NH club rugby
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Watched Scarlets take down La Rochelle. Inexplicably Kerr-Barlow was on the bench. The LR starting 9 was pure gash
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Just looking at the latest update on Irish senior squad provincial hires, transfers and releases for 2018/19.
Ulster
In
Moore - Irl capped
Murphy Irl capped
Addison (Eng) IQ uncapped
Out
Piutau (NZ) - Bristol - capped
Herron (Eng) - Jersey Reds - uncapped
Bowe - ret.
Black (IQ) - Worcs - uncappedConnacht
In
Claffey, Gallagher, O'Donnell (Irl) - Academy
Copeland (Irl) capped
Godwin (Aus) capped
Horwitz (Aus) uncappedOut
Heenan (NZ) uncapped - Bristol
Pita Ahki (NZ) uncapped - released
Ilii (NZ) uncapped - released
Deegan (Aus) - Brumbies - capped
Dawai (Fij) - capped - released
Muldoon (Irl) - ret.
Coulson (Irl) - released
Brennan (Irl) - released
O'Toole (Irl) - released
Crosbie (Irl) - releasedLeinster
In
Larmour (Irl) Academy - capped
Out
Murphy (Irl) - Ulster - capped
Heaslip (Irl) ret.Munster
In
O'Connor, Wycherley, Nash (Irl) - academy
Beirne (Irl) uncapped
Haley (Eng) - IQ uncapped
Out
Zebo (Irl) - Racing - capped
Copeland (Irl) - Connacht - capped4 NZ leaving
1 Aus leaving
1 Fiji leaving
1 Eng leaving
2 Irish leaving Ireland
2 Irish transfer between provinces
2 Irish retired
4 Irish released2 Irish returning
2 Aus NIQ
2 Eng IQ
7 Irish academy
2 Irish transferringThe foreign player contingent seems to be changing - so far anyway
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Connacht having a cleanout.
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@antipodean said in NH club rugby:
Connacht having a cleanout.
Aye - and there’s more to leave apparently.
And up in the north, once the IRFU/Ulster Rugby complete their review of the Jackson/Olding case, I expect a few more of the lead-swingers in the squad to be gone too.
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Munster look like they’re down and out after conceding a score and are 6 points down to Toulon in the last five minutes of the European Cup quarterfinal. Trinh-Duc receives the ball from a breakdown and kicks for safety of touch on the halfway line. Except, Andrew Conway used to play GAA football and is used to fielding overhead balls. 8 seconds later, Thomond Park lifts off...
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Conway is bloody rapid! Great hands, pretty much saw the try line as soon as he caught it
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@paekakboyz said in NH club rugby:
Conway is bloody rapid! Great hands, pretty much saw the try line as soon as he caught it
He took his chance bloody well but where was the kick chase? Where was the defence?
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@catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@paekakboyz said in NH club rugby:
Conway is bloody rapid! Great hands, pretty much saw the try line as soon as he caught it
He took his chance bloody well but where was the kick chase? Where was the defence?
No no you’re doing this all wrong. Weak defence only exists in Super Rugby.
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@billy-tell said in NH club rugby:
@catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@paekakboyz said in NH club rugby:
Conway is bloody rapid! Great hands, pretty much saw the try line as soon as he caught it
He took his chance bloody well but where was the kick chase? Where was the defence?
No no you’re doing this all wrong. Weak defence only exists in Super Rugby.
Oh man, sorry. Schoolboy error.
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Brilliant game at a packed Lansdowne Road for the Leinster v Saracens QF. Raucous atmosphere for an Easter Sunday game with both sides giving it their all. It finished 30-19 to the Boys in Blue - Dan Leavy got himself a try and my Motm - he’s having a superb season. Ringrose scores early on and looks have made the 13 shirt his own.
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So it's
Champions Cup semi-finals - 21/22 April
SF1: Leinster v Scarlets - Aviva Stadium, Dublin
SF2: Racing 92 v Munster - Stade Chaban-Delmas, BordeauxNo English side for quite some time
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Leinster v Munster in Bilbao....
A tempting prospect for Irish fans.
Although as ardent Catholics, we all know temptation leads to a sin so I’ll be cheering on Scarlets and Racing.
Well nearly kinda cheering.
A little bit, in anyway. -
@pot-hale said in NH club rugby:
Leinster v Munster in Bilbao....
A tempting prospect for Irish fans.
Although as ardent Catholics, we all know temptation leads to a sin so I’ll be cheering on Scarlets and Racing.
Well nearly kinda cheering.
A little bit, in anyway.I hope it’s not an Irish derby. Great for Irish fans a bit of a yawn fest for everyone else not least because Leinster would wipe the floor with munster.
