Rugby Union 2017 - AM NOT A FIGHT AM A LOVER BOY

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Schlesische: Jul 4, 2012

Tyma posted:

Welsh Rugby Doomsday Timeline

2pm : Redditor posts fanciful story about a WRU meeting in which the long-rumored re-structuring of the Dragons as a team stationed in Colwyn Bay is no long on the agenda. The new plan is to completely disband both The Ospreys and The Scarlets, in order to create funding for an entirely new Colwyn Bay super-team, and another, smaller team located in West Wales.

3pm : Screenshots from Ospreys and Dragons Whats App chat conversations appear online, in which Alun Wyn Jones and Cory Hill relay this information to the other members of their teams, and that there will be a "critical meeting" tomorrow, to nail down the details. Cory Hill suggests that all Ospreys and Scarlets contracts will be terminated within the week, with "a lot of players joining the transfer market on Sunday".

6pm : Ospreys Supporters Club announce that the WRU have confirmed that the "critical meeting" is real, and scheduled for tomorrow.

For someone from a country more used to surprised celebration after a heartbreaking, "defeat from the jaws of victory" Wales loss than surprised dejection after a heartbreaking, "defeat from the jaws of victory" Wales loss can I get a breakdown of exactly what Wales is doing? If it included maps of Wales so I knew what I was looking at, that'd be nice.
Thanks.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 07:17

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 15:04

Tyma: Dec 22, 2004; I love Leinster and I couldn't be happier that Jordie Barrett has signed with them on a short term deal.

Schlesische posted:

can I get a breakdown of exactly what Wales is doing? If it included maps of Wales so I knew what I was looking at, that'd be nice.

Wales is a very rural country, with most of it's population clustered around the industrial areas in the south of the country.

-

The Start Of Regional Rugby

When rugby went professional, the 15 largest clubs in Wales, Scotland and Ireland formed the first professional league. The 8 welsh clubs that entered the league were the ones that had sprung up around the major industrial areas in Wales, which have the highest population, and the most disposable income.

-

The Current Teams

After 2 seasons, the setup was considered unsustainable, as Wales weren't producing enough quality players to field 9 teams, and rather than encourage the signing of foreign players, the Welsh Rugby Union began a regionalisation of the teams, and allowed investment groups to create 4 new "Regional Teams" in Wales' 4 largest cities. The original 8 teams all technically still exist, but the signing of every quality player to the Regional Teams essentially killed any chance of them ever being competitive or profitable again.

The four Regions are :
Scarlets (llanelli)
Ospreys (swansea)
Blues (cardiff)
Dragons (newport)

The Scarlets won the Celtic League the next year, and picked up a second league title in 2017.
The Ospreys have won the league 4 times.
The Blues have placed second twice.
The Dragons still play infront of a shed, and rarely finish in the top 8.

In the mid 2010s, The Welsh Rugby Union made very large investments in The Blues, due to dwindling profits and support. They began moving Welsh derby matches away from Swansea, Llanelli and Newport, to be played in Cardiff. In 2017, The Welsh Rugby Union bought both The Dragons and their home ground.

The WRU also began a system of 'dual contracts' for members of the Wales national team. These players are employed by the WRU to play at their respective clubs, with heavy restrictions on training and playing schedules. .

-

The New Plan

The new planis to try and boost the popularity of rugby in the North of the country, at the cost of disbanding the two most successful and profitable teams, and diverting the majority of their funding to The Blues and the new team in The North (Colwyn Bay). The Dragons, along with a new team in West Wales will operate on a much smaller budget. In a leaked WhatsApp chat, Dragons captain Cory Hill suggested to his team anyone nearing the end of their contract should bail on The Dragons immediately, and move north, for a much higher salary.

While The Ospreys and Scarlets are self-sustaining, and reguarly attract twice the crowds of the other two teams, the only chance of either club surviving is to put forth a proposal for both clubs to a merger, and to try and operate with as little WRU funding as possible. Even if this went through, the WRU technically own the contracts of their star players, which would leave them with a skeleton crew, and two incredibly pissed off sets of supporters.

