The United Rugby Championship

[General Zod]

https://www.pro14.rugby/

It looks a better concept than I had imagined, although to be fair, I’ve completely forgotten what a normal pro 14 season looks like.

Initial thoughts are that it looks good for the chances of at least 1 Scottish team in the champions cup, and also pleased we won’t get these daft B/C team fixtures when the 6 nations is on at the same time.

It’s supposed to be a fixed structure for the next 5 years and, subject to ERC approval SA teams can qualify for the Champions Cup from 2022/23 (after qualifying in the 21/22 season I think). This may make it more difficult for 2 Scottish teams to qualify.

Also, another word for the Cheetahs - squeezed out. Just feel sorry for them. Don’t know if there’s scope for SARU to promote/ relegate a team on the basis of Currie Cup finishes.

[Croft_No.5]

The big benefit is in the number of games and a move away from playing in the international windows. Happy enough to be pooled with the Italian teams and it would be good to see scheduling coordinated so that you get the two away games over a couple of weekends, would sort of make sense for both us and the Italians.

Also with the proposed ERC Qualification structure, there will some intensity in all of the games as there is basically 4 spots open to 12 teams. I like the fact that they have also said there will be not change to the structure for 5 years at least. Gives some continuity and means TV can be planned.

[Puja]

I'm envious of you getting a competition that doesn't intersect with international weekends. Our lot look like they're trying to cram in even more fixtures and quality be damned.

It's a bit of a convoluted structure and I can definitely see an argument that there's a chance for a team to be shafted by the random draw of which teams they have to play compared to others, but it's far far better than having conferences or trying to squeeze a full round robin into the season. Overall, I'm envious and will be looking on to see how it turns out.

Puja

[Croft_No.5]

You may even be able to watch on FTA as indications are that BBC will cover at least some of the games, no confirmation as yet. Though not really an issue if it stays on Premier as the Top14 is there too.

[Big D]

Fair amount of turd polishing in this one I think.

[switchskier]

So home and away against teams from your pool, plus one fixture against each of the remaining 12 teams. Playing Zebre twice should be a bit of an advantage for the Scottish sides (and Benneton), offset a but by lower travelling supporters for those games compared to the others.

Hope that they're trying to sort the scheduling so that teams do tours to South Africa, cutting down on the trips back and forth. Could really affect some teams seasons if they do multiple trips. Worse for the South Africans of course

[Croft_No.5]

Would also be good to have Edinburgh and Glasgow playing over in Italy on the same weekend Friday and Saturday. And visa versa.

[Cameo]

It's not the worst I don't think. I much prefer to avoid uneven schedules but no way round it with that number of teams.

Quarter finals is interesting - theoreticall, I think it is possible for a team to win the tournament and not qualify for the Champions Cup (by finishing 8th ahead of a team that has qualified by virtue of being top of its pool).

[Cameo]

According to a comment on TOL, there is also suggestion of an A league. With the removal of games on international weekends, this might be necessary to make sure there is game time for fringe players.

[Puja]

It's not the worst I don't think. I much prefer to avoid uneven schedules but no way round it with that number of teams.

Quarter finals is interesting - theoreticall, I think it is possible for a team to win the tournament and not qualify for the Champions Cup (by finishing 8th ahead of a team that has qualified by virtue of being top of its pool).

Quarter finals feels like one knock-out stage too many to me. Doesn't seem right that a team can finish very solidly mid-table having been bang average and be competing for the title. Sure, most of the time they'll lose first up, but lucky results can happen in knockouts. I'd've said top 4 is best for playoffs.

Puja

[Big D]

According to a comment on TOL, there is also suggestion of an A league. With the removal of games on international weekends, this might be necessary to make sure there is game time for fringe players.

We are still going to have games without internationals.

The fact the schedule can have such an impact on the league is an issue. No way teams are sending full strength squads to/from SA after before and after the AIs. The SA sides do not lose players to the 6N.

I get the SA sides need somewhere to play and the other unions want money but I'm not a fan of this.

[whatisthejava]

I'm envious of you getting a competition that doesn't intersect with international weekends. Our lot look like they're trying to cram in even more fixtures and quality be damned.

It's a bit of a convoluted structure and I can definitely see an argument that there's a chance for a team to be shafted by the random draw of which teams they have to play compared to others, but it's far far better than having conferences or trying to squeeze a full round robin into the season. Overall, I'm envious and will be looking on to see how it turns out.

Puja

Long term, with 5 countries splitting 8 spots I wonder if their will be a reallocation between the 3 leagues. I’m not sure you can justify eng/France having 8 each just because they have their own league and SA will bring in a huge amount of cash.

I wonder if they will get to a point where the 24ish teams with the highest points across all 3 leagues will qualify.