Leinster or scarlets vs racing would be my wish.
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@mikethesnow said in NH club rugby:
So it's
Champions Cup semi-finals - 21/22 April
SF1: Leinster v Scarlets - Aviva Stadium, Dublin
SF2: Racing 92 v Munster - Stade Chaban-Delmas, BordeauxNo English side for quite some time
Que?
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@catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@mikethesnow said in NH club rugby:
So it's
Champions Cup semi-finals - 21/22 April
SF1: Leinster v Scarlets - Aviva Stadium, Dublin
SF2: Racing 92 v Munster - Stade Chaban-Delmas, BordeauxNo English side for quite some time
Que?
Just pointing out that after Saracens dominance the past two seasons and losing finalist 4 seasons ago not to have an English team in the last 4 is a big change
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@mikethesnow said in NH club rugby:
@catogrande said in NH club rugby:
@mikethesnow said in NH club rugby:
So it's
Champions Cup semi-finals - 21/22 April
SF1: Leinster v Scarlets - Aviva Stadium, Dublin
SF2: Racing 92 v Munster - Stade Chaban-Delmas, BordeauxNo English side for quite some time
Que?
Just pointing out that after Saracens dominance the past two seasons and losing finalist 4 seasons ago not to have an English team in the last 4 is a big change
Ah, I read it that you thought that there hadn't been an English team for some time.
Nope, we've underachieved by a long way this season both domestically and internationally.
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Report from English Times today:
The future stability of the leading club in English rugby has been thrown into question after the South Africans who own 50 per cent of Saracens told The Times that they want to sell their stake in the club.
Saracens have been England’s top club in recent seasons. In a poor year for English teams in Europe, they were the last side left in the Champions Cup until they were knocked out by Leinster in the quarter-finals on Sunday. The success of the English club model will come under further scrutiny as Saracens join a number of others either up for sale or seeking investment.
Eleven of the 12 Premiership clubs operated at a loss last year, with Exeter Chiefs the exception. Saracens recorded losses of £2.74 million, which was a considerable improvement on previous years. Other clubs for sale, such as London Irish and Worcester Warriors, have struggled to find buyers.
Nigel Wray, the chairman and owner of the other 50 per cent of Saracens, said that his co-owners’ decision to sell will have no immediate effect as he can step in to buy them out. However, Wray is looking to the longer term and wants to persuade other investors to come forward because he cannot indefinitely be the club’s sole financial foundation.
The South Africans’ arrival at Saracens ten years ago triggered the most successful period in the club’s history. The north London side have won the Premiership three times since 2010-11 and were European champions for the past two seasons.
The investment was led by Johann Rupert, a businessman rated by Forbes, the business magazine, as the third wealthiest man in Africa with a net worth of $6.9 billion (about £4.9 billion).
The investment caused controversy due to the large number of South Africans who joined the club. Rupert wanted the ownership to provide a home for South Africans wishing to play abroad and yet maintain their links with the Springboks. However, the players who came tended, instead, to be cut off from the Springbok system. Therefore, for two reasons, the original justification for the investment no longer holds: because the number of South Africans has dwindled and because of the continuing operating losses.
When Rupert walks away, he will be writing off debts of about £25 million. However, it was not personal debts that have persuaded him to sell. The 50 per cent share is not owned by him but by a public company, Remgro, of which he is chairman and a 7 per cent shareholder.
“Remgro is a public company,” Rupert said. “Is it therefore right to support a rugby club? One should not be using public shareholders’ money for your own loves.”
The club management has always been more closely operated by Wray. “The club is really Nigel’s baby and everyone knows that,” Rupert said.
It therefore seems to make sense for Wray to buy back the 50 per cent that he sold to Remgro ten years ago. The South Africans may retain a smaller stake, though Wray has indicated that he could go back up to a short-term holding of 100 per cent.
The club are looking for two backers. One would be a property investor to help to finance the rebuilding of the west stand at Allianz Park, the club’s ground in north London. The intention is that the new west stand will generate its own income, some of which would offset the club’s losses.
That would make it a more attractive investment for a second (or more) investor(s). The Saracens ownership comes under the name of a holding company, Premier Team Holdings, whose losses in the past four financial years were £5.31 million, £3.99 million, £3.27 million and £2.74 million. The intention, with money generated by the new west stand, is that the losses will shrink to the point where the club will start to break even.
The question for Saracens is therefore twofold: will they be able to find a new buyer? And, until they do, is Wray happy to continue covering the losses required to keep a squad that can compete at the top of the game together? For now at least, Wray insists that he will stand by the club that he has done so much to build.