The only analogy I can make is if you woke up one morning, to the announcement that The Hurricanes and The Crusaders were being shut down, because the NZ Union had a lot of faith in The Blues, and also wanted to form a new team in the middle of nowhere. It kind of makes geographical sense, but is so utterly mad that nobody knows how to take it.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 10:36

MyChemicalImbalance: Sep 15, 2007; Keep on smilin'

Sounds like the WRU are trying to fix the problem of fans not caring about their fabricated regional teams by blowing up two of the more successful ones and trying again. I think all Pro14 fans would love to see well supported Welsh teams in the league but I'm not sure this is how to do it.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 11:17

Aramoro: Jun 1, 2012

Tyma posted:

Welsh Rugby Doomsday Timeline

2pm : Redditor posts fanciful story about a WRU meeting in which the long-rumored re-structuring of the Dragons as a team stationed in Colwyn Bay is no long on the agenda. The new plan is to completely disband both The Ospreys and The Scarlets, in order to create funding for an entirely new Colwyn Bay super-team, and another, smaller team located in West Wales.

3pm : Screenshots from Ospreys and Dragons Whats App chat conversations appear online, in which Alun Wyn Jones and Cory Hill relay this information to the other members of their teams, and that there will be a "critical meeting" tomorrow, to nail down the details. Cory Hill suggests that all Ospreys and Scarlets contracts will be terminated within the week, with "a lot of players joining the transfer market on Sunday".

6pm : Ospreys Supporters Club announce that the WRU have confirmed that the "critical meeting" is real, and scheduled for tomorrow.

WRU - Hmm wales are doing quite well, how can we entirely gently caress that up?

It's the dissolving the Border Reivers all over again only about a million times worse.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 11:27

tarbrush: Feb 7, 2011; ALL ABOARD THE SCOTLAND HYPE TRAIN!

CHOO CHOO

IRB: We're gonna piss on our fans, half the players in the world and tons of established teams.

WRU: Hold my beer...

# ? Mar 5, 2019 11:32

bessantj: Jul 27, 2004

The WRU are doing a good job of killing off club rugby in Wales. They handled the advent of professionalism terribly and 16 years ago made a series of bad decisions that had lead Welsh rugby to this. Why they didn't try their hardest to get the Welsh teams into the English league (which would create fixtures Welsh fans seem to care about more) I don't know. poor recruitment, play, coaching appointments, marketing and media relations has lead to poor crowds. I have no idea why, after taking over my beloved Dragons, the WRU didn't pop down to New Zealand try and entice one of the better Miter 10 coaches back to Wales and tell them to bring a couple of their better players with him. Instead they seem more willing to invest in a proven failure who then failed. Who wants to see a team that seems destined to lose and play a terrible brand of rugby while they do? Success begins on the pitch.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 12:19

Tyma: Dec 22, 2004; I love Leinster and I couldn't be happier that Jordie Barrett has signed with them on a short term deal.

The Wales national team held a press conference to announce the team to play Scotland, didn't receive a single question from the press regarding the National Team, and all ended up pointing fingers at either the Welsh Rugby Union, The Players Union or The Professional Rugby Board. Lots of people in the Wales camp (including Warren Gatland) spoke as if it was a certainty that Ospreys and Scarlets were going to propose a merger to the WRU, in an attempt to create a 4th region, on a reduced operating budget.

The "critical meeting" then began with The Ospreys chairman announcing his immediate resignation, before walking out, so this is going REALLY WELL so far.

:dance:

# ? Mar 5, 2019 15:24

Vaders Jester: Sep 9, 2009

Rumours are appearing that Ospreys have been approaching a couple of teams about a merger since January and now it's got to the WRU to take over the proceeding.

Statement from Gatland in the press conference

"This hasn�t been driven by the union, it was approached by two regions about a merger because of some of the difficulties we are aware of surrounding the financial pressures.

