SA players angry at excessive URC travel

Oh dear:

Due mostly to financial considerations implicit in staging a competition that encompasses two hemispheres and entails so much regular inter-continental travel, the South African coaches and players aren’t experiencing what they thought they had signed up for. And increasingly, it is becoming a talking point among them and a source of frustration.

STORMERS TAKE MORE THAN 40 HOURS TO GET TO GLASGOW

The DHL Stormers left Cape Town on Monday night for Glasgow, where they play their next URC game on Sunday. At mid-morning on Wednesday, well over 40 hours after departure, they were still in transit at London’s Heathrow Airport waiting for a connecting flight to the Scottish city.

Apparently, some of the players, particularly the bigger ones who have been forced into cramped economy-class seats on the long journey from Cape Town via Johannesburg and Doha, were visibly angry and frustrated. For it wasn’t a once-off. It happens a couple of times in the space of a couple of weeks now.

Still, on the bright side, it looks like the Bulls will be sending a 2nd string side to Belfast to help Ulster out.

https://supersport.com/rugby/united-rugby-championship/news/84c26839-3294-4207-8354-651c603df8d9/opinion-a-resolution-is-needed-for-sa-s-european-travel-challenge

Purely speculation on my part but SA teams will endure the URC travel until they are admitted into the 6N and then once they get their share of the European TV money that will fund an expanded Currie cup competition as their main domestic competition. A win win.

VODACOM BULLS TOURING SQUAD:

FORWARDS (17): Simphiwe Matanzima, Johan Grobbelaar, Mornay Smith, Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje(c), Marco van Staden, Cyle Brink, Elrigh Louw, Gerhard Steenekamp, Bismarck Du Plessis, Sebastian Lombard, Janko Swanepoel, Reinhardt Ludwig, WJ Steenkamp, Dylan Smith, Tiaan Lange, and Nizaam Carr.

BACKS (11): Zak Burger, Embrose Papier, Johan Goosen, Chris Smith, Bernard van der Linde, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Cornal Hendricks, Wandisile Simelane, Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse.

Bulls are playing Dragons in Newport first and this is their touring squad. Shy of 2 or 3 but not their 2nd string. Compare that with the team that played Exeter...

Absolute joke of a league:

https://twitter.com/jaredwright17/status/1611278895872876545

Just don't watch it then. Watch another game. Watch another league. Watch another sport.

RugbyFan100 wrote:Absolute joke of a league:

https://twitter.com/jaredwright17/status/1611278895872876545

You know that the other franchises have rotated in Europe in order to prioritise the league right? You've just posted a story about the excessive travel and are now given out about rotated teams, like what?

If the SA teams hadn't been invited into the joke league, it wouldn't be a problem. It has ruined domestic European rugby.

RugbyFan100 wrote:If the SA teams hadn't been invited into the joke league, it wouldn't be a problem. It has ruined domestic European rugby.

Then our teams could've been in danger of going bust like in the prem. I was against SA joining the URC but you can't deny the league has been at its absolute best this year. Thinking that teams are going to put out first 15s in every game they play is absolute fallacy and that goes for France and England, let alone a league with multiple nations in it. Surely you know this by now?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:If the SA teams hadn't been invited into the joke league, it wouldn't be a problem. It has ruined domestic European rugby.

Then our teams could've been in danger of going bust like in the prem. I was against SA joining the URC but you can't deny the league has been at its absolute best this year. Thinking that teams are going to put out first 15s in every game they play is absolute fallacy and that goes for France and England, let alone a league with multiple nations in it. Surely you know this by now?

Do teams in the French and English leagues often put out 2nd string XVs for games outside test windows?

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:If the SA teams hadn't been invited into the joke league, it wouldn't be a problem. It has ruined domestic European rugby.

Then our teams could've been in danger of going bust like in the prem. I was against SA joining the URC but you can't deny the league has been at its absolute best this year. Thinking that teams are going to put out first 15s in every game they play is absolute fallacy and that goes for France and England, let alone a league with multiple nations in it. Surely you know this by now?

Do teams in the French and English leagues often put out 2nd string XVs for games outside test windows?

