RugbyRebels

The rugby paper is reporting that relegation has been scrapped this season. Makes sense given the impact of Covid but no mention of if promotion is scrapped as well.

Anyone actually got the paper to read the full article?

Since the idea had been mentioned I'd wondered what impact this would have on England with series spending a second year in the championship. More and extended loans I guess.

Ring fenced but with promotion for the 13th team.

I am vehemently against any precedent for ringfencing - but - this season is a complete mess, and at the end of the season, the table won't actually reflect the comparative abilities of the teams involved, there have already been too many cancelled matches to allow for that.

Tigersman wrote:Ring fenced but with promotion for the 13th team.

Now that, I hate - odd numbers in a league structure simply don't work, as rest weekends cannot work out fairly.

If it must be, then a temporary increase to 14 (or preferably, use this opportunity to shrink the league rather than grow it)

Shrink the league and scrap relegation? So we're just picking a club to be executed at random? As ever I'm 50/50 on whether that club should be Bath or Leicester, just for the fun of it.

i think abandoning relegation for this one season only is a good call. Keep it at 12 teams.

No relegation makes perfect sense to me.

The tricky question is whether to allow promotion for the Championship winners. I guess that depends on what kind of competition is played out in the coming months and how many games are completed.

I'm a long term advocate of ring fencing, so if this leads to that happening i wont be disappointed.

I don't necessarily buy the "no relegation leads to better rugby" argument, and ring fencing is often accompanied by dreadful conference systems that diminish the offer further

Times reporting the favourite plan is for a 13 team Prem next season with the possibility of that becoming 14 the following year.

A 14 team league either massively increases or massively decreases the chance of the abhorrence that is a British, Irish and South African Super League

The guardian is reporting that PRL are thinking of a two suspension of relegation, with promotion this season for 13 team league for next, then a play off between top/bottom after that (as was used years ago). I think we're seeing the leaking being used to test public opinion of what to do next...

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/ ... -expansion

being barred from the pointless Euro cup will be a devastating blow for someone

Digby wrote:being barred from the pointless Euro cup will be a devastating blow for someone

My thoughts exactly - whoop de doo, Gloucester are going to get extra rest weekends next season, what a crushing blow.

Puja

Supposedly, BT have given the two fingers to no relegation.......unless suitably compensated for broadcasting a bunch of meaningless games.

Mellsblue wrote:Supposedly, BT have given the two fingers to no relegation.......unless suitably compensated for broadcasting a bunch of meaningless games.

Rectums at Bath, Worcester and Gloucester becoming more tense by the second.

Puja

Mellsblue wrote:Supposedly, BT have given the two fingers to no relegation.......unless suitably compensated for broadcasting a bunch of meaningless games.

It's not often we have a chance to wholeheartedly praise broadcasters, but YES!

Or just scrap relegation and leave Sarries in the Champ. I'd be happy with that.

Or, as the champ hasn't had a fixture list, it's not really fair to promote one team over the others, so go without promotion this season.

Puja wrote:Rectums at Bath, Worcester and Gloucester becoming more tense by the second.

I'd rather Bath were relegated than ring-fencing introduced.
Actually, I suspect that relegation would be good for Bath right now* - we need a good kick up the complacency.


*Assuming we'd be able to bounce back up

Stom wrote:It's not often we have a chance to wholeheartedly praise broadcasters, but YES!

Or just scrap relegation and leave Sarries in the Champ. I'd be happy with that.

Or, as the champ hasn't had a fixture list, it's not really fair to promote one team over the others, so go without promotion this season.

Hear hear!

I think if Glos or Wuss go down that could be the end of those clubs. Parachute payment would not be enough to keep them sustainable. Bath have more owner means to ride that out. It’s a tricky situation, I don’t want to see relegation scrapped, but given this years affect on clubs finances relegation holds far more weight than it ever did before.

Stom wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:Supposedly, BT have given the two fingers to no relegation.......unless suitably compensated for broadcasting a bunch of meaningless games.

It's not often we have a chance to wholeheartedly praise broadcasters, but YES!

Or just scrap relegation and leave Sarries in the Champ. I'd be happy with that.

Or, as the champ hasn't had a fixture list, it's not really fair to promote one team over the others, so go without promotion this season.

Actually, I've a better thought

Relegation stays; Ealing have done the best out of the Champ pre-season, so they get the promotion spot.

So far, they've done...
Ealing 38 - 17 Newcastle
Newcastle 21 - 12 Ealing
Bristol 10 - 38 Ealing
Ealing 35 - 19 Bristol
Ealing 27 - 26 Saracens
Doncaster 26 - 46 Ealing
Saracens 26 - 39 Ealing

Which Tyler wrote:

Stom wrote:

Mellsblue wrote:Supposedly, BT have given the two fingers to no relegation.......unless suitably compensated for broadcasting a bunch of meaningless games.

It's not often we have a chance to wholeheartedly praise broadcasters, but YES!

Or just scrap relegation and leave Sarries in the Champ. I'd be happy with that.

Or, as the champ hasn't had a fixture list, it's not really fair to promote one team over the others, so go without promotion this season.

Actually, I've a better thought

Relegation stays; Ealing have done the best out of the Champ pre-season, so they get the promotion spot.

So far, they've done...
Ealing 38 - 17 Newcastle
Newcastle 21 - 12 Ealing
Bristol 10 - 38 Ealing
Ealing 35 - 19 Bristol
Ealing 27 - 26 Saracens
Doncaster 26 - 46 Ealing
Saracens 26 - 39 Ealing

So Glos down, Ealing up

Sounds like they're close to resolving this, the not too surprising plan to allow the games to go ahead with relegation on the cards and then make the switch after the final impactful round has been shown on TV

A summer of legal challenges then from the Disgraced of Barnet

Confirmed on BBC, relegation scrapped for this season only, 13 teams compete next season

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/56044619

Perfectly logical move. Right on cue, Saints V Newcastle is cancelled due to positive tests at Falcons.