Looks like someone is telling lies somewhere.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 16:26

Kitchner: Nov 9, 2012; IT CAN'T BE BARGAINED WITH.
IT CAN'T BE REASONED WITH.
IT DOESN'T FEEL PITY, OR REMORSE, OR FEAR.
AND IT ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT STOP, EVER, UNTIL YOU ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT WARHAMMER; Clapping Larry

I reckon the WRU just decided that it's absolutely imperative that there should be no possibility of Gatland winning a world Cup and subsequently resigning at any cost.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 17:30

fallingdownjoe: Mar 16, 2007; Please love me

And now the Ospreys have just put out a statement saying that:

The Ospreys posted:

The Ospreys are NOT on the verge of merging with the Scarlets.

Like the other M4 regions, the Ospreys were informed by the WRU that their decision was to create a new region in the North and this would necessitate one going in the South.

Beyond this, the regions have been encouraged to enter unilateral discussions to try and self-broker an outcome. Rather than every option being on the table, only one has transpired - which region should go.

Far from being a methodical, consultative process, involving all the game�s stakeholders, looking at the greater good and the long-term benefit to all, the South Wales regions have been forced into a leaderless race for survival, with self-interest as its guiding star.

The Ospreys are not afraid to think the unthinkable. Our region was born out of the previously unimaginable merger of Swansea and Neath and, later, the seamless integration of Bridgend. We remain the only region to have truly embraced, lived and breathed the concept of regional rugby. Our reward and Wales�s reward, has been an unparalleled level of success for our region and an unrivalled contribution to the national team.

We fully recognise the WRU�s argument that the regional game requires further restructuring in order to remain viable and we support this principle.

But, the way this has been approached has led to a fundamental breakdown in the fabric of the game. This must stop now. A new process must be expedited, with respected and competent leadership - professionally outlined and responsibly led - with transparency and genuine consultation as its foundation.

It all asks the age-old question: what the gently caress is going on in South Wales?

# ? Mar 5, 2019 18:13

CyberPingu: Sep 15, 2013; If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.

Amazing.

WRU: were cutting down a region and adding one in the North.

Clubs: OK. Which one?

WRU: *tosses pointy sharpened stick into crowd* - you sort it out

# ? Mar 5, 2019 18:38

bessantj: Jul 27, 2004

https://twitter.com/nickwebb2017/status/1102984854965309440
:haw:

# ? Mar 5, 2019 20:17

CyberPingu: Sep 15, 2013; If you're not striving to improve, you'll end up going backwards.

What the actual gently caress is going on.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 20:19

bessantj: Jul 27, 2004

No one knows and I mean that literally.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 20:33

Troy Queef: Jan 12, 2013

the WRU's management is making the people who run Western Province/Stormers seem competent, and that's something

to wit: WP recently got into a massive legal fight because they didn't read the fine print on a contract to allow a company to install Wi-Fi at Newlands, in essence handing over all advertising rights inside the ground to this firm and turfing out a long-established partner. that's just the start of their problems, which will likely culminate in them leaving/selling Newlands just to stay afloat.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 21:07

Vaders Jester: Sep 9, 2009

CyberPingu posted:

What the actual gently caress is going on.

This is the standard 10 year Welsh rugby meltdown cycle isn't it? Guaranteed to come about whenever the national side is doing well.

# ? Mar 5, 2019 21:14

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

If they fully demonise the Ospreys now as being deceitful shitheels they can just drop them directly for "the good of the sport" and not have to bother with any of the complex paperwork.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 00:00

sleep with the vicious: Apr 2, 2010

What a shitshow, it's so embarassing to watch all these morons

# ? Mar 6, 2019 00:37

edogawa rando: Mar 20, 2007

World Rugby: Hey, want to see something that is damaging to the game, and will alienate both players and audiences?

Welsh Rugby: Hold my beer.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 09:52

Tyma: Dec 22, 2004; I love Leinster and I couldn't be happier that Jordie Barrett has signed with them on a short term deal.

One must die :ohdear:

The Scarlets posted:

Firstly, we can confirm the statement issued by the Professional Rugby Board (PRB) on Tuesday afternoon as accurate, as are the comments made by Wales� national coach that the proposed merger was driven by the regions, in consultation with the PRB.

Heads of terms were agreed and signed by the Ospreys and Scarlets on March 1 on terms we believe our supporters would be happy with. This was to be proposed at a meeting of the PRB on Tuesday afternoon, but we were told at the start of that meeting that the Ospreys had changed their mind.