French teams can rotate heavily for away games, especially when bottom sides are facing the big sides. Exeter rotated their squad just last weekend against Saracens away. They started a 19 year old (Greg Filisau, it was his debut too) at 8, Gloucester sent the kids versus us in Europe. The fact you don't know this is perhaps why you have such a distorted view on the realities of club rugby.

Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

Stormers and Dragons have all gone to the wall and had to be rescued by finance / union. At least 1 Italian team has too (Zebre I believe). Further back, Aironi were disolved because they went bust. But Sshhh, we're not allowed to mention all this. Only the English have financial troubles.

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

Stormers and Dragons have all gone to the wall and had to be rescued by finance / union. At least 1 Italian team has too (Zebre I believe). Further back, Aironi were disolved because they went bust. But Sshhh, we're not allowed to mention all this. Only the English have financial troubles.

Non of those teams mentioned have failed to fulfil fixtures in the last 5 years. Nice try though.

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

Stormers and Dragons have all gone to the wall and had to be rescued by finance / union. At least 1 Italian team has too (Zebre I believe). Further back, Aironi were disolved because they went bust. But Sshhh, we're not allowed to mention all this. Only the English have financial troubles.

Non of those teams mentioned have failed to fulfil fixtures in the last 5 years. Nice try though.

Erm, because there's no relegation genius.

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

Stormers and Dragons have all gone to the wall and had to be rescued by finance / union. At least 1 Italian team has too (Zebre I believe). Further back, Aironi were disolved because they went bust. But Sshhh, we're not allowed to mention all this. Only the English have financial troubles.

Non of those teams mentioned have failed to fulfil fixtures in the last 5 years. Nice try though.

Erm, because there's no relegation genius.

What? Those teams are still in existence. You realise that right? "Genius"

Any chance of getting it back to travel? There seem to be 2 main issues that exacerbate the situation for the South African clubs - the extra travel because of the Champions Cup games (not strictly the URCs problem) and the flights being via Doha. Do the Irish/Welsh/Scottish/Italian teams fly to SA by this circuitous route? If not, why do the SA teams do so, and should the anger not be directed at the teams managers?

No doubt the issue is money and it will be interesting to see if the benefits of being involved with the Champions Cup outweigh the costs.

The players are right.  
I can tell you the international players fly direct to/from SA.  If some idiot (it's likely some clerk) set up travel contracts to go through Qatar, or anywhere really, for either the Euro or URC Rugby, they are on crack and should be terminated.  And the people who approved the contract need to go as well since they don't give a rats ars* about the players.  Making a connection and putting them in economy?  Makes my head want to explode.  Professionally speaking.

This puts even more steress and strain on players than they already have with the large numbers of games currently played.  Also, spending that long on planes, even if they can get out and walk around their connection airport, doesn't change anything.  

Who does this?

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

Stormers and Dragons have all gone to the wall and had to be rescued by finance / union. At least 1 Italian team has too (Zebre I believe). Further back, Aironi were disolved because they went bust. But Sshhh, we're not allowed to mention all this. Only the English have financial troubles.

Non of those teams mentioned have failed to fulfil fixtures in the last 5 years. Nice try though.

Erm, because there's no relegation genius.

What? Those teams are still in existence. You realise that right? "Genius"

So are the English ones. You're not posting in good faith if you are denying URC clubs have gone to the wall. That 's on you.

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:

LeinsterFan4life wrote:

RugbyFan100 wrote:Your head is in the sand. Domestic European rugby is ruined, other than in France and Engand.

English rugby is in chaos right now, like do you even follow rugby??? So you've accepted that other leagues rotate? Cool.

English Premeirship rugby has had fewer clubs go bust than the URC in the last 5 years. But as usual that fact is ignored.

Who has gone bust in the last 5 years?

Stormers and Dragons have all gone to the wall and had to be rescued by finance / union. At least 1 Italian team has too (Zebre I believe). Further back, Aironi were disolved because they went bust. But Sshhh, we're not allowed to mention all this. Only the English have financial troubles.

Non of those teams mentioned have failed to fulfil fixtures in the last 5 years. Nice try though.

Erm, because there's no relegation genius.

What? Those teams are still in existence. You realise that right? "Genius"

So are the English ones. You're not posting in good faith if you are denying URC clubs have gone to the wall. That 's on you.