[Puja]

I'm envious of you getting a competition that doesn't intersect with international weekends. Our lot look like they're trying to cram in even more fixtures and quality be damned.

It's a bit of a convoluted structure and I can definitely see an argument that there's a chance for a team to be shafted by the random draw of which teams they have to play compared to others, but it's far far better than having conferences or trying to squeeze a full round robin into the season. Overall, I'm envious and will be looking on to see how it turns out.

Puja

Long term, with 5 countries splitting 8 spots I wonder if their will be a reallocation between the 3 leagues. I’m not sure you can justify eng/France having 8 each just because they have their own league and SA will bring in a huge amount of cash.

I wonder if they will get to a point where the 24ish teams with the highest points across all 3 leagues will qualify.

I agree that the current allocation isn't right. Risible that the 8th team from 12 English sides gets in - they're just gonna be cannon fodder. I'd be in favour of 6 Eng, 6 Fra, 10 Celts, and 1 each for the winner of the ERC and ECC (or an extra place for that country's league if they've qualified).

Puja

[switchskier]

I'm envious of you getting a competition that doesn't intersect with international weekends. Our lot look like they're trying to cram in even more fixtures and quality be damned.

It's a bit of a convoluted structure and I can definitely see an argument that there's a chance for a team to be shafted by the random draw of which teams they have to play compared to others, but it's far far better than having conferences or trying to squeeze a full round robin into the season. Overall, I'm envious and will be looking on to see how it turns out.

Puja

Long term, with 5 countries splitting 8 spots I wonder if their will be a reallocation between the 3 leagues. I’m not sure you can justify eng/France having 8 each just because they have their own league and SA will bring in a huge amount of cash.

I wonder if they will get to a point where the 24ish teams with the highest points across all 3 leagues will qualify.

I'm not saying your wrong, but what's the rationale for South African teams bringing in loads of cash?

[septic 9]

I'm not saying your wrong, but what's the rationale for South African teams bringing in loads of cash?[/quote]

Media reports suggest screening money (TV and streaming) to be c24m. That would be a doubling. All about audience reach and more folk all over wanting to watch Stormers and Bulls than Dragons and Aironi

[Big D]

I'm envious of you getting a competition that doesn't intersect with international weekends. Our lot look like they're trying to cram in even more fixtures and quality be damned.

It's a bit of a convoluted structure and I can definitely see an argument that there's a chance for a team to be shafted by the random draw of which teams they have to play compared to others, but it's far far better than having conferences or trying to squeeze a full round robin into the season. Overall, I'm envious and will be looking on to see how it turns out.

Puja

Long term, with 5 countries splitting 8 spots I wonder if their will be a reallocation between the 3 leagues. I’m not sure you can justify eng/France having 8 each just because they have their own league and SA will bring in a huge amount of cash.

I wonder if they will get to a point where the 24ish teams with the highest points across all 3 leagues will qualify.

I'm not saying your wrong, but what's the rationale for South African teams bringing in loads of cash?

The fact the Proxx is letting them in tells you that they are bringing in a lot of cash. It is the only reason it makes any real sense.

[switchskier]

Long term, with 5 countries splitting 8 spots I wonder if their will be a reallocation between the 3 leagues. I’m not sure you can justify eng/France having 8 each just because they have their own league and SA will bring in a huge amount of cash.

I wonder if they will get to a point where the 24ish teams with the highest points across all 3 leagues will qualify.

I'm not saying your wrong, but what's the rationale for South African teams bringing in loads of cash?

The fact the Proxx is letting them in tells you that they are bringing in a lot of cash. It is the only reason it makes any real sense.

We'd let in anyone that brought a small marginal return. It may add a bit of cash but I bet it's not that much once you factor in the travel costs and the weakness of the rand. Selling TV rights in southern Africa might add a bit, but again easy to get overstate how much that is worth. I think it feels to me like this should be thought of as an ambitious long term aspirational project rather than one that will pay out early

[Big D]

I'm not saying your wrong, but what's the rationale for South African teams bringing in loads of cash?

The fact the Proxx is letting them in tells you that they are bringing in a lot of cash. It is the only reason it makes any real sense.

We'd let in anyone that brought a small marginal return. It may add a bit of cash but I bet it's not that much once you factor in the travel costs and the weakness of the rand. Selling TV rights in southern Africa might add a bit, but again easy to get overstate how much that is worth. I think it feels to me like this should be thought of as an ambitious long term aspirational project rather than one that will pay out early

That is what they are selling it as. But really it is a "South African teams need to play somewhere and they bring money" move.

[Big D]

Still not excited by the whole concept around this.

The two Scots sides should be aiming for 1st and 2nd in their group. A 4th place would be very poor.

[septic 9]

Still not excited by the whole concept around this.