The merger is off the table.

The WRU must be salivating at the thought of hosting a match in Cardiff, where The Ospreys and The Scarlets play a game of rugby, to decide which of them gets to disbanded.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 14:16

Kitchner: Nov 9, 2012; IT CAN'T BE BARGAINED WITH.
IT CAN'T BE REASONED WITH.
IT DOESN'T FEEL PITY, OR REMORSE, OR FEAR.
AND IT ABSOLUTELY WILL NOT STOP, EVER, UNTIL YOU ADMIT YOU'RE WRONG ABOUT WARHAMMER; Clapping Larry

Tyma posted:

One must die

The WRU must be salivating at the thought of hosting a match in Cardiff, where The Ospreys and The Scarlets play a game of rugby, to decide which of them gets to disbanded.

I know you're joking but what a match that would be.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 15:06

fallingdownjoe: Mar 16, 2007; Please love me

Tyma posted:

One must die

The WRU must be salivating at the thought of hosting a match in Cardiff, where The Ospreys and The Scarlets play a game of rugby, to decide which of them gets to disbanded.

It'll add an extra bit of tension to this year's Judgement Day, that's for sure

# ? Mar 6, 2019 16:14

Vaders Jester: Sep 9, 2009

Tyma posted:

One must die

The WRU must be salivating at the thought of hosting a match in Cardiff, where The Ospreys and The Scarlets play a game of rugby, to decide which of them gets to disbanded.

Spice it up a bit, one player on each side gets a claw hammer.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 16:51

tarbrush: Feb 7, 2011; ALL ABOARD THE SCOTLAND HYPE TRAIN!

CHOO CHOO

Vaders Jester posted:

Spice it up a bit, one player on each side gets a claw hammer.

I thought that's just how Welsh rugby worked

# ? Mar 6, 2019 16:57

Aramoro: Jun 1, 2012

So what happens when they discover no one in the North of wales gives a gently caress about rugby?

# ? Mar 6, 2019 18:16

Vaders Jester: Sep 9, 2009

Aramoro posted:

So what happens when they discover no one in the North of wales gives a gently caress about rugby?

Can't be any worse than the salty fans just refusing to turn up to games for the regions that exist now.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 20:26

Tyma: Dec 22, 2004; I love Leinster and I couldn't be happier that Jordie Barrett has signed with them on a short term deal.

Vagabundo posted:

World Rugby: Hey, want to see something that is damaging to the game, and will alienate both players and audiences?

Welsh Rugby: Hold my beer.

World Rugby : OH WAIT YOU THOUGHT WE WERE DONE!?

https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1103310725815115776

All Tier 1 nations must now play against EVERY other Tier 1 team within each calendar year, with the top 2 teams in each hemisphere being forced to play another 2 exhibition matches at the end of November. This is 13 matches.

Autumn and Summer tours are now set in stone by World Rugby, meaning any matches against Barbarians, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, USA, Canada etc. must take place outside of the test window, and therefore won't happen at all.

Broadcast rights for EVERY international match will be sold as a single package, meaning no free-to-air rugby in any country.

2021 will be the final Six Nations and Rugby Championship.

Tyma fucked around with this message at 20:42 on Mar 6, 2019

# ? Mar 6, 2019 20:38

tarbrush: Feb 7, 2011; ALL ABOARD THE SCOTLAND HYPE TRAIN!

CHOO CHOO

What

The

gently caress

# ? Mar 6, 2019 20:48

tarbrush: Feb 7, 2011; ALL ABOARD THE SCOTLAND HYPE TRAIN!

CHOO CHOO

a) How're the WRU gonna top this

b) There are not enough psyduck emojis to adequately express the :psyduck:

# ? Mar 6, 2019 20:49

Vaders Jester: Sep 9, 2009

I look forward to a number of unions telling this plan to get hosed.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 20:59

Tyma: Dec 22, 2004; I love Leinster and I couldn't be happier that Jordie Barrett has signed with them on a short term deal.

The Ospreys will have to merge with The Scarlets, The Dragons, Connacht and Sweden, if they want to have enough players fit enough to still play a domestic season.