So Wasps and Wuss have fixtures this weekend? Your definition of "going to the wall" must be completely different to mine. Comparing the Stormers, who just had an attendance of over 30k, in round 10 and are one of the finest club sides in world rugby to Wasps and Worcester is laughable at best, intentionally disingenuous at worst.

I recall abut 10 years ago the Sharks tried to pull off what is almost unthinkable.  In Super Rugby (2012?) they had the 6th spot in the Super Rugby playoffs.  They flew from SA to Brisbane to play Queensland.  The next week, back to SA to play Stormers.  Winning both of those, they flew back across, even longer to play Chiefs in NZ, where they had nothing in the tank and got schtupped.    

Point being, the excessive time in planes, changing planes in airports, radically different time zones, and so on made this an impossible ask.  If they had beaten the Chiefs, I think it would have been one of the real incredible sports achievements of endurance and guts.  Can't imagine they were flown in coach all that way (but don't know it).

So the travel north and south in the GMT and neighboring time zones should be much simpler.  It  - should - be non-stop which would minimise the impact of time change and time on the planes.  Just keep people hydrated and let them sleep.  How hard is this?

Temporary ban handed out, for the attack. That was unnecessary and really poor form. In fact, I’ve just noticed it was two posts.

People might not agree with posters, but for some reason they feel the need to jump on a thread and disrupt the site more than the original post does. The bad posters aren’t the ones who post differing opinions to yours. Thankfully there are some good posts on here, where there’s a bit of discussion.

RF might have differing views to a lot of people on here, but they have every right to express them (they stay within the rules too, unlike those who respond). For some reason, those who have issues with them feel like they have to try comment. The correct thing to do if you don’t like the poster, is avoid the thread.

There was no attack, just pointing out why rugbyfan100 might be so upset

You don't think constantly calling something a joke league on every thread about the URC is inflamatory and likely done to provoke such responses Risca?

Having a different opinion is one thing but the way it is expressed is constantly disrespectful to the league, to it's fans and to other teams. See the sarcastic 'genius' at the end of a RF post above to Leinster Fan for example, their thinly veiled shot at Ulster in the original post despite the fact the same team also plays the Dragons and the repeated calling of the league Joke League instead of URC with no thought out or reasoned argument just a slag of the league.

This isn't just on this thread, they have done this constantly on every URC thread to the point where I don't even bother posting a thread on URC anymore because I know what it will become, it sucks the enjoyment out of the forum for all the fans who legitimately want to come and debate rugby issues, results etc when they can't even post a thread about a league because they know a few posters will turn up calling the league a joke, saying inflamatory things and have the whole thing descend into chaos.

I generally don't get involved in this kind of thing as I am just here to have a bit of a debate and chat about rugby issues and don't need the hassle in my life but something needed to be said.

I agree with Neil.

Funny how RugbyFan100 is allowed to repeatedly allowed to make snide comments about the league in general and Ulster rugby in particular
Whilst PhilBB gets off scot free with his insults when he continues to post falsehoods about Irish finances and they are pointed out to him, that latest being regarding Kitshoff salary.

To be respected as a Moderator I suggest you treat people of all Nations equally

geoff999rugby wrote:I agree with Neil.

Funny how RugbyFan100 is allowed to repeatedly allowed to make snide comments about the league in general and Ulster rugby in particular
Whilst PhilBB gets off scot free with his insults when he continues to post falsehoods about Irish finances and they are pointed out to him, that latest being regarding Kitshoff salary.

To be respected as a Moderator I suggest you treat people of all Nations equally

Phil isn’t around any more, so it shows what you know.

I couldn’t care less if you respect me as a moderator. But it does prove my point about who actually breaks site rules like you just have.

neilthom7 wrote:You don't think constantly calling something a joke league on every thread about the URC is inflamatory and likely done to provoke such responses Risca?

Having a different opinion is one thing but the way it is expressed is constantly disrespectful to the league, to it's fans and to other teams.  See the sarcastic 'genius' at the end of a RF post above to Leinster Fan for example, their thinly veiled shot at Ulster in the original post despite the fact the same team also plays the Dragons and the repeated calling of the league Joke League instead of URC with no thought out or reasoned argument just a slag of the league.

