Further, I don't trust the Irish, they are slippery buggers and well sell the mothers for a deal. If you ever flown Ryan air, you know this little bastards like shaft you
Further, I don't trust the Irish, they are slippery buggers and well sell the mothers for a deal. If you ever flown Ryan air, you know this little bastards like shaft you
The English clubs ned players fronm outsid he UK to make club competitiveness interesting. So they want SA players and players from other SH countries to help their game - but wants nothg in return,
I flew Ryan ir and was shatfed by them. So I do not recommend Ryan Air ever to anybody.
I think European fans would be pissed. Dunno, if I were them, I'd see SA teams as a welcome spice to the competition. That's why its popularity has grown, as I understand it.
But the Premiership has the money to negotiate and could easily settle for lesser margins - just pricing SA out.
Premiership considering merger with URC to form British and Irish league. A proposal for a merger between the Premiership and the United Rugby Championship – which features teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa – is being explored, Telegraph Sport can reveal.13 hours ago https://www.telegraph.co.uk › ... Premiership considering merger with URC to form ...It looks like SA is included?
It is written as already decided. I know Wales and Scotland would definitely side with the English. I'm not sure what is the governance here and who represents what.
English rugby has been losing a lot of money and the game in England is in a poor state. They clubs are desperate for games. They often have random cup competitions to have more games so they can make more money.
There is no TV rights model like they had in SANZAR in the UK. TV viewership for the premier league is really low.
Then, they are trying to compete with France with many top English players going to France.
The main problem is that England is trying compete with FA Premier league, soccer. Which is one of the richest leagues in the world.
As far as I can remember SARU signed an agreement ith the URC and if they wan any addiion or exppulsion it will have to ave he blessing of SA and Italy as well. - so it is not at all clear as towhat is going to happen. In he presen scenario Ireland has 4 teams, South Africa has 4 teams Wales m4 teams and cotland and Ialy 2 each.
If England is to join they will also be limited to 4 teams and nothing more, The English may insist to remove SA and Italy and nominate 6 eams to play n he URC.
However, at present we are speculating and do not have exact details - so let wait and see wat happens. I would rathe h ave he French club game than the Englsh teams anyway, .
Upon reading other articles, these pompous ass English Premiership, are favouring to kick out the SA and Italian sides.
They saying it will bring more revenue if the SA and Italy teams are not part of it. Ja sure , what a joke :)
I say England ,Ireland, Scotland and Wales should have there special little club and see if it does there Rugby any good. Right now it’s only Ireland that can compete and the rest is a lost cause !!
I say SA should form a comp together with France, Italy, Portugal and Georgia.
Then maybe also get New Zealand, OZ and Agentina involved, to form a Super Comp. Then you will see how the Pompous English + there bud buddies rugby will deteriorate to nothing.
URC has said they have not been involved in any discussions regarding a merger.
https://www.unitedrugby.com/latest/news/urc-not-discussing-british-irish-league
Stav
Thank you - but I think the English would want mor of their club teams in the URC than 4 ad that is what wll be the case,
The English will try and take over the URC and makes Ireland play second fiddle. Sorry - but the England Rugby set up is in decline and they will pull down Irish rugby in the process, .
"I say England ,Ireland, Scotland and Wales should have there special little club and see if it does there Rugby any good. Right now it’s only Ireland that can compete and the rest is a lost cause !!"
Who's the current URC champions?
Further, I don't trust the Irish, they are slippery buggers and well sell the mothers for a deal. If you ever flown Ryan air, you know this little bastards like shaft you
You know Jack shit about Irish rugby. There is no way the IRFU would accept this and certainly the Irish public definitely would not. We have great respect for the RFU and view them as probably our close friends and allies but the premiership are a shower and wouldn't trust them an inch. We would not dump our Italian friends especially as they have turned a long awaited corner and are becoming more and more competitive. This would endanger their participation in the 6Nations which is our golden goose. Also the sessions we had in Italy were epic and many ties have been made between irish and italian supporters. Everyone we have come across view the inclusion of SA as a great success and we hope it continues for a long time to come.
