NH club rugby
-
@stargazer said in NH club rugby:
Not sure where else to post this:
Life breathed into Jaguares as surprise new destination potentially emerges for Argentina's rugby franchise
The latest reports out of Ireland suggest that top-tier rugby may not be off the table for Argentina's unfortunate Jaguares.
Oh FFS.
Nothing against the Jaguares, great team, but the Pro 14 looks hell bent on re-enacting the mistakes made by Super Rugby. Limitless expansion, more and more countries involved, fewer local derbies, rising supporter apathy, you know the rest.
-
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
@stargazer said in NH club rugby:
Not sure where else to post this:
Life breathed into Jaguares as surprise new destination potentially emerges for Argentina's rugby franchise
The latest reports out of Ireland suggest that top-tier rugby may not be off the table for Argentina's unfortunate Jaguares.
Oh FFS.
Nothing against the Jaguares, great team, but the Pro 14 looks hell bent on re-enacting the mistakes made by Super Rugby. Limitless expansion, more and more countries involved, fewer local derbies, rising supporter apathy, you know the rest.
100%
-
-
Ha, Lomu made it into the all time Cardiff highlights
-
@gibbonrib Whats your thoughts on it, if any?
I think there may be similarities to the transition of NPC to Super. I think we were all once hardcore NPC fans & that has now seriously diminished. However, if super rugby was to die & NPC players had the All Blacks back in it, it would take less than 30 seconds for all of us to revert back to being passionate NPC fans.
Is there parallels here with Wales?
-
@majorrage
I reckon there are some parallels, but some differences too. (Disclaimer: I know SFA about NZ provincial rugby, and I'm pretty out of touch with Welsh club rugby having left a long time ago).Welsh club rugby used to be super intense, South Wales is a ridiculously small place, you can drive 100km from Newport to Llanelli, and you'd go through or right past Cardiff, Caerphilly, Pontypridd, Bridgend, Neath, Swansea. The top 50 clubs in Wales in the amateur era were probably all in the southern 50km of the country. So loads of very strong rivalries squashed into a very small area.
But the introduction of "regional" rugby burned a lot of people. Partly because it was handled really badly, and partly because the rugby landscape in Wales was totally unsuited to lumping areas together. (Ireland was incredibly lucky to have the traditional 4 provinces ready made). So I think a lot of the old fans have been lost to the game - people who followed Bridgend, Pontypool, Newport etc. If somehow we went back to a 10 or 12 team league I don't think the support would be there any more for those clubs. In contrast there are probably more people than even who support Wales first and foremost and don't really follow a club below that. -
@majorrage
I think it's a positive thing, on the whole. Cardiff Blues never really worked. It was a weird chimera,
kind of pretending not to be Cardiff RFC so they could represent the wider "region", but still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
They should have just embraced the Cardiff RFC identity from the start, much like happened in Llanelli. It's rough on the smaller clubs that don't get to have a seat at the top table, but that's just the cold reality of profesionalism.
But better late than never. I reckon there will be a huge buzz at Cardiff Arms Park next season when they run out in black and blue hoops. -
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
@majorrage
I think it's a positive thing, on the whole. Cardiff Blues never really worked. It was a weird chimera,
kind of pretending not to be Cardiff RFC so they could represent the wider "region", but still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
They should have just embraced the Cardiff RFC identity from the start, much like happened in Llanelli. It's rough on the smaller clubs that don't get to have a seat at the top table, but that's just the cold reality of profesionalism.
But better late than never. I reckon there will be a huge buzz at Cardiff Arms Park next season when they run out in black and blue hoops.Agreed
I'm an Aberdare boy upriver of Cardiff.
Growing up if you were ever good enough to play first class rugby you'd bypass Ponty and head straight to Cardiff.
-
@mikethesnow
Yeah. I'm not from that part of the country (from Aberystwyth in mid Wales), but I assume that if you're from the area around Cardiff, and Cardiff became a pro team and your local team missed out, then you'd either decide to support Cardiff or you wouldn’t. Fudging it to make them the Blues wouldn't win anyone over. But if would turn off a bunch of Cardiff fans. -
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
welcome to the Super rugby sides
"We're the Waikato Chiefs, i mean The Chiefs! We are based in the Waikato, play in predominantly Waikato colours, and have mainly Waikato players, but we represent you guys from the BOP/Counties (now)/Harbour (before)/Taranaki (for some reason)! see, we included this tiny bit of your colours on our jersey. Support us! love us! and occasionally we'll throw you a home game against the worst touring side on the schedule"
-
@mariner4life said in NH club rugby:
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
welcome to the Super rugby sides
"We're the Waikato Chiefs, i mean The Chiefs! We are based in the Waikato, play in predominantly Waikato colours, and have mainly Waikato players, but we represent you guys from the BOP/Counties (now)/Harbour (before)/Taranaki (for some reason)! see, we included this tiny bit of your colours on our jersey. Support us! love us! and occasionally we'll throw you a home game against the worst touring side on the schedule"
This made me think, what unions have never had a franchise game (pre season doesn’t count) in their region. I don’t think the ‘rapa has, unless it was when I was overseas. In addition are there any unions that have never been on a franchise when it has been super rugby champ? I don’t think Taranaki has?
