Professional rugby

[Thelaw]

https://www.bbc.com/sport/amp/rugby-union/54208384

I can't post in full, but if you follow the link it basically says without fans in stadiums rugby can't survive.

The situation here is pointing to another lock down in a couple of weeks here, the south no better. So is it time we treated people like adults and let them make their own choices? Is Ravenhill more dangerous than Horatio Todd's? I know where I would rather be, and the beer is tom kite in both!

[big mervyn]

At this stage I'd be happy enough to go back to 3 amateur inter pro games, a couple of matches agin the Scottish Saltires and the North of England and a wee glamour game against the S. Hemisphere tourists in the Autumn. The pro game has turned into pure shyte.

[Thelaw]

Must be just me that misses a Friday night at Ravers then. Where is baggy when I need him to tell me how wrong I am

[Aird]

You are not alone in missing Friday nights but I am in the age group which is high risk and whilst I appreciate that it would be a matter of personal choice in your eyes that is not strictly true.
It would be true if you could guarantee that only you would get Covid but that is not true due to the transmission in the community. It is not you alone it is those that you associate through family, work or socially who are at risk.
Personally I have accepted that I won’t be back this season unless there is early news on a vaccine.

[solidarity]

I watch sport for at least two reasons. I watch to enjoy the beauty of high quality play, of difficult things being well done. I appreciate physical prowess at a level that few can reach. But I also watch to support 'my people', people I identify with, whom I care about because we are part of the same community, the same 'family' and I am 'family' with the rest of the supporters. I can only get the first with professional or near professional sport but I can get the second at any level. So, I'd be sad to lose professional rugby but I could get enough of the high quality stuff on the tv and in the menu that Merv talks about. The second, I can get with the club that I used to play for and watching my kids (and maybe grandkids in the future).

[Lurgan Lad]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/54211942
Ulster and Munster bad financially, Connacht and Leinster much less so. I guess that indicates if there will be cuts that it should impact Ulster and Munster more deeply.

[Jackie Brown]

I'm glad the way they treated PJ and SO has hit them where it hurts. You only have to look at this site to see how the hardcore fan base has collapsed. You reap what you sow.

[Joe Schmo]

I'm glad the way they treated PJ and SO has hit them where it hurts. You only have to look at this site to see how the hardcore fan base has collapsed. You reap what you sow.

Unfortunately Jackie, reading the BBC article would make you think it was PJ and Oldings fault the fans have stayed away.

"Obviously in Ulster, they had their own difficulties the season before last that were well documented," said the IRFU chief.

now I know it’s the bbc quoting Browne but Ulsters difficulties were compounded by the IRFU, at least it was their decision that has kept me away since.

[Snipe Watson]

now I know it’s the bbc quoting Browne but Ulsters difficulties were compounded by the IRFU, at least it was their decision that has kept me away since.

You and me both pal.
UR sold their soul to the radical feminazis and shafted two of our own they're still dead to me.
Mix that in with treachery of the HEC and I couldn't give a toss.

[twiglet]

I'm pleased to see that Ulster Rugby suffered financially after the way they treated Paddy and Stuart. Let's not forget, however, the way IRFU and Ulster treated Ruan. A player who stuck with his team even though he was offered more to go to France. He was completely shafted. Nucifora couldn't even contribute to a TV program and justify why he wouldn't allow Ulster to retain him.

As a result, my own season ticket and that of Mrs Twiglet were not renewed.

Instead of going to Ravers on a Friday night we watch amateur rugby on a Saturday afternoon.

[nonplussed]

The pro game is on the verge of becoming a busted flush, but the CVC type package may save it, and at the same time morph clubs into sustainable franchises, Ulster are not a top table side and may suffer as a result. that said the top end of the sport is a business and anyone that thinks otherwise is buttoned up the back.

Rugby is still alive an well as a club sport all over the province the jersey just doesnt have a red hand on it! Local clubs may benefit from the professional malaise, if people recognise the standard available.

[BR]

Maybe for the best. Reset the game worldwide. Take time and work out how to reduce the problems from 1st principles, instead of continuing to tinker with failed initiatives because they've already gone too far.

Not holding my breath though.

[rumncoke]

nonplus--- the club game is substandard compared to the professional -- too little talent spread too thin -- and thus players become less fit and less skilled and the International team becomes weaker----

Irish rugby has always been financed by the International team with club sides supported by a few old die-hards the public have never been great supporters of club Rugby especially in Ulster.

Dream on Sunshine -- No the reality check is the salary scales in place -- and the input of "sugar daddy money" "the Trump losses to off set against business profits investments the shifting of Capital from one dodgy currency into somewhere less unstable.

Sugar- Daddies frequently have little if any history of interest in the sport in which they "invest"

[BR]

Sugar- Daddies frequently have little if any history of interest in the sport in which they "invest"

I'm going to say that's ballix. There are a couple of high profile examples at the extreme apex of the sport industry, but the overwhelming majority of 'investers' (especially in rugby) are those who have a love for the sport/club/town into which they are prepared to pour their money with little prospect of financial return.

[nonplussed]

nonplus--- the club game is substandard compared to the professional -- too little talent spread too thin -- and thus players become less fit and less skilled and the International team becomes weaker----

the skills of course are not to the level of the pro game but are much better than some would expect, and lets not fool ourselves that the skills on show at Ravenhill v Dragons is the Apex of human endeavour. The matches themselves are often very entertaining, passion still abounds and the craic between opposing fans can be hilarious. I'm involved in a Q1 club, and many of the players have played representative rugby at school and junior level, and their commitment to fitness is hugely impressive as are many of the teams they play.