Also we are really bored of the Welsh living in their past glory. For years they have been moaning about not being part of the Anglo Welsh and resent being part of the URC. They made a real mess of their move to professionalism and how they set up the regions. They need a major reorganization. At this stage we would be little disappointed but not be very distressed if they left and keeping their existing structures will continue to see them fail at club level. If you don't want to play with us then take your ball and go.
The main driver is around commercial rights. If this happens, I will hate the Irish even more, but we know that South African rugby is strong and the single driver for the URC getting popularity. Where as Leinster is the only major club from Europe in the URC. Glasgow and Munster had their moments given they both won last year and in SA.
Wow! you have a delusional view of your own greatness. There is very little difference in quality and strength between SA and Ireland since you guys have joined the league. The results between the clubs and national teams reflect that. Of course the URC has increased in popularity since another set of strong teams. We have a bigger audience and the quality of rugby has increased because it forced the big teams to take it more seriously and not just to keep them busy until the Champions cup came around.
You need to get over yourself.
Howzit Boorad! You must please excuse King, he's lived amongst the Poms for too long
If England is to join they will also be limited to 4 teams and nothing more, The English may insist to remove SA and Italy and nominate 6 eams to play n he URC.
The way things are going there will probably only be 4 teams left in England next year. Their clubs are in real difficulty. This would be a disaster for everyone and a solution is needed for it.
I get the impresion that in many czases SA players are being returning to SA because the English cllubs cannot afford hem anymore.o you ar probably correct. The problem s that England is not producing players anymore and the game is like cricket going down/ Th problems eems to be the lack of pride and believe in themen and boys in taking on tough assignments in sport and in evething else. What is wrong - why has the people lost fait in the country and themselves?
Joining the URC will only help if they take 4 clunbs into the URC and accept that they will just be ordinary members and no the ruling union in the URC - theyw il jsut be ordinary members/. . .
I think the SA sides will get stronger as more player stay at home and more unions opt for long term contracts.
They have finally gotten rid of a dodgy age group coach. The Lions investment are starting to look positive and have they a decent crop of under 23 players starting to come through.
We see more boks playing from home. Each union just need 4 players from abroad to come back.
Don't get me wrong about Ireland, I lived there and played rugby there. What they did in the past 20 years for their rugby is amazing. All their unions are strong.
I agree that Wales is the only one living in a fools paradise. They should drop one team and go down to 3. They will be much stronger for it. It worked for Australia and they became world champions.
If the English want to join then there must be two pools and limit the amount of English teams. I think they are down to 10 teams if I'm not mistaken. But those English clubs hold on to their roots. They will never merge clubs and go for franchises. Just imagine Leicester and Northampton joining or bath and Gloucester not to mention exetor and Bristol.
They may end up having to put a 2nd decision to limit the size
KC
'New Zealand messed up by kicking us out and now they are begging us to come back.'
I tried to google more info on the quoted issue - but all I saw is an article in Rugbypas on the issue witen a week ago as formng part of the AB' on intenational level. Ha tere been any real negotiations and the key element of a rturn to real Super Rugby woud nee the financial support of Superport coming in as major funder of the series.
Have there been any negotiations on the above?
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Well, there’s a lot of anti English sentiment on here, isn’t there ? Rather unwarranted I think.
As for becoming franchises, no Kingcorn, we don’t wish to destroy our heritage in that way and it would never work. Too much history and rivalry, I’m afraid.
becs
The fact is the English and French conspired to not allow SA to host the 2023 RWC despite the recommendations of the Technical Committee of WR recommending he RWC sould be allocated to SA. That caused a lt of unhappness as to Engllish Rugby by SA Rugby fans. .
