits between the two and probably would be best suited to Englands style of play and actually inject some life into the back line.
I think Ford is a talented fly half and historically we've seen Ford and Farrell play together (age group and seniors). However Ford is only just coming back from injury so can he step up to the level to play against Frane and Ireland? Also, given that Farrell is captain that suggests one of Slade or Lawrence wouldn't play if Ford is picked. Or Ford is simply back up and Farrell will play 79 mins anyway...
Capuozzo out for rest of six nations. Great shame, most exciting player to watch since Shane. I was quite looking forward to watching us aimlessly boot the ball to him and seeing him run rings around us in return.
Increases our chances of winning by quite a lot, but I am still not confident.
They'll drop Lawrence which is daft, if keeping Farrell, faz can't control the 13 channel well enough and his suspect tackles would get a card.
Some great matches this 6N... and also some Welsh games 🙁 It is great to see the majority of sides having the ability and desire to play in a way which entertains.
Anyway, apologies if this has already been discussed, but can someone explain why the tap and go within the forwards seems to have come back in to fashion? For the last 10-15 years I don't recall the option used much. In the near past a team would call for a scrum or kick to the corner. Still options of course but there seems to be a lot more tap penalties. Has anything changed to make a tap an go close to the opponents line more attractive. Maybe my perception is wrong but it does seem to be a more used option and it makes sense IMO. Maybe it is just that forwards now have decent enough handling skills to manage to nudge the ball forward with their feet and not then fumble it spectacularly as they try to pick it up 😀
The refs allow latching before contact, sealing off and taking out defenders way past the ruck
latching before contact,
Is legal isn't it?
(I was on an rfu course a while back where they demoed drills to train for this, would be hella funny if it was illegal)
Edit - we were told one latcher was legal only - it seems that is the case?
Is legal isn’t it?
(I was on an rfu course a while back where they demoed drills to train for this, would be hella funny if it was illegal)
**** knows, it's hard to tell these days. I was horrified to see it happening in an u12's game my son was playing in last week. Opposition were doing it. I was going to step in if they tried it again and tell the ref what I thought of his attitude to safety
Some more on Welsh rugby's death spiral.
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugby/rugby-news/welsh-region-admit-dont-enough-26356758
Cardiff's budget is set to drop from £7.8million to £5.2m next season, then down to £4.5m the following year
Meanwhile they have to pay the 80% of Team Wales contracted players the the WRU was supposed to pay.
Jarrod Evans next to leave, going to Quims.
The refs allow latching before contact, sealing off and taking out defenders way past the ruck
I asked what was new 😉 But yes I guess you are right. The latch law is one I missed too.
edit rongwread
I heard something abou tthis a few weeks ago, but kind of dismissed it as I don;t really understand how or why it happen...
Ealing potential merger with Ospreys, as they can;t be promoted because of ground size!!
From what I gather it's more Ealing taking over Ospreys and playing in URC, rather than O's moving to Ealing.
Where are they going to play, Swindon?
I'm sure all this bollocks is really going to help Wales give their best this weekend...first time I have ever expected Wales to lose to Italy
Taulupe Faletau: Welsh financial plight is making it hard for players to ‘give their all’
Wales No 8 was speaking after Cardiff team-mate revealed he cannot feed family on contract he has been offered
Steve James
The Wales No 8 Taulupe Faletau has admitted that the financial crisis in Welsh rugby makes it difficult “to give your all” for some players.
The Wales squad threatened to strike for the Six Nations match against England but, though that was averted by the Welsh Rugby Union agreeing to some of their demands — most notably in reducing the number of caps required to be able to play outside Wales while still representing the national team from 60 to 25 — no financial deal has been signed between the four regions and the WRU. This means that many players are still uncertain about their futures, as the regions attempt to deal with reduced budgets.
Faletau’s Cardiff colleague, the centre Willis Halaholo, last week posted an emotional statement on social media, revealing that the new contract he had been offered may not be enough to feed his family.
Asked about Halaholo’s plight, Faletau, 32, said: “It’s gutting, really, and I’m gutted for him. I don’t know what else to say about that. It’s just unfortunate and the situation we are all in at the moment is not great for anyone involved.
“You are always going to try to put your best foot forward but when things aren’t going well off the pitch it’s hard to give your all then. I don’t understand because I’m not quite in it, but I guess it’s just a tough time to give your all, I suppose.”
Cardiff, in particular, are in real trouble because they signed high earners such as Faletau, Liam Williams and Josh Adams on the understanding that the WRU would pay 80 per cent of their wages, but that will stop next season, with the regions being asked to pay full salaries for all internationals.