The two Scots sides should be aiming for 1st and 2nd in their group. A 4th place would be very poor.

me neither, but it is what it is for now, so we make the best of it we can. Our "pool" is only major value if finishing top, which seems to be automatic Champions league qualification. After that, its all about finishing as far up the league as possible - to qualify for play offs and maybe Champions Cup. will be harder to do that if finish bottom of the pool of course, but not quite impossible.

I don't think we should take the Italians too lightly, especially Benneton, even if they will miss Garbisi

[septic 9]

The fact the Proxx is letting them in tells you that they are bringing in a lot of cash. It is the only reason it makes any real sense.

We'd let in anyone that brought a small marginal return. It may add a bit of cash but I bet it's not that much once you factor in the travel costs and the weakness of the rand. Selling TV rights in southern Africa might add a bit, but again easy to get overstate how much that is worth. I think it feels to me like this should be thought of as an ambitious long term aspirational project rather than one that will pay out early

That is what they are selling it as. But really it is a "South African teams need to play somewhere and they bring money" move.

they bring cash. Loads of cash? Not so sure - thing is sums which look pretty small compared to English or French TV deals can double ours, they are that poor by comparison.
The SA teams didn't need to quit SH super rugby. But they were bailing that out with precious little reward - far more money in SA TV etc than the other two. Couple that with the time zone advantage we have for SA viewers and they are betting on a win/win

[Big D]

We'd let in anyone that brought a small marginal return. It may add a bit of cash but I bet it's not that much once you factor in the travel costs and the weakness of the rand. Selling TV rights in southern Africa might add a bit, but again easy to get overstate how much that is worth. I think it feels to me like this should be thought of as an ambitious long term aspirational project rather than one that will pay out early

That is what they are selling it as. But really it is a "South African teams need to play somewhere and they bring money" move.

they bring cash. Loads of cash? Not so sure - thing is sums which look pretty small compared to English or French TV deals can double ours, they are that poor by comparison.
The SA teams didn't need to quit SH super rugby. But they were bailing that out with precious little reward - far more money in SA TV etc than the other two. Couple that with the time zone advantage we have for SA viewers and they are betting on a win/win

Loads of cash is relative though isn't it. The rumours were the TV deals were raising to 55m from 25m. Based on the new format due to the SA sides coming in. May be small beer compared to England and France but more than enough to welcome clubs from 6000miles away.

They didn't need to quite super rugby but wanted to. If they weren't bringing TV money they wouldn't have been allowed in. This is a financial decision rather for some aspirational "good for the game" decision.

[Big D]

Still not excited by the whole concept around this.

The two Scots sides should be aiming for 1st and 2nd in their group. A 4th place would be very poor.

me neither, but it is what it is for now, so we make the best of it we can. Our "pool" is only major value if finishing top, which seems to be automatic Champions league qualification. After that, its all about finishing as far up the league as possible - to qualify for play offs and maybe Champions Cup. will be harder to do that if finish bottom of the pool of course, but not quite impossible.

I don't think we should take the Italians too lightly, especially Benneton, even if they will miss Garbisi

I don't think it will happen. We are 4 weeks away from when the season probably should be starting and no fixtures have been released, no clue on quarantine requirements for the cross border games with the SA sides and precious little comms on an "exciting" new competition. Although on that last point it may be deliberate due to the shite rugby we have seen in the last 3 weeks.

I think we are destined for a Pro 12 this year. And it makes more sense that way too.

[septic 9]

Loads of cash is relative though isn't it. The rumours were the TV deals were raising to 55m from 25m. Based on the new format due to the SA sides coming in. May be small beer compared to England and France but more than enough to welcome clubs from 6000miles away.

They didn't need to quite super rugby but wanted to. If they weren't bringing TV money they wouldn't have been allowed in. This is a financial decision rather for some aspirational "good for the game" decision.

that is what I'm saying, pretty much.
They are bringing TV money, and probably keeping more of it than they would playing super rugby, as well as there being more of it due to time zone advantage

[septic 9]

I don't think it will happen. We are 4 weeks away from when the season probably should be starting and no fixtures have been released, no clue on quarantine requirements for the cross border games with the SA sides and precious little comms on an "exciting" new competition. Although on that last point it may be deliberate due to the shite rugby we have seen in the last 3 weeks.

I think we are destined for a Pro 12 this year. And it makes more sense that way too.

suspect the delay is over covid, isolation rules etc. All of which is still evolving/changing.

Some launch blurb suggested SA teams would play away in blocks of matches - that would help avoid repeated quarantines. Play pool games for first 2/3 rounds, then if went to say Ireland first and did not need to quarantine (no idea if that is true), play a couple of games then after that could travel to UK, another couple of games, without need to quarantine.

It will start on schedule with pool games I think, then it all depends innit