As to English Rugby he problem seems to be that the English clubs do not have the funds and cannot collect the income they made in the past and that there is the need to find another solution to kep rugby going in England.
South Africa had 16 "provincial teams" - but the problem is that they were not producing the lolly to keep rugby operational, So it was decided that the 16 club would contrinue to play each other and compete for the Curry Cup. and to create 4 franchises that played Super Rugby and is used to participate in Super Rugby or now in the URC. The latter four franchises produced the money that help fund he the provincial unions. One difference is that the fundng of the URC is helped along by Superpsort - part of DSTV in SA that are the main funders of SA Rugby.
The poblems seems to tme that without major sponsorships like TV and other sponsors it will not be possil to keep all the English clubs going. While te URC clubs are making money the English clubs are not making money and would in the end not survive finncially. The idea should be to use the SA model and form 4 mjor franchises join the URC and get some major sponsorships going/ Like SA keep the Premiership going and create 4 francises to bring in the money that keep the rugbystructure in England going.
New Zealand kicked SA out of Super Rugby in 2021 and that caused a major decline in competitiveness of younger players and also made financial losses for NZ rugby - and acording to what I heard they are trying to get SA Argentin back into Super Rugby from 2026. . . .
"Well, there’s a lot of anti English sentiment on here, isn’t there ? Rather unwarranted I think. "
We just love to hate you lot Becs...nothing personal...
My ganfdfather was 20 years old and my granmotehr was 14. Ny grandmotehrs farmed at Blansdrift on th Gouritz River could be crossed at the time. The old man was kind and when people wanted to cross the iver and theire was a problem. he would nvte him for coffee and meals, So an English regiment was about to cross the Gouritz River and te officers were invited to have lunch. My grandmother and her sister then decided to enertain hem wih musc using the house rganfor th purpose. The first choice song was Kent Guy dat Volk" - the National Anthem of the ZAR as tehTransaval wa originaly known at the time. The result as problmatic and in the end the old man hd to pleadd on his knees for them not to burn down his home and sent hm to jail and his family to a cocentration camp. There was a guide who convinced the English ofices that it was misunderstanding s m gat Grandfther Pina was a lyal supporter of Queen Victoria and [pintd out a photo the Pienaars had of her. .
At the time of the Anglo Boer War and lost a lot of family members durig the war and one was the Pienarar family - the uncle of my grandmother was a Commandant n the Free State and his wife and 8 children of whom 6 died in the Pietermaritsburg concentration camp. One of the surviving children was General Dan Pienaar who was the Head of the SA army in World War 2.- not a lover of the Eglish, His favorite term when an Enfglish general gave him an istruction to attack certain positions and he did not agree was to say "Voertsek" general. One of his favourite terms were to say - " I hate English army generals - what I hate more and despise more are Englsh Lords who are army generals".
My gandmother to her dying day claimed tha her cousin Dan was murdered by the Engllsh
Comng from that family my grandfather used a whip to get a cousin of my father off the farm bcause he was a SAP.
I can remember how my grandparents tried stop my parents from takng us to see King George VI and Queen Elizabeth when the White Train used for the visit stopped in Riversdale as well. My mther was much more liberal and enssured we do not grow up in an atmosphere of hatred. So my father and mother took my brother and myself to see the King and Queen. One of our neighbours pyt my brother and myself on the platform roof and we were less than 2 meters away from the royal couple..
I do think you are a bit harsh with Becs though - she is a reall nce lady,
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Franchises se moer ........................... Stormers se moer.
WP ........................1883-
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-13852797/Its-time-consider-merger-league-union-writes-CHRIS-FOY-no-merger-Premiership-elements-United-Rugby-Championship.html
BB
The above sdhows how bad he stuation as to rugby is in especially the UK and Australia - whre rugb Leagyue s strong - in most other rugb playing countries Rugby League is a minor or even non-existent.
