Lions 2017

[darganj]

I genuinely believe 90% of people want the internationals and Lions tours to stay and would rather have less domestic rugby to allow players to recover. I love the AP but I would rather the league was 10 teams than lose any internationals or Lions tours and I'm in the tiny minority who pays extra to watch AP on BT sport!

The Varsity Match illustration was to show that club rugby isn't that popular, the RFU still fund it. I don't see FA forking out money for Football Premiership.

International rugby will always be the pinnacle as club rugby won't go to the masses. Rugby as a sport is too complicated for the average Joe to want to watch weekend in weekend out. It is still a predominantly middle class sport that barely touches north of the Midlands.

Six Nations on BBC and World Cup touch nearly everyone and most people have Sky and love the Lions, its a rare and special concept that is really exciting.

I find it bizarre you don't like the Lions, its something different and exciting

[Tiger_in_Birmingham]

I don't see an issue with saying 90% of people who ever watch rugby (at all) don't watch the Premiership, Top 14 or Pro 12. I think defining anyone who ever watches rugby as 'rugby public' is the issue.

I know a lot of people who watch Internationals (AI and 6N) and the World Cup but who wouldn't watch a club game. I suspect these people would happily have fewer club games and more internationals. I wouldn't consider them the 'rugby public' though.

For me the 'rugby public' are the people who watch games week in and week out at any level - grass roots, club, region, country. These people wouldn't want to see a rise in internationals at the cost of fewer games at other levels

[fortysix]

Unless the Suits use common sense, totally missing as we stand, the Lions concept is finished.
Who wants their player to go ?
Far far too much Rugby, all chasing the pound.....

Naughty thought, wonder if Manu , off all season no doubt, will be selected !!??

[johnthegriff]

Those that watch Rugby week in week out are the true fans, they support their team and would be upset if the number of games on their season was reduced. Those fans in the main also follow their international team and the Lions but only the wealthy get to see many of those games in the flesh. There are now too many international level matches, Autumn internationals should be limited to two and a B level or Saxons match. The 6 Nations should be played at the end of the season May/June including Saxons matches. Under 20's etc played during the normal season so as not to interfere with educational exams. Summer tours to be end June/July. New season to kick off first weekend of October. Forget the Anglo Welsh cup but insist that all Premiership teams field an A team in a full A league fixture list.
The biggest problem for clubs would be the extended close season but creative thinking may ease cash flow in that period.

[jgriffin]

Those that watch Rugby week in week out are the true fans, they support their team and would be upset if the number of games on their season was reduced. Those fans in the main also follow their international team and the Lions but only the wealthy get to see many of those games in the flesh. There are now too many international level matches, Autumn internationals should be limited to two and a B level or Saxons match. The 6 Nations should be played at the end of the season May/June including Saxons matches. Under 20's etc played during the normal season so as not to interfere with educational exams. Summer tours to be end June/July. New season to kick off first weekend of October. Forget the Anglo Welsh cup but insist that all Premiership teams field an A team in a full A league fixture list.
The biggest problem for clubs would be the extended close season but creative thinking may ease cash flow in that period.

Not bad, always wanted the A league, as well as women's team.

[ourla]

Those that watch Rugby week in week out are the true fans, they support their team and would be upset if the number of games on their season was reduced. Those fans in the main also follow their international team and the Lions but only the wealthy get to see many of those games in the flesh. There are now too many international level matches, Autumn internationals should be limited to two and a B level or Saxons match. The 6 Nations should be played at the end of the season May/June including Saxons matches. Under 20's etc played during the normal season so as not to interfere with educational exams. Summer tours to be end June/July. New season to kick off first weekend of October. Forget the Anglo Welsh cup but insist that all Premiership teams field an A team in a full A league fixture list.
The biggest problem for clubs would be the extended close season but creative thinking may ease cash flow in that period.

There has to be a global calendar.

[LE18]

JG and JTG

This week our golf club held a Q&A session with Tigers, GM, MC, RB and BoC attended, I asked why only 5 A team matches, why no A League and how did they keep such a large squad happy?

I was informed that most clubs cannot afford an A League.
When you add the LV matches you have 9 games and that is enough to keep players happy.
In addition, the squad size is reduced by dual registering some players and with injuries they cannot afford to have too many players picked for A team and then having to pull them out at last minute if an injury occurs to one of the first team in the previous first team match.
Tigers players who are not selected in the 23 are still happy!

[LittleBigG]

To be selected for a Lions tour has to be the target of all the top British and Irish players and to be picked for the test team would the pinnacle of their rugby career.

I think this is what irks me most about this tour announcement. Yes, the above should be correct, but frankly there will be a number of players going on that tour who have absolutely no chance of playing in the test team; they will only be there to make the numbers up for the other games.

The Lions should be the pinnacle of the British and Irish games but the associated cachet is being significantly diluted by these other matches.

One or two (absolute max) "warm up" games and then three against the international team would be far more prestigious.

Lions players should not have to suffix "test team" to signify their achievement.

