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Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Back to Cardiff on Friday night - what was all that laser show pre-match all about? I thought I was watching a Saracens match by mistake
Surely it's about the rugby - no need for the over done 'hype'.
Who would it have been responsible for the incorporation of this matter?
Many of us who were watching the game in the local social club were rather bemused by the nonsense of the light show. It seemed more like a nightclub, and my wife thought she had switched on to a rock concert somewhere by mistake. I agree, the rugby is what matters, not a laser show.
I don't know whose idea it was, but I hope it's quickly forgotten about and never seen again. Sadly, I don't think it will be.
Sale v Scarlets - I don't know if the Sharks had a good side out, but the Scarlets team looked to be filled with 4th and 5th choices at best. So I'm not surprised at the heavy defeat...I hope that doesn't sound like sour grapes, it isn't meant to!
I don't know whose idea it was, but I hope it's quickly forgotten about and never seen again. Sadly, I don't think it will be.
Sale v Scarlets - I don't know if the Sharks had a good side out, but the Scarlets team looked to be filled with 4th and 5th choices at best. So I'm not surprised at the heavy defeat...I hope that doesn't sound like sour grapes, it isn't meant to!
I wonder if it wasn't connected to Gatland's petulant "It's our stadium, we should be able to do what we like with it" pout. He grumbled at the request to have the roof open because he wanted there to be maximum noise, to put opposition off (It backfired, though, as the Wales hooker seemed to miss several lineout calls, and defenders under high balls got their wires crossed). The stadium was also brilliantly designed acoustically to reverberate the noise.
I suspect it was the WRU who arranged the light show.
Apparently the England team refused to go out onto the pitch initially as they suspected that the Welsh would deliberately delay their arrival leaving England on the pitch for several minutes (while the big screen showed video footage of Welsh players 'pole-axing' English players in previous matches).
Apparently the referee told England that if the Welsh weren't out within a minute of them going out then they could return to the dressing room!
No need for the lasers or the over-hyped pre-match entertainment we often see at rugby matches these days. Almost as bad as playing music when a team scores. Thankfully we don't do this at Saints, preferring instead to let the crowd make the noise.
I remember a few years back Gloucester introducing music after tries were scored. The crowd responded by booing rather than cheering when a try was scored forcing the TV commentator to explain what was going on. The experiment only lasted one match.
Apparently the England team refused to go out onto the pitch initially as they suspected that the Welsh would deliberately delay their arrival leaving England on the pitch for several minutes (while the big screen showed video footage of Welsh players 'pole-axing' English players in previous matches).
Apparently the referee told England that if the Welsh weren't out within a minute of them going out then they could return to the dressing room!
No need for the lasers or the over-hyped pre-match entertainment we often see at rugby matches these days. Almost as bad as playing music when a team scores. Thankfully we don't do this at Saints, preferring instead to let the crowd make the noise.
I remember a few years back Gloucester introducing music after tries were scored. The crowd responded by booing rather than cheering when a try was scored forcing the TV commentator to explain what was going on. The experiment only lasted one match.
Why didn't they, then? The delay before the Welsh trotted out was longer than that.:roll:
Probably some genius who used to work fro the atrocious BBC Wales.
All this nonsense was unnecessary and reflects badly on the Welsh nation. The people I was with when watching the game and those I have spoken to since, all agreed it was embarrassing and pointless. In a way I'm glad it backfired. I haven't heard one person say it was a good idea.
I feel sorry for the match officials having to deal with this rubbish. They have a difficult enough job to do on the pitch without all this stuff to distract them.
Absolutely right. I don't like music when a try is scored, though fortunately we aren't too bothered by that in Parc y Scarlets!
Presumably the ref was referring to the English players going 'out' on to the field. I hope the IRB bring in measures to stop these childish antics. It only detracts from the game. I think the delay, the light show and the video all worked in England;s favour, so justice was done in the end.
Good win for England against Italy today and has left us top of the table 
But it's not all good news as the beginning and end were hardly the stuff dreams are made of. We definitely got sloppy in the last five/ten minutes or so and will need to avoid that against tougher opposition like Ireland.
But it's not all good news as the beginning and end were hardly the stuff dreams are made of. We definitely got sloppy in the last five/ten minutes or so and will need to avoid that against tougher opposition like Ireland.