In most countries there will be resistence against such a merger if Leaue system is limiting the game of Rugby.as it is played at present.
Decades ago after a test in Johannesburg and according to the Pretoria and Johannesburg a drunk spectator was urinating against a wall. saying We Pee against the wall, I will also remembe travelllng by train from Riversdale to Pretoria to start my first job in Prretoria I was met at the station a bloke asked me whether I support WP. That alone tuned me into a WP supporte for llfe/
Anyway a friend and coleague of mine in 1964 nt to the Curry Cup final in Pretoria - he wearing his Matie jersey and me witha Stellenbosch Univercity cap/ We were met witha barrage of tangerines to be expecred from the .Pretoria crowd as traitors/ In the end it was the match in which Jannie Engelbrecht broke his collarbone and stayed on the field of play and scored two tries, The crowd got quieter and quieter/
In new Zealand here was a Maori family whos had a son and called him Jannie Engelbrecht as his first name. When Engelbecht became SA ruby Manager in the early 1990's he visited New Zealand wit the tm and met the family ho clalled thir son Jannie Engelbrecht. Wonde whether the son is still around. I think he would be around 60 years of age by now.
\WP is still playing in the CC series - bu the team s not as strog s expected in the latter part of the 20th century - reason too many f their players are playing for the Stormers and for teh Springbks - thus weakening the WP team.
There were close ties between the Engelbrecht family and my family and the last time I saw him was at the funeral of a cousen of my father in Riversdale in 2009. The cousin was never married and Jannie inherited his farm - a bad move since he let the farmland to neighbouring farmers and a building constructed in 1768 became badly neglected. The person who now owns the farm, Zeekoegat bought the area where that building was and renovated it. and it is now part of the Zeekoegat National Monument buildings with two homes comstructed in 1795 and 1804 and the house that used to be the stables for farm animals and later used a a home constructed in 1768.
The only uprading needed at present is the Saayman graveyard on the farm.where most of the graves were of children, brothrs and suisers as well as his father and mother of Lang Bart Saayman - owner of Zeekogat - and there are also graves of lifelong workers on the farm and in their youth were slaves owned by the owners of Zeekoegat - but later on after freeing as slaves stayed on as farm workers. It would cost circa R200 000 to do he upgarding - but I never seem to have the cash to have it done, .
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That’s really sweet of you, Mike. Thank you 
As for the Anglo-Boer War, I believe I have said before how appalling the treatment was of those, largely, women and children in the camps. And I totally understand the resentment of the English because of that.
But we’re not always the bad guys in terms of Rugby.
The Clubs are struggling more than they were, post Covid, but I can never see a day when Union and League reunite. It seems a bizarre idea and Chris Foy likes to come up with fanciful ideas…..half the time, I think he just does it to get a reaction from his readers !
3,060 posts
Apparently there was a meeting held in London for the English Premiership to merge with the URC, but they would exclude South Africa and Italy. Which means Wales, Ireland and Scotland will form part of the British and Irish League.
The main driver is around commercial rights. If this happens, I will hate the Irish even more, but we know that South African rugby is strong and the single driver for the URC getting popularity. Where as Leinster is the only major club from Europe in the URC. Glasgow and Munster had their moments given they both won last year and in SA.
It feels like the old days again with the English seeing something that is valuable and then fucking South Africans over.
New Zealand messed up by kicking us out and now they are begging us to come back.
My only issue as that we never seem to negotiate from a position of power. I still don't know how the rights are carved up for the URC but what I did find is that it done from Ireland.
SA need to recognise its brand and use it to our benefit. We are finally winning and we have such a great squad of players.
If this happens, then I would just say to SA, go back to NZ, tell Aus they can only have 3 teams and tell New Zealand to drop to 4 teams and SA putting 5 teams out. It will be a proper Super comp with a fair distribution.
However, playing a global league is a necessary evil. I would have preferred a strong currie cup and then knock cup run over 6 weeks.