This isn't just on this thread, they have done this constantly on every URC thread to the point where I don't even bother posting a thread on URC anymore because I know what it will become, it sucks the enjoyment out of the forum for all the fans who legitimately want to come and debate rugby issues, results etc when they can't even post a thread about a league because they know a few posters will turn up calling the league a joke, saying inflamatory things and have the whole thing descend into chaos.

I generally don't get involved in this kind of thing as I am just here to have a bit of a debate and chat about rugby issues and don't need the hassle in my life but something needed to be said.

Neil, thank you for this post. I have said before that it would be a lot easier to take action against a poster, if they are the only ones doing anything wrong. People knew what this thread was going to be about, so why do so many feel the need to chirp up? Nobody had to read it.

I have noticed that you have stopped doing round threads. If they get disrupted, then the appropriate action would be taken. But I am also trying to keep an eye on threads, whilst being away for four months, or working and things can get missed. Or otherwise people have got involved too much and then it’s impossible to take action.

RiscaGame wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:I agree with Neil.

Funny how RugbyFan100 is allowed to repeatedly allowed to make snide comments about the league in general and Ulster rugby in particular
Whilst PhilBB gets off scot free with his insults when he continues to post falsehoods about Irish finances and they are pointed out to him, that latest being regarding Kitshoff salary.

To be respected as a Moderator I suggest you treat people of all Nations equally

Phil isn’t around any more, so it shows what you know.

I couldn’t care less if you respect me as a moderator. But it does prove my point about who actually breaks site rules like you just have.

PhilBB comes and goes as you well know.

The point is he was not picked up his attacks.

To be clear all I want is even handiness.
To say my post breaks the rules but those I refer to, apparently do not, is a response that I find truly bizarre

geoff999rugby wrote:

RiscaGame wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:I agree with Neil.

Funny how RugbyFan100 is allowed to repeatedly allowed to make snide comments about the league in general and Ulster rugby in particular
Whilst PhilBB gets off scot free with his insults when he continues to post falsehoods about Irish finances and they are pointed out to him, that latest being regarding Kitshoff salary.

To be respected as a Moderator I suggest you treat people of all Nations equally

Phil isn’t around any more, so it shows what you know.

I couldn’t care less if you respect me as a moderator. But it does prove my point about who actually breaks site rules like you just have.

PhilBB comes and goes as you well know.

The point is he was not picked up his attacks.

To be clear all I want is even handiness.
To say my post breaks the rules but those I refer to, apparently do not, is a response that I find truly bizarre

Phil is banned, but that’s none of your business. Another Welsh poster is banned. Again, it shows how you’re totally barking up the wrong tree.

Your post does break site rules. You’re not supposed to question moderators, as you have. Neil has it spot on with how he responded.

It’s funny how apparently these posters are breaking site rules, but I also don’t see reports.

As Risca stated.....posting negitive comments about a league or club is hardly a banning offence lads.

If you don't feel like you can take the negativity, try the block function.....it works a treat.

Attacking a poster for his views is likely to end with time on the naughty step.

RiscaGame wrote:

neilthom7 wrote:You don't think constantly calling something a joke league on every thread about the URC is inflamatory and likely done to provoke such responses Risca?

Having a different opinion is one thing but the way it is expressed is constantly disrespectful to the league, to it's fans and to other teams.  See the sarcastic 'genius' at the end of a RF post above to Leinster Fan for example, their thinly veiled shot at Ulster in the original post despite the fact the same team also plays the Dragons and the repeated calling of the league Joke League instead of URC with no thought out or reasoned argument just a slag of the league.

This isn't just on this thread, they have done this constantly on every URC thread to the point where I don't even bother posting a thread on URC anymore because I know what it will become, it sucks the enjoyment out of the forum for all the fans who legitimately want to come and debate rugby issues, results etc when they can't even post a thread about a league because they know a few posters will turn up calling the league a joke, saying inflamatory things and have the whole thing descend into chaos.

I generally don't get involved in this kind of thing as I am just here to have a bit of a debate and chat about rugby issues and don't need the hassle in my life but something needed to be said.

Neil, thank you for this post. I have said before that it would be a lot easier to take action against a poster, if they are the only ones doing anything wrong. People knew what this thread was going to be about, so why do so many feel the need to chirp up? Nobody had to read it.