As a result, some players at Cardiff are being offered as little as £30,000 a year, with — as it stands — only £400,000 left in the club’s budget to pay for 15 players next season. Some of those players earn six-figure salaries at present.
Halaholo, who has suffered an achilles injury and is likely to be out for a year, with his Cardiff contract running out this summer, said: “I can’t accept an offer that can’t even feed my family on a month-to-month basis. Regrets are running through my mind as I turned [down] offers to go abroad back in October in the hope of still representing both jerseys [Cardiff and Wales, for whom he has won ten caps]. But now I’m hating myself because of this situation we are in.”
The starkness of the situation has been confirmed by the Times columnist and former Wales captain Sam Warburton, who said on The Ruck podcast: “I was chatting to my brother, who is a physio at Cardiff. Lads are considering getting a job as a tradie, and then playing as a semi-professional, so they can top up those salaries by £15k, and they will be earning more money than being a professional rugby player. It’s because they’ve got families to look after, it’s not because they are throwing their toys out of the pram.”
An exodus is feared, with Cardiff already resigned to losing Jarrod Evans, the fly half, to Harlequins, and rumours circulating that Williams, Adams and others could move to release money for their less-established regional colleagues, although that would require WRU approval first. Faletau, however, is not out of contract and apparently does not intend to move, with no such conversations having taken place.
“To be honest I haven’t really asked the question,” he said. “I know that the boys who are coming out of contract, it’s affecting them, but nobody has told me personally that it affects me. I don’t know if I want to find out either!”
Where are they going to play, Swindon?
I expect England RU would not allow allow a URC team to play in England so would imagine the Neath Trailfinding Swanfxxxxxs would play in Swansea
I expect England RU would not allow allow a URC team to play in England so would imagine the Neath Trailfinding Swanfxxxxxs would play in Swansea
I think they should merge and then play their games in Aberdeen.
SRU wouldn't give a **** 🙂
I’m surprised it hasn’t been mention but…
England team to face France, same as previous yet Smith starts and Farrell to the bench. Genge Captains.
Not sure what to make of it, attacking mindset?
Genge should be captain. Should not have given Farrell the captaincy at the start. Genge was a great captain at Leicester.
We need to see Smith with proper centres. Then again maybe Borthwick is setting him as a scapegoat before bringing Ford back in for the WC....
I think giving Smith the confidence of a start may work wonders for him, and as others have said before, a wounded Farrell is a motivated Farrell so it might do him some good too.
Meanwhile, seeing the rest of the discussion about Wales up there, again, you have my sympathies, this looks like a major balls up.
At least Italy don't have Capuozzo this week..
Really looking forward to weekend, three games that may not be 50:50 but you can at least make a strong case for either outcome. Scotland really worrying me but part of me thinks a narrow loss Sunday with a bonus point (or 2) and hopefully clinch the Championship at home to England might prepare us better for the world cup than a grand slam.
Ireland under 20s looked good tonight.
Predictions as per DD rules?
Margin plus who gets bonus point?
Italy (losers and try 2bp) vs Wales (try 1bp) Wales win by 5 - 10
England (0) vs France (0) France by 1-5
Scotland (0) - Ireland (try1 bp) Ireland by 10-20
England (0) vs France (0) France by 1-5
The U20's lost 7-42 last night, and on that basis I'm assuming your scoreline means number of tries rather than points and I'm in full agreement. 😀
We are gonna get smashed Kryters, start drinking now.
This will be tense!!
Well that was lucky..
That bounce was insane.
I hadn't realised that Josh Adams was playing til just now. He seems to be really off his game at the moment.
Rhys Webb being picked was disappointing for me, but he is bossing this well.
Wales doing really well.
He seems to be really off his game at the moment.
Along with about 35 other Welsh players. Adams just needs to be given the ball once or twice
Yay, no wooden spoon. I'm off to walk the dog!
I think the score was rather flattering to Wales, but a win's a win.
Italy feeling the stress of expectation going into that I think.
Welsh experience did the job there.
Lots them have won plenty of big games. and lost a few. So they know how to keep their heads.
Italy didn't get the bounce of the ball. One or two decisions seemed strange. Ref probably needs more experience.
Nice try
Well it’s Amateur hour in Englandshire. This’ll be two weeks of difficult viewing.
Any chance the professional England team will turn up at some point??
Genge's petted lip is showing.
He'll need to control himself.