-
@machpants the 'naki were a millstone around the neck of the Hurricanes. They jumped ship to the Chiefs just as our period in the sun finished, which freed up the Hurricanes to then finally win one
Taranaki are a Jonah (and not the great Tongan one, the shit one that wrecks ships)
-
@machpants said in NH club rugby:
@mariner4life said in NH club rugby:
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
welcome to the Super rugby sides
"We're the Waikato Chiefs, i mean The Chiefs! We are based in the Waikato, play in predominantly Waikato colours, and have mainly Waikato players, but we represent you guys from the BOP/Counties (now)/Harbour (before)/Taranaki (for some reason)! see, we included this tiny bit of your colours on our jersey. Support us! love us! and occasionally we'll throw you a home game against the worst touring side on the schedule"
This made me think, what unions have never had a franchise game (pre season doesn’t count) in their region. I don’t think the ‘rapa has, unless it was when I was overseas. In addition are there any unions that have never been on a franchise when it has been super rugby champ? I don’t think Taranaki has?
Wairarapa used to get an annual pre-season game at Mangatainoka. Tui Brewery etc. Paddock with bleachers and hay bales etc
-
@mariner4life
OK that does sound similar to WalesI reckon the thing that NZ got right that Wales ballsed up was that you bit the bullet when the game went pro, created your Super teams and stuck with it.
In Wales we faffed around for years, and had 9 pro teams even though we lacked both the money and the cattle to properly support half that number. So fans of Bridgend, Ponty, Ebbw Vale, Caerphilly were told they could have a pro team. Then in 2003 they were told they couldn't, they'd have to pick one of the 5 new "regions" to follow. Then, just to rub salt into the wound, a year later the WRU killed off one of them, the Warriors (officially a Bridgend-Pontypridd joint team, but more generally a de facto valleys team). So those folks were pretty disillusioned by the whole thing.
If they'd just said in 1996 "sorry, we can only afford 4 teams - Bridgend, Ebbw etc you didn't make the cut" then it would have been painful but at least they'd have got it over with. Drawing it out over 8 or 10 years was a disaster.
-
@rapido said in NH club rugby:
@machpants said in NH club rugby:
@mariner4life said in NH club rugby:
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
welcome to the Super rugby sides
"We're the Waikato Chiefs, i mean The Chiefs! We are based in the Waikato, play in predominantly Waikato colours, and have mainly Waikato players, but we represent you guys from the BOP/Counties (now)/Harbour (before)/Taranaki (for some reason)! see, we included this tiny bit of your colours on our jersey. Support us! love us! and occasionally we'll throw you a home game against the worst touring side on the schedule"
This made me think, what unions have never had a franchise game (pre season doesn’t count) in their region. I don’t think the ‘rapa has, unless it was when I was overseas. In addition are there any unions that have never been on a franchise when it has been super rugby champ? I don’t think Taranaki has?
Wairarapa used to get an annual pre-season game at Mangatainoka. Tui Brewery etc. Paddock with bleachers and hay bales etc
Yeah I went to all the ones at the brewery, great fun, and there ones at Masterton. But the bush has not had a full game, not a huge surprise
-
@machpants said in NH club rugby:
@rapido said in NH club rugby:
@machpants said in NH club rugby:
@mariner4life said in NH club rugby:
@gibbonrib said in NH club rugby:
still obviously Cardiff, but not Cardiff enough so that it alienated a lot of Cardiff fans. If that sounds like a lot of garbled nonsense then that means I've accurately described it.
welcome to the Super rugby sides
"We're the Waikato Chiefs, i mean The Chiefs! We are based in the Waikato, play in predominantly Waikato colours, and have mainly Waikato players, but we represent you guys from the BOP/Counties (now)/Harbour (before)/Taranaki (for some reason)! see, we included this tiny bit of your colours on our jersey. Support us! love us! and occasionally we'll throw you a home game against the worst touring side on the schedule"
This made me think, what unions have never had a franchise game (pre season doesn’t count) in their region. I don’t think the ‘rapa has, unless it was when I was overseas. In addition are there any unions that have never been on a franchise when it has been super rugby champ? I don’t think Taranaki has?
Wairarapa used to get an annual pre-season game at Mangatainoka. Tui Brewery etc. Paddock with bleachers and hay bales etc
Yeah I went to all the ones at the brewery, great fun, and there ones at Masterton. But the bush has not had a full game, not a huge surprise
have any heartland unions had one?
