London Irish in Trouble?

[jimKRFC]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/nextgenxv. ... 2/%3famp=1

I mean Bristol aren't that hard up looking at that table. Clifton is definitely one of theirs does Millfield fall into their catchment area? If so two of the top three.

Bristol, from that list, only have 1 school in the top 100 - Clifton College. The other school they use a lot is Filton (didn't see it in the list).
Bath have (I think) - Millfield, Kingswood, Dauntsy, and Marlborough.

Makes Bristol winning the u18s last season look like a really good achievement!

As for the funding of RFU ran academies with a draft (at 18) my approach would be to take the total cost from the clubs figures . Then use a share of this as the "fee" to buy into the draft. The cost can then be split evenly between the clubs. You could then also allow Championship clubs to buy into the draft (if they can afford it), or perhaps buy single daft picks, so they can get good young players. Allow trading of draft picks etc..

[Puja]

Really interesting article. Bristol will always be at a disadvantage given the size of their catchment area.

This i just dont get - “If I wanted to bring a young player through, and invest 2-3 years in him. To do that I might have to pay him 20k but I have to pay Harlequins, who have done nothing at that stage - okay, he might have come through their academy - I’ve got to give them 30k; that 50k that I’ve paid goes into the salary cap. So why would I bother doing that?

If a player is deemed surplus to requirements at one club and wants to try his hand at another, then surely he should be able to do so without cost to his new club?

Define "surplus to requirements" though. I suspect Lam isn't talking about players who have been outright released, but someone who might be second/third choice in their position in their academy year at Quins, but could be first choice at Bristol.

Puj

Let the player decide if he wants to move to another club. But dont penalise the new club and make such an offer an unrealistic burden.

Then you get into the territory of clubs competing for young talent and poaching from each other. Don't know that's a better solution, as it puts an awful lot of pressure on young players being barracked and pitched at by various academy managers. There is something to be said for ringfencing youngsters and protecting then from all that.

Puja

[Gloskarlos]

Lam's comments on the academy system - https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/rug ... nd-8294921

Didn't realise that Quin's/London based sides had so many of the best schools in their catchment compared to Bristol/Bath/Exe.

Think a draft system would be a good idea myself & am sure it could be monetised some way!

The issue with that idea, is where on earth you would draft from?

It works in US sports as pro sport is fed from universities that are unaffiliated with the pro teams.

In English rugby, the league is primarily fed by the club RFU affiliated academies. There would be very little incentive for them to put resources into it if the best players produced went into a draft, rather than were retained by the club. You'd have to have the RFU taking on all the cost and running the 14 academies, which I don't think there would be an appetite for.

Lams certainly got a point about some catchment areas being juicier than others and the example of having to pay a development fee (and have it taken out of the salary cap) for prospects that may actually not be required by their parent club.

I suppose the answer would be to take the academies completely away from clubs, have them entirely RFU-controlled, and then draft from there? Or auction from there, if the RFU wanted to recoup the development costs?

I don't know whether that's the right answer - I know I like the current system for Leicester, but then we've got a chunk of East Anglia and the East midlands to draw from right now. It's got to be harder for Bath and Bristol who are barely 13 miles apart and are hemmed in on both sides by Glaws and Exeter.

Puja

You've also got the Worcester academy on those borders, currently funded separately by the RFU but for how long? and what happens to the Wasps academy one border further North. The academy structure is a bit of a mess all round.

[Mellsblue]

[francoisfou]

Millfield does fall into Bath's catchment area.

Bristol do have Filton College along with Clifton.

Colston’s also for Bristol? Tigers from Oakham and Uppingham, maybe Rugby too ?

[rjjb]

Daily Fail now suggesting new ownership is imminent!

[fivepointer]

[Margin_Walker]

Latest Mail article is pretty positive. Suggests the buyers have transferred money to meet payroll, which (if true) only tends to happen if its going to be a formality.



Hopefully it gets over the line.

[FKAS]

Millfield does fall into Bath's catchment area.

Bristol do have Filton College along with Clifton.

Colston’s also for Bristol? Tigers from Oakham and Uppingham, maybe Rugby too ?

I think Rugby is in the Wasps catchment area. Tigers gets Gresham though.

[jimKRFC]

Millfield does fall into Bath's catchment area.

Bristol do have Filton College along with Clifton.

Colston’s also for Bristol? Tigers from Oakham and Uppingham, maybe Rugby too ?

Colstons is now Collegiate school - name change threw me!

To be honest I don't think they provide many/any players now. Certainly not the force they used to be.

[francoisfou]

Millfield does fall into Bath's catchment area.

Bristol do have Filton College along with Clifton.

Colston’s also for Bristol? Tigers from Oakham and Uppingham, maybe Rugby too ?

Colstons is now Collegiate school - name change threw me!

To be honest I don't think they provide many/any players now. Certainly not the force they used to be.

Hmm. I always believed Colston's to be/have been one of the West Country's top rugby schools.
Here's an impressive list of former students, from Wiki:

Callum Braley
Jake Polledri
Olly Barkley,
Jordan Crane,
Shane Geraghty,
Lee Mears
Alan Morley MBE, (holder of world record for tries scored in first class rugby union and current board member at the Bristol Bears)
Tom Varndell,

And one who the school may rather wish to forget:
Andrew Ibrahim, convicted terrorist known as 'The Boarding School Bomber!

[stepsider]

Latest Mail article is pretty positive. Suggests the buyers have transferred money to meet payroll, which (if true) only tends to happen if its going to be a formality.



Hopefully it gets over the line.

And hopefully the "American fund" hasn't much exposure to second-tier US banks. If so, it won't want to take on any more insolvent enterprises.

[Mikey Brown]

And one who the school may rather wish to forget:
Andrew Ibrahim, convicted terrorist known as 'The Boarding School Bomber!

I bet he played for Saracens, didn't he.