European Club Rugby
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La Rochelle boss Ronan O'Gara has been given a touchline ban for Sunday's Investec Champions Cup opener against Leinster.
The former Ireland fly-half has been handed a one-match suspension by the French National League for ill discipline during last month's Top 14 defeat by Racing 92.
It is O'Gara's fifth suspension from the league since he took over as La Rochelle's director of rugby in 2021, amounting to 21 weeks of punishment.
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@Daffy-Jaffy said in NH club rugby:
La Rochelle boss Ronan O'Gara has been given a touchline ban for Sunday's Investec Champions Cup opener against Leinster.
The former Ireland fly-half has been handed a one-match suspension by the French National League for ill discipline during last month's Top 14 defeat by Racing 92.
It is O'Gara's fifth suspension from the league since he took over as La Rochelle's director of rugby in 2021, amounting to 21 weeks of punishment.
He genuinely needs to pull head in a bit if he wants to get an internayional team gig doesn't he?
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@Daffy-Jaffy Irish 10s huh!
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A decent weekend of European Cup rugby up here, Quins game was v good this evening. Surprising to see the English clubs do so well, the concentration of talent this season as a result of two clubs going bust may have something to do with it.
Apart from the quality of the rugby though, another thing stands out and thatโs just how low the attendances are. Scary really. I blame the English clubs for fucking up the Heineken Cup in the first place but I think there is something more worrying going on. After 8 rounds of the Premiership the attendances are way way down on last season. Could be the World Cup causing fatigue but I doubt it, could be cost of living issues, could be price gouging by the likes of Bath and Quins, but the fact that Northampton vs Leicester wasnโt sold out a few weeks ago is a huge concern
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@Dodge For comparison, if possible, could you post a few of those crowd numbers?
I found these crowd numbers of the first round of the Japan League One competition (Division 1). I have no idea whether those crowd numbers are high, or not, as I have no idea what the numbers were in previous years.
Kobelco Kobe Steelers 80-15 Mie Honda Heat (11,419 spectators)
Mitsubishi Sagamihara Dynaboars 30-29 Hanazono Kintetsu Liners (7,852)
Brave Lupus Tokyo 43-30 Shizuoka Blue Revs (11,553)
Toyota Verblitz 15-8 Black Rams Tokyo (9,059)
Kubota Spears Tokyo-Bay 26-52 Tokyo Sungoliath (18,110)
Saitama Wild Knights 53-12 Yokohama Canon Eagles (12,582)
What would be interesting to know is whether the lower crowd numbers in the Premiership are offset by increased tv viewership, similar to what happened in Super Rugby. With the high cost of living and expensive ticket prices, watching from home is attractive financially as you can watch more games for less. -
Not just Bath and Quins. Dearest available ticket for Exeter v Munster is ยฃ70. Plus of course we are top of the expensive pasty table.
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๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Leicester 19,439
โ๏ธ Munster 18,908
๐ซ๐ท Toulouse 18,750
๐ซ๐ท La Rochelle 16,700
๐ฟ๐ฆ Bulls 15,157
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Bath 13,918
๐ซ๐ท Toulon 13,033
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Bristol 12,446
๐ซ๐ท Racing 9,385
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ Glasgow 6,579
๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ Sale 6,432
โ๏ธ Connacht 6,024Bath had the closest to capacity crowd I think. I saw a stat about Ospreys, apparently only c3,500 turned up, they used to get >10k at home in Europe.
Those numbers are in the same ball park as English League 1 football - the third tier. Canโt speak to tv viewers but my guess is that there are fewer TNT subscribers than there were Sky subscribers when they used to cover the rugby.
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@Dodge , I caught a couple of those games on weekend, Sarries ,Quins and I think Tigers playing their matches, I have to say do enjoy the comp up there (mind you I pushed to not enjoy any rugby) and even Mrs who saw bits was commenting that crowds looked bloody good.
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@Machpants said in NH club rugby:
Arundel turns down larger offer first ever dual contact from RFU/Bath, and stays with racing. For less money and no option of an England shirt. A bit of a slap in the face
Says a lot about the current England environment I feel.
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Big Lesters first start (on the right wing) for Toulon v Northampton Saints, live Sky Sport 1 Saturday morning at 8:55am.