I have noticed that you have stopped doing round threads. If they get disrupted, then the appropriate action would be taken. But I am also trying to keep an eye on threads, whilst being away for four months, or working and things can get missed. Or otherwise people have got involved too much and then it’s impossible to take action.

Appreciate that Risca, certainly not easy to mod things, I've done it before when it was part of my actual job so I can appreciate the work put in especially when it's not your job and you have other things to be doing too.

Hopefully we can all just move on and perhaps just ignore some people. Certainly I plan to start the URC threads again and do just that.

Well said Neil, I couldn't agree more.
Risca, apologies, I do realise you've better things to be doing than putting me on the naughty step but that particular troll invades every thread with the same rubbish, especially Ulster threads. Another PhilBB if ever I saw one.

Speaking of URC threads, do we still have one? There were some cracking games on this weekend. Much to be discussed and many refs to be blamed .

Great win for us down at the Arms Park, really good first half performance but still giving away silly penalties & yellow cards! Hoping we can kick on now this season having won 4 of our last 5 matches. Hopefully a BP win in one of our next 2 European games will be enough to get us through as pool winners & avoid the Champions Cup drop outs.

And getting bested by Cardiff in the scrum isn't great either, considering they get bested there by teams who have their front 5 in order. Scarlets probably have some of the best NWQ players they've ever had, just seems to be going to waste as these guys won't be around much longer, either getting picked off by other teams or retiring. If Elias is off (hopefully he is) I think a NWQ is needed at 1 and 2, and perhaps a better lock in place of Price as Fifita strikes me as more of a back-row. Haven't seen much of Morgan Jones recently, not sure why.

mikey_dragon wrote:And getting bested by Cardiff in the scrum isn't great either, considering they get bested there by teams who have their front 5 in order. Scarlets probably have some of the best NWQ players they've ever had, just seems to be going to waste as these guys won't be around much longer, either getting picked off by other teams or retiring. If Elias is off (hopefully he is) I think a NWQ is needed at 1 and 2, and perhaps a better lock in place of Price as Fifita strikes me as more of a back-row. Haven't seen much of Morgan Jones recently, not sure why.

Yeah we are really missing Wyn Jones at the moment, hopefully he will be back soon. Rumour has it we are looking at a couple of locks from South Africa from next season which will help the front 5 no end. Morgan Jones has been on the bench recently, Louisi & Fifita have been nailed on starters so hard to move them. Long term I see Fifita as our out & out 6.

You would assume Wyn Jones will be back in the Wales mix so I'd still be looking around on that side of the scrum. Hope you guys keep Lousi and Fifita, they are central to how Scarlets want to play. Both are cracking players. Fifita going to 6 makes sense as he's younger than Shingler who might be looking to wind down his career (still better than Lydiate though).

mikey_dragon wrote:You would assume Wyn Jones will be back in the Wales mix so I'd still be looking around on that side of the scrum. Hope you guys keep Lousi and Fifita, they are central to how Scarlets want to play. Both are cracking players. Fifita going to 6 makes sense as he's younger than Shingler who might be looking to wind down his career (still better than Lydiate though).

Shingler, like Ken Owens, is like a player reborn at the moment. Carwyn had by far his best game for us too.

I think we are losing Sebastian this summer & I would be amazed if we give WGJ a new contract to we may sign Wainwright on a permanent deal.

Was going to say I suspect Sebastian might move on, so it would make sense to try and keep Wainwright on a permanent deal. WGJ has been disappointing, but not a bad 2nd or 3rd choice to have.

I guess it all depends on how much money he is on. I really don't think we will see Samson Lee playing again so that would leave WGJ, O'Connor & Wainwright & any academy prospects.

Yeah so maybe you need a premier TH but not sure if they can afford it. I doubt Samson Lee will be the only one to retire; Johnny Williams, Leon Brown, Ollie Griffiths, Gareth Anscombe could follow... I thought Eddie James looked like a good prospect for you, a 13 too.

Johnny isn't far off a return, he was meant to feature on the weekend but wasn't quite ready. I imagine we may see him in the next couple of games.

Yeah Eddie looked really sharp, hoping he can make the 13 shirt his & fingers crossed could form a partnership with Johnny for the next few years.