Butts
Veteran Member
Good win for England against Italy today and has left us top of the table
But it's not all good news as the beginning and end were hardly the stuff dreams are made of. We definitely got sloppy in the last five/ten minutes or so and will need to avoid that against tougher opposition like Ireland.
But not against Scotland
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Aviva Premiership
London Welsh 12....Sale Sharks 52
The very early converted try by London Welsh was a false dawn as Sale then ran in eight tries with three players scoring two each.
London Welsh now find themselves 20 points adrift of 11th placed Newcastle Falcons.
London Welsh 12....Sale Sharks 52
The very early converted try by London Welsh was a false dawn as Sale then ran in eight tries with three players scoring two each.
London Welsh now find themselves 20 points adrift of 11th placed Newcastle Falcons.
Butts
Veteran Member
Turned over by "Greenbacks" Mob :cry:
Scotland 23 v 26 Wales .......
Still it was quite an entertaining match to watch full of incident and intrigue.
Let's just hope we can turn the Eyeties over or the wooden spoon beckons !!!
Scotland 23 v 26 Wales .......
Still it was quite an entertaining match to watch full of incident and intrigue.
Let's just hope we can turn the Eyeties over or the wooden spoon beckons !!!
I do think you should have had a kick off at the end though. There was still 4 seconds remaining when the conversion went over.
To be fair it wasn't the referees fault - he checked with the timekeeper who claimed time was up!
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
What method do they use for the timekeeping these days?
There's an official timekeeper who starts and stops the clock on the instruction of the referee.
The 'feed' from this clock is used on the stadium clock and also on TV broadcasts.
At Northampton we had a similar situation last season when we were playing Leicester when we had 8 seconds left on the clock as the ball went out for a line out. The line out should have been taken but the referee asked the time keeper the wrong question.
He asked 'is time up?'
what he should have asked is 'is there time for the line out?'
I didn't remember hearing what was asked by the referee (I think the BBC are selective with what they broadcast from the referee) but I suspect this might have been the problem.
The 'feed' from this clock is used on the stadium clock and also on TV broadcasts.
At Northampton we had a similar situation last season when we were playing Leicester when we had 8 seconds left on the clock as the ball went out for a line out. The line out should have been taken but the referee asked the time keeper the wrong question.
He asked 'is time up?'
what he should have asked is 'is there time for the line out?'
I didn't remember hearing what was asked by the referee (I think the BBC are selective with what they broadcast from the referee) but I suspect this might have been the problem.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
I am very pleased to hear that Danny Cipriani has just signed a new two-year contract with Sale Sharks, rather than heading off to France.
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Aviva Premiership
Sale Sharks 14....Saracens 10
A gritty top-six Premiership match saw Sale Sharks register their first home win over Saracens since 2011 and they move up to 5th place. Saracens are now in 3rd place.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
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Aviva Premiership
Sale Sharks 14....Saracens 10
A gritty top-six Premiership match saw Sale Sharks register their first home win over Saracens since 2011 and they move up to 5th place. Saracens are now in 3rd place.
An excellent win for Sale. The AJ Bell Stadium is rapidly acquiring a reputation as a difficult ground for visiting sides to get a win at.
Meanwhile, in the top of the table clash:
Bath 13 Northampton Saints 21
An excellent win by the Saints to go 9 points clear at the top of the table.
Meanwhile, in the top of the table clash:
Bath 13 Northampton Saints 21
An excellent win by the Saints to go 9 points clear at the top of the table.
Butts
Veteran Member
Oh dear my premonition is becoming a reality :cry:
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Scotland 19....Italy 22
The scoreline looks close, but there is a difference in the "tries scored" figure.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Your crystal ball has never been clearer. The weekend defeat by Exeter Chiefs is the third time this season that London Welsh have conceded over 70 points in a defeat.
I was interested to see London Welsh being used as an example as to why ring fencing the Aviva would be a good thing. I'm a bit torn on that one, though. While it;s sensible to want matches to be competitive, the any sport needs the ability to allow sides to progress to the next level.
I think it would be good, though, to increase the number of teams and allow Bristol and Worcester to both join the top tier.
I think it would be good, though, to increase the number of teams and allow Bristol and Worcester to both join the top tier.
SkinnyDave
Established Member
- Joined
- 11 Mar 2012
- Messages
- 1,242
Yet our two Pro Teams one week later destroy both Italian pro teams in the Pro 12!! Does my box in..
Young team full of promise we will get there once they start improving their decision making in big matches
For every London Welsh though there is an Exeter!
