premership set to make way for world cup

[samtiger]

This has to be good news for the premership and tigers

http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/ ... 57263.html

[Snorbins]

sounds like a good slot for the Lower Value Cup (or whatever it is in 2015).

[BJ.]

As I've mentioned elsewhere, in 2007 the French Top 14 season didn't start until 26/27 Oct, i.e. the weekend after the RWC final and it finished with the play-off final on 28 Jun. RWC2015 is currently scheduled to run 4 Sep - 17 Oct which means we could also delay the start of the Premiership until 24/25 Oct and, don't forget, our league season is 4 matches shorter than that in France.

So, play the LV Cup during RWC2015 and the 2015-16 Premiership season would finish only a week or two later than it does now.

[fleabane]

Thinking of filling one of the vacancies at HQ, BJ?

[BJ.]

Thinking of filling one of the vacancies at HQ, BJ?

They couldn't afford me, mate.
Also, after working from home full-time for the past seven years, I'll be damned if I'm going to start commuting to London again.

[Smurphswillgetya]

This has to be good news for the premership and tigers

http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/ ... 57263.html

Good news for Tigers - dont be silly. If you look at the articles what will determine dates etc is keeping the southern hemisphere happy and quote "there is no reason why Quins, London Irish, Saracens and Wasps couldn't play at home on Friday night and we could help drive spectators to all four of those clubs". London-centric or what!

[me2]

I had a feeling that current RWC requirements are that domestic rugby has to stop during the RWC and that it is only allowed to go ahead if special dispensation is sought from RWCL & IRB.

Therefore I think this is an attempt by PRL to try to gain good publicity from something they have little control over. They are suggesting that they will voluntarily stop the Premiership during the RWC pool stages whereas I think it is more likely that they will be forced to stop the Prem for the RWC and they are more likely going to request dispensation to play during the pool stages.

Either way, if they start the Prem before the RWC (and freeze it during the tournament) then all English clubs will still be missing their internationals for the first stage as players will be training with their countries.

If they delay the start of the Prem until after the RWC there will be lots more midweek games at the business end of the season, thus risking burn-out and/or risking injury to players who may end up playing multiple club games only a few days apart at the end of a long season.

My favoured stance would be for the clubs to bite the bullet for one season and accept a drop in revenues for a year by sacrificing the LV Cup. They may even be able to argue for increased RFU funding to reduce the revenue gap in return for contributing to the international cause by reducing the risk of burnout or injury by dropping the cup for a year.


However I can't see the clubs agreeing to giving up a cash-cow tournament for a year & I can't see the RFU giving up any of their revenue to fill the gap.

[kingol22]

My favoured stance would be for the clubs to bite the bullet for one season and accept a drop in revenues for a year by sacrificing the LV Cup. They may even be able to argue for increased RFU funding to reduce the revenue gap in return for contributing to the international cause by reducing the risk of burnout or injury by dropping the cup for a year.

I think the fact it has a HC place makes this unlikely as teams who are likely to be scrapping for 1 or 2 HC places will block this. Maybe allow the LV to go on during the WC although that would only be possible if the Rabo followed the Prem in delaying the start.