The Rugby Union Thread

rsvmark

tbm said:

Sarries are, unsurprisingly, looking in the mood to open up a can of whoopass. Apparently if the get a win with no BP they'll be travelling to Leinster. I do not want to see that.

I was guessing this might happen....

tbm

FFS! Some reward for finishing tops seeds. Sarries in the quarters....

fretmeister

PRL is going to release the full report!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51209973

rsvmark

fretmeister said:

PRL is going to release the full report!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51209973

Not according to the Guardian- Darren Child's is quoted saying that they (prl) would like to publish but consent has not been given... sarries lawyers apparently.... although why they need their consent is rather odd. Let’s see shall we?

rsvmark

On another note, I am picking up rumours that other clubs have been ‘borderline’ at best in the past. Does anyone know how squeaky clean other clubs have been in recent years?

fretmeister

rsvmark said:

fretmeister said:

PRL is going to release the full report!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/51209973

Not according to the Guardian- Darren Child's is quoted saying that they (prl) would like to publish but consent has not been given... sarries lawyers apparently.... although why they need their consent is rather odd. Let’s see shall we?

That was this morning.
From the article:

"Premiership Rugby will release the report into Saracens' breaches of the league's salary cap.

The move comes after the defending champions said they were "keen" for the report to be published in full."

Sarries have since said they want it out there!
I wonder if different people at Sarries are giving different statements.

scrumhalf

It's easy to call for the publishing of a report that you know won't be published to try and make yourself lok better.

From memory, both Wasps and Quins voluntarily disclosed minor infringements. In Wasps' case our punishment was to not allow us to tackle properly, ensuring that for the past few seasons we've conceded a try bonus point's worth of ponits on average per game.

rsvmark

fretmeister said:

Sarries have since said they want it out there!
I wonder if different people at Sarries are giving different statements.

Your finger is more on the pulse than mine. Different people giving different statements in a rapidly moving story is entirely feasible.

@scrumhalf - were any sanctions dished out to Wasps and Quins at the time?

Rocker

Is there a salary cap in football?  Or horse racing?  Or F1?  Of course not.  So what is so special or fragile in the world of professional rugby that a salary cap is deemed necessary?  

This whole sorry mess is the result of a salary cap that IMHO is needless and the result of small minded and short term thinking.

Blaendulais

Rocker said:

Is there a salary cap in football?  Or horse racing?  Or F1?  Of course not.  So what is so special or fragile in the world of professional rugby that a salary cap is deemed necessary?  

This whole sorry mess is the result of a salary cap that IMHO is needless and the result of small minded and short term thinking.

The sport is so financially unsound thats why.  Inflated wages, low crowds sponsorship tiny.  The 2 or 3 clubs with rich owners will bankrupt the game.

scrumhalf

rsvmark said:

fretmeister said:

Sarries have since said they want it out there!
I wonder if different people at Sarries are giving different statements.

Your finger is more on the pulse than mine. Different people giving different statements in a rapidly moving story is entirely feasible.

@scrumhalf - were any sanctions dished out to Wasps and Quins at the time?

We were £40k over, fined 50p per £.

rsvmark

Midway through watching this. 2 conclusions so far. 1 it’s an interesting discussion and 2, Haskell couldn’t reach a reasoned conclusion on any.....wassisname, thing and anyway.....

https://youtu.be/4CgzvnntPag

crunchman

Rocker said:

Is there a salary cap in football?  Or horse racing?  Or F1?  Of course not.  So what is so special or fragile in the world of professional rugby that a salary cap is deemed necessary?  

This whole sorry mess is the result of a salary cap that IMHO is needless and the result of small minded and short term thinking.

Lack of salary cap is a major reason why I don't watch football any more.  It's dominated by a small handful of rich clubs and isn't competitive.

I'd far rather watch the NFL, where you really don't know from year to year who will win.  San Francisco were awful last year and are in the Superbowl this year.  That just wouldn't happen in football.  The equivalent of Man City or Real would buy up George Kittle or Nick Bosa.  The salary cap means that can't happen and clubs can hold on to their players.

In rugby, where would Exeter be with a football style system?  There wouldn't be room for an outsider to crash the party like that.

koneguitarist

Rocker said:

Is there a salary cap in football?  Or horse racing?  Or F1?  Of course not.  So what is so special or fragile in the world of professional rugby that a salary cap is deemed necessary?  

This whole sorry mess is the result of a salary cap that IMHO is needless and the result of small minded and short term thinking.

There should have been a salary cap in football years ago. 

tbm

The Ireland Scotland game was much more entertaining the the scoreline suggests. Hogg should have had a try too. 

Italy look shite  

Game of the weekend tomorrow. Should be very interesting. 

Wales will fancy it in Dublin next weekend.  it’ll be a cracker. 

VimFuego

it's not like Hogg's missed try made a difference to the outcome of the match.

Oh wait, it did.

since he made the move down here to Exeter I've been super impressed with Hogg, but that drop was a howler. 

sev112

Refereeing not great imo, but is it ever, and recognising it is a hard job
but Ireland spent the whole match with hands in the ruck, lying over the ball and got away with it throughout.  Scotland just got pinged all the time.  2 Scottish “high tackles” penalised , which on replay were on the bicep!?  Ireland defence awesome however, and probably worth the win on that differentiator, 

5 mins, in, Scotland already having been pinged and lost 3 points for hands in the ruck; Scotland 15 yards out centre of pitch, and ball comes out of a Scotland attaching ruck.  How on earth does the ref think the ball come out?  Replay shows Ireland forward laying on the floor slapping it out, replay after replay of the same event.
i suppose that’s why we love rugby, and hate it at the same time when there’s a team of video refs watching it all in slo mo.

and I’m not Scottish either 

MagicPigDetective

Wales played well but as a contest it was a boring match. I can’t wait for the match next week in Dublin, should be epic, a proper test.

Jalapeno

sev112 said:

5 mins, in, Scotland already having been pinged and lost 3 points for hands in the ruck; Scotland 15 yards out centre of pitch, and ball comes out of a Scotland attaching ruck.  How on earth does the ref think the ball come out?  Replay shows Ireland forward laying on the floor slapping it out, replay after replay of the same event.
i suppose that’s why we love rugby, and hate it at the same time when there’s a team of video refs watching it all in slo mo.

and I’m not Scottish either 

There was an identical incident in the Wales/Italy match - penalty to Wales

Thought Wales made heavy weather of Italy tbh ...

Schnozz

I never watch the Italy matches - They should be replaced as they're consistently shite. It's now become how much they're beaten by, as opposed to whether they'll win.