# ? Mar 6, 2019 21:11

Schlesische: Jul 4, 2012

Tyma posted:

The Ospreys will have to merge with The Scarlets, The Dragons, Connacht and Sweden, if they want to have enough players fit enough to still play a domestic season.

If they can't have any Wales internationals, all their players will be fit...

# ? Mar 6, 2019 23:43

edogawa rando: Mar 20, 2007

Tyma posted:

World Rugby : OH WAIT YOU THOUGHT WE WERE DONE!?

https://twitter.com/WorldRugby/status/1103310725815115776

All Tier 1 nations must now play against EVERY other Tier 1 team within each calendar year, with the top 2 teams in each hemisphere being forced to play another 2 exhibition matches at the end of November. This is 13 matches.

Autumn and Summer tours are now set in stone by World Rugby, meaning any matches against Barbarians, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, USA, Canada etc. must take place outside of the test window, and therefore won't happen at all.

Broadcast rights for EVERY international match will be sold as a single package, meaning no free-to-air rugby in any country.

2021 will be the final Six Nations and Rugby Championship.

I'm amazed that Brett Gosper was right in saying the leaked plans weren't accurate. This poo poo is worse. Good work, Brett and Gus. Cunts.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 00:17

Aramoro: Jun 1, 2012

This is going to be contraversial but I don't hate these plans. European group 1 is effectively the 6 nations with promotion and relegation which is something I wanted anyway. Right now we play a minimum of 8 games a year adding 3 games is not so bad. When we play the games is an issue though with the northern and Southern hemisphere seasons being offset.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 00:39

edogawa rando: Mar 20, 2007

Yes, it's totally fair and equal that Southern Hemisphere players are expected to scramble all over the globe and travel a disproportionate amount compared to their European counterparts. There is absolutely no possible way this will lead to player burnout and exhaustion.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 01:00

goatface: Dec 5, 2007; I had a video of that when I was about 6.

I remember it being shit.; Grimey Drawer

The broadcast rights thing can gently caress right off. I think the tying nations down as to who tours who is a bit poo poo, as is the league itself tbh.

Are they going to dictate where the games happen? Scheduling to avoid home field advantage will be a bastard, even moreso once the arguments start after a side gets relegated because they just happened to get their home games only against the sides that would thrash them anywhere. Will there be 5-6 internationals a year played in Fiji?

# ? Mar 7, 2019 01:08

Mr Chips: Jun 27, 2007; Whose arse do I have to blow smoke up to get rid of this baby?

I wonder how the Australian broadcasting anti-siphoning laws will work with that plan. OTOH, the ARU don't give a flying gently caress about growing the game by keeping it accessible to the public via free-to-air.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 02:39

Tyma: Dec 22, 2004; I love Leinster and I couldn't be happier that Jordie Barrett has signed with them on a short term deal.

Aramoro posted:

Right now we play a minimum of 8 games a year adding 3 games is not so bad.

Alun Wyn Jones has played in 7 out of the 8 matches Wales have played since the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere season.

He's only played in 8 out of the 19 Ospreys matches this season, because World Rugby require us to release him for every planned international fixture, while Player Welfare rules state that he can only play a certain amount of matches in a season.

If the new plans were currently in effect, The Ospreys would have been able to select their club captain for a grand total of 5 league matches a season.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 03:49

Aramoro: Jun 1, 2012

Tyma posted:

Alun Wyn Jones has played in 7 out of the 8 matches Wales have played since the beginning of the Northern Hemisphere season.

He's only played in 8 out of the 19 Ospreys matches this season, because World Rugby require us to release him for every planned international fixture, while Player Welfare rules state that he can only play a certain amount of matches in a season.

If the new plans were currently in effect, The Ospreys would have been able to select their club captain for a grand total of 5 league matches a season.

It depends when the matches are scheduled really. I think the inter conference matches are a bit pointless but a group of 6 with promotion and demotion? That's a good idea.

Anyway who knows if Ospreys will even be a team next season anyway.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 08:05

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 15:04

ElectroMagneticJosh: Oct 13, 2006; Lets Volt In!!

Maybe its time I started following League - at least they don't pretend to be a global sport.

# ? Mar 7, 2019 11:11

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