The Future of the Heineken Cup In Doubt?

[Jos]

Fact is the cheese eating surrender monkeys (The French) are just tired of getting bate by us muck savages from the untamed west. That is why they want to take the ball away and not play anymore.

You mean like last year?

[sewa]

You mean like last year?

Jackie can barely remember last week

[Jos]

Gernika. Lusitanos of Portugal, too, this year, and Bucharest.

Gernika is not spain.:p So basic only three other countries, in how many years?:_panic__by_bad_blooAnd the ERC force all of our small club to plays the Amlin Cup. It's a lot of place lost.

[Jos]

Jackie can barely remember last week

Guinness abuse?:p

[sewa]

Guinness abuse?:p

No, its something much, much worse, Harp lager. Assad apparently keeps a stockpile of it in reserve in Syria, that's what is really worrying the yanks

[Jos]

You didn't invent the World Cup, Australia and New Zealand did. You only came on board after. We invented the European Cup. We all pushed to include Italy. We have players from all over the world play with our provinces, all credit for sending money to help them too but we do that as part of the international rugby union.

We invented the world famous Barry Cup.

We invented the roundabout, guinness, torpedoes, hurling,the submarine, chocolate milk, boyles law, whiskey , radiotherapy, colour photography, the modern tractor, the tank and guided missiles

And best of all, we are better lovers. Women from all over the world agree.

Now take that in your pipe and smoke it you cheeky little rascal

Ok I shouldn't say it, (but since you dare to claim to be the best lovers in the world.) Whiskey is not a Scottish invention?:_plotting__by_bad_b

[Thomond78]

No.

Come to that, we bloody invented the Scots, too.

We don't tend to mention that much in polite society, I grant.

[sewa]

Whiskey is horrible muck that we use purely to exploit other weak minded countries

[Leargas]

Edinburgh are truly awful. Bottom 3 in the GP. Glasgow would do ok in the GP alright. Zebre are Div 2 standard. Treviso - would be as good as Newcastle and Worcester and Sale.

Its not a point we're going to win on. If we can get Top 6 Rabo qualification with equitable split of cash we should grab it. This crack of a country being guaranteed entry isn't a runner anymore.

''Appeasement is feeding the crocodile in the hope that he'll eat you last.''
- Winston Churchill.

[Yatenga]

Paul Rees in todays Guardian/Observer:
"ERC takes a different view in a dispute that was ostensibly about the qualification process for the Heineken Cup and the division of money but can be seen clearly now as a battle for control. The French and English clubs want the same autonomy they have been given in domestic rugby."
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...tournament-erc
Some of the reporting on this in English press has been either naive or disingenuous, and now they realize whats really going on?

[Thomond78]

It does look like the penny's dropping. Mind you, McCafferty dropped the veil, there: anyone can join so long as we run it.

And that the Irish provinces are so linked to the union they're entirely owned by the IRFU, with Philip Browne as a director and, often, a registered address as IRFU HQ (as five minutes and €6 on cro.ie would tell you), still does not seem to register.

[The Word Is Born]

You really have to wonder about the French. Things like la fourchette and bag grabbing are deemed to be within the rules and part of their culture yet ankle tapping is seen as something akin to torturing animals.

[No. 16]

I don't have to wonder at all about the French. It seems fairly typical for them actually.

[exiled to connacht]

I've being following the conversation between our French guest and your good selves.
One thing jumps out from it.in order to keep the PRL and LNR from walking away, either to form their own competition or just not participate, reform in terms of financial dividend, board makeup and format is required. Our hand is weak ATM because our competition is weak in terms of finance and structure which means we rely on hec too much ATM.
Everyone is concentrating on the format and whether it should be 6/6/6, 8/8/8 etc. I say give the ground here. Concede a 6/6/6 + 2 format solely on merit. However the PRL and LNR continue to state that game development is one of their main aims. Therefore the bottom line for pro12 unions must be a 30/30/10/10/10/10 financial split. This gives the Scottish and Italian unions the extra financial support to have a fighting chance of Heineken cup qualification on foot of their own performance. It puts the irish, welsh and English clubs/regions on an equal financial dividend to help retain competition and the LNR increase their share by 6% overall.
On the control issue I would advocate reducing representation of the pro 12 unions to one rep per union plus the CEO of pro12. The LNR and PRL would have a seat on board as would the RFU and FFR. In addition sponsorship and Tv contracts would be negotiated and agreed under a new finance comitee comprising of the CEO of PRL, LNR , ERC and PRO12. In the unlikely event of a stalemate the erc board would make final decision.
An election of new chairman etc would be necessary on setting up new board.
I think that scenarios such as above are the direction that this is going.
While it may be true that the IRB will not sanction a new breakaway competition its equally true that they can't force them to play in existing one.

[exiled to connacht]

I should add that a disciplinary comitee comprising of 1 rep per league should also be set up. I think that our French friend Jos will find that it will be no more sympathetic to the type of offences that he highlights as injustices than the current system.