RugbyFan100 wrote:Oh dear:

Apparently, some of the players, particularly the bigger ones who have been forced into cramped economy-class seats on the long journey from Cape Town via Johannesburg and Doha, were visibly angry and frustrated. For it wasn’t a once-off. It happens a couple of times in the space of a couple of weeks now.

Still, on the bright side, it looks like the Bulls will be sending a 2nd string side to Belfast to help Ulster out.

https://supersport.com/rugby/united-rugby-championship/news/84c26839-3294-4207-8354-651c603df8d9/opinion-a-resolution-is-needed-for-sa-s-european-travel-challenge

Interestingly, the Bulls were the only SA side to win at the weekend. Looks like their B team has sufficient quality to compete.  The Glasgow v Stormers game was a great watch with the last minute try giving the win to the Scots amid lots of plaudits.  

SA, Wales, Ireland, Italy and Scotland all now have teams in top 10 with chances to make the qualifiers.  Over 830,000 fans attending games apparently after latest round.

geoff999rugby wrote:
Whilst PhilBB gets off scot free with his insults when he continues to post falsehoods about Irish finances and they are pointed out to him, that latest being regarding Kitshoff salary.

Just to point out here that all that poster did, was repeat what figure was mentioned in the relevant article. There was no making up of any figures.

And secondly, no I don't like the URC. I believe it's a faux competition that is run extremely poorly to benefit Unions not clubs. I believe it directly hinders my club. That's the cub I have had a season ticket for, and have done for nearly 30 years. Even this fact was questioned by someone on here as I was accused of "supposedly supporting a side". Yes I put my money in my pocket and support a Welsh side. And yes I was sarcastic in this thread, apologies - that's something I've taken on board and will not be doing again. It would be nice if some posters recognised some facts though, instead of outright denial of them.

So just because some don't have to care about the precarious situation your club finds itself in every year, because you're club is bankrolled by a Union, it doesn't mean that others should stop commenting on what they believe in. I.e - the URC directly killing clubs that aren't owned by Unions as they don't have control over revenue streams. That's my opinion, and I will keep trotting it out because my club deserves to thrive not die. Life is alot easier once you realise some people have opinions that differ to yours.

Thanks

Why does your club deserve to thrive though?

Thats a really weird position rugby fan when the welsh sides in the URC are not completely union owned are they?  and the unions with directly owned clubs are doing well?

Its almost as if the welsh structure is the issue not the URC

without the URC where would your club be playing?

RugbyFan100 wrote:

geoff999rugby wrote:
Whilst PhilBB gets off scot free with his insults when he continues to post falsehoods about Irish finances and they are pointed out to him, that latest being regarding Kitshoff salary.

... I don't like the URC. I believe it's a faux competition that is run extremely poorly to benefit Unions not clubs. I believe it directly hinders my club.

So just because some don't have to care about the precarious situation your club finds itself in every year, because you're club is bankrolled by a Union, it doesn't mean that others should stop commenting on what they believe in. I.e - the URC directly killing clubs that aren't owned by Unions as they don't have control over revenue streams. That's my opinion, and I will keep trotting it out because my club deserves to thrive not die. Life is alot easier once you realise some people have opinions that differ to yours.

Thanks

Rugby fan - I'd argue that the URC is comparatively well run - in particular to benefit the Union owners of the competition.  That's who established it, that's who has developed it, and continue to manage it with a professional executive in place.   Could it improve further?  Of course it could.   Is the league directly killing clubs owned by private benefactors?  I don't believe so.  

Each of the unions spends monies on its pro game as they see fit.  And the teams they put forward to participate in the competition are dependent on funds coming from their union to support their playing and development activities within their respective union boundaries and their regional areas.   Some of the teams are better off than others - mainly due to the finances they can generate themselves through private monies/sponsorships and fan income via gates and merchandising.  If some teams appear to receive more monies from their union than others do, that's an issue for the relevant union - not the league.   If the shareholders ultimately decide to uniformly cap spending on their respective teams - in some form or shape - that's a decision by the league owners for the league.  

You should be in no doubt whatsoever that your opinion of the league is well-aired, constantly communicated and understood.  It's not as if anyone else here is not unaware of your viewpoint.   You don't like the league in any way, shape or form.   And you'll continue saying so.   That's your prerogative.