[jgriffin]

JG and JTG

This week our golf club held a Q&A session with Tigers, GM, MC, RB and BoC attended, I asked why only 5 A team matches, why no A League and how did they keep such a large squad happy?

I was informed that most clubs cannot afford an A League.
When you add the LV matches you have 9 games and that is enough to keep players happy.
In addition, the squad size is reduced by dual registering some players and with injuries they cannot afford to have too many players picked for A team and then having to pull them out at last minute if an injury occurs to one of the first team in the previous first team match.
Tigers players who are not selected in the 23 are still happy!

Thanks

[welshy08]

I hate the Lions. Wales can only ever be relatively successful for at most 2 years out of 4 because of our participation in them, but even I recognise the lions are never going to be scrapped.

Too many people high up in the establishment, and in the higher echelons of each nations Unions love it, and see it as a way of getting a MBE or a knighthood.

All those Welsh and Scottish and Irish people who have long since said goodbye to their home nations love it (as it gives them something to cheer along with their new English friends),
People in the military love it.
The SH love it.
All the broadcasters love it.
The players love it as being a lion increases their market value massively. There are even lots of people in Wales, genuine Welsh supporters (not saying they are actually Welsh) who love it and wouldn't really care if Wales were successful, or if their success was harmed massively by Wales' participation in the Lions.

Unionists in all countries love it as it demonstrates that we are all somehow better off together etc.

So you will be massively up against it from the outset.. if you think the Lions are going anywhere anytime soon.

It is frankly extremely political and extremely powerful people in the UK, love the Lions.

The only people who don't seem to be English supremacist types like Austin Healey and Me.

So good luck with that chaps.

[TigerCam]

I think that for the players the Lions remains very important, however for the clubs it is seen as a drain on the players who are likely to be at best exhausted and at worst injured. Would Cole have been out for so long without the Lions? Would Manu have suffered the pectoral injury?

You can see why the clubs are unhappy at the schedule which may see some players playing an additional 5 or more games on top of the regular season which is more than they did playing for England down under this summer.

There seem to be more games on this tour than those recently which may explain some of the clubs' discontent.

that is my point? The generation of money seems to be important? Maybe the golf fees have increased?

[h's dad]

"The Lions' jersey is the best-selling shirt in world rugby and the tourists have become such a significant commercial brand that the huge profits from this tour will sustain the ARU for years."

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/ ... ew-zealand

A family friend who works on Commercial team for Lions told me the stat regarding best selling shirt in sport.

Cant find any figures for the amount of people who have SKy sports vs BT sport. However, sky appears to be as popular as normal TV whereas BT sport is a lot more niche.

You are all deluded if you think the majority of rugby watching public cares about the Prem. More people watch the Varsity rugby match at Twickenham than pretty much any Prem fixture and tickets are £38 for poor student rugby!

I'm pretty sure your friend is wrong or you have misunderstood him/her. Happy for anybody to provide evidence to the contrary. If the Lions shirt was the best selling sports shirt in the world I'm sure the Grauniad would have said so rather than specifying rugby. Your comparison with Real Madrid is also a bit weak as that seems to be about number five in world sales. Why use that as a comparison if you're number one? I do agree that Roly is a muppet but at least he's a Statler rather than a Gonzo.

[SIBARITE]

JG and JTG

This week our golf club held a Q&A session with Tigers, GM, MC, RB and BoC attended, I asked why only 5 A team matches, why no A League and how did they keep such a large squad happy?

I was informed that most clubs cannot afford an A League.
When you add the LV matches you have 9 games and that is enough to keep players happy.
In addition, the squad size is reduced by dual registering some players and with injuries they cannot afford to have too many players picked for A team and then having to pull them out at last minute if an injury occurs to one of the first team in the previous first team match.
Tigers players who are not selected in the 23 are still happy!

Thanks

So, so wrong. Every player who is not in the match day 23 is (and should be) unhappy. The degree of unhappiness depends on why your not playing. Injury brings its own unhappiness. In the coaches opinion still not ready to step up. Unhappy. Players who are not picked and believe it is not an objective call. Very unhappy. These players have in the past moved on due to being frozen out by the Director of Rugby. This approach seems to be failing. Give me TTTE and his points with a few shortcomings over a delusional DOR. Its worked well at Exeter.

[LE18]

Sorry Sibarite,I failed to put in the 66 and 99s but I was just quoting what the 3 coaches said! Do you think I really believed that, see my smily?


BJ, that one was for you, but I do know they are quotation marks.

[Iain]

As someone who was living in New Zealand the last time the Lions visited there and went to five of the matches, I can assure you that it is still a big deal and is still a big draw.

I like it. I like that there is still a proper tour where provincial sides get fixtures. I like that one summer in four our Six Nations rivals become our friends. I like the novelty of the best of the home nations are pitched together to make something bigger.

I would be upset to see it go. I look forward to it. As would the Kiwi fans who have either looked forward to this tour for twelve years or were too young to appreciate it last time. If it is anything like last time, pretty much everything, everywhere in each town from Christmas onwards will be gearing up to the Lions and the massive event it will be. Don't underestimate it!