Seriously, the 8 year Long Form Agreement between the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the Championship clubs which covers England player release by clubs for international matches and promotion and relegation expires at the end of next season.
There are two school of thought. One is that the gap between the Premiership and Championship is becoming too large and realistically only Bristol and Worcester of the Championship clubs have the finance, infrastructure and supporter base to survive in the Premiership. This way you would increase the Premiership to 14 teams and ring fence it for a period of time, the LV Cup would be scrapped to make space for the additional Premiership matches. One issue with this is that the sponsorship monies would need to be split 14 ways compared to 12 ways at present, meaning less money for each club.
The second school of thought is that promotion and relegation should be kept with a similar system as we currently have.
My personal view is that promotion and relegation should stay but greater effort should be made to increase the funding to the Championship clubs to allow a more competitive league. The problem with this is where does the money come from. Championship rugby is a very hard sell to TV companies and sponsors and the RFU and Premiership Rugby are reluctant to give any more of their funds to the Championship clubs.
Rugby is not a rich sport. Compare the latest football TV deal which I believe works out at around £10M for every televised match. The last Premiership Rugby TV deal gives about £3m per season to each club!
As much as I like your view I can't see it happening. I would be amazed if EPR or whatever it's called would agree to increasing funding of the Championship at the expense of their own interests.
I've got a feeling that the clubs would prefer to do away with relegation permanently, and they may be willing to compromise on allowing Worcester and Bristol in order to achieve it on a temporary basis, with a view to ensuring it becomes permanent later on. It seems to me, from the other side of the bridge, that the clubs in England usually get exactly what they want.
They might also see an increased number of teams and therefore matches as beneficial to increasing TV revenue. The LV can't be a very lucrative tournament.
I've got a feeling that the clubs would prefer to do away with relegation permanently, and they may be willing to compromise on allowing Worcester and Bristol in order to achieve it on a temporary basis, with a view to ensuring it becomes permanent later on. It seems to me, from the other side of the bridge, that the clubs in England usually get exactly what they want.
They might also see an increased number of teams and therefore matches as beneficial to increasing TV revenue. The LV can't be a very lucrative tournament.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Now that it is not anathema to make mention of Rugby League these days, the Rugby League Premiership have had this very same problem to resolve in past days.
The clubs will get what they want in the end because they hold the trump card - the England national team players!
To be fair with the exception of Northampton, Leicester, Exeter and Gloucester all the Premiership clubs are loss making and rely on benefactors to keep going. If you'd invested several £millions in a club and it got relegated you'd lose even more money so I can see why the clubs want to ring fence.
The relationship between the RFU and PRL has been pretty good recently so I suspect it'll get resolved reasonably amicably. I doubt it'll be a repeat of the WRU/Welsh Regions debacle.
To be fair with the exception of Northampton, Leicester, Exeter and Gloucester all the Premiership clubs are loss making and rely on benefactors to keep going. If you'd invested several £millions in a club and it got relegated you'd lose even more money so I can see why the clubs want to ring fence.
The relationship between the RFU and PRL has been pretty good recently so I suspect it'll get resolved reasonably amicably. I doubt it'll be a repeat of the WRU/Welsh Regions debacle.
At least some of the English clubs are profitable. Pro rugby is never going to be sustainable in Wales! The debacle here was a great embarassment, and was caused by the way the regions were set up in the first place. The same thing will never happen in England.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
Principality Building Society Premiership
Cardiff 11...Llandovery 18
Would this be a game that Cardiff would normally have won with home advantage?
Cardiff 11...Llandovery 18
Would this be a game that Cardiff would normally have won with home advantage?
It's a game they would expect to win under normal circumstances, but if they are anything like Llanelli, Cardiff will have lost a lot of players to their parent region to cover Welsh call ups for the senior side and under 20's, whereas Llandovery will have been able to pick a more settled side.
Llanelli got a real trouncing from Carmarthen Athletic recently, but were playing quite a few youths due to there being no one else available. They looked like they didn't know too much about each other and clearly hadn't played together before. Athletic, in contrast, had a very experienced team out, so a beating wasn't a big surprise, really.
Llanelli got a real trouncing from Carmarthen Athletic recently, but were playing quite a few youths due to there being no one else available. They looked like they didn't know too much about each other and clearly hadn't played together before. Athletic, in contrast, had a very experienced team out, so a beating wasn't a big surprise, really.