United Rugby Championship

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UlsterNo9
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United Rugby Championship

Post by UlsterNo9 »

Brendan Fanning advising on Twitter there will be four pools. An Irish pool, Welsh pool, Saffer Pool and a Sco/It pool, followed by knock out stages.

18 games before knockouts, play home and away in your pool then everyone else once.

United Rugby Championship being the name for Pro 16....
Last edited by UlsterNo9 on Tue Jun 15, 2021 7:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Neill_M
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Neill_M »

I saw his tweet, seemed to suggest one league of 16 with top 8 going into playoffs but with the winner of each mini pool getting Heineken spot + 4 best others. Could be like old Rugby Championship with top 4 spots in playoffs for winners of each mini pool + 4 others etc.

Clearly there is going to be announcement soon, devil will be in the detail.
Last edited by Neill_M on Tue Jun 15, 2021 12:12 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Dave
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Dave »

Here Pro 14. Gone fcuk up.
I have my own tv channel, what have you got?
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UlsterNo9
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by UlsterNo9 »

Neill_M wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:51 pm I saw his tweet, seemed to suggest one league of 16 with top 8 going into playoffs but with the winner of each mini pool getting Heineken spot + 4 best others. Could be like old Rugby Championship with top 4 spots in playoffs for winners of each mini pool + 4 others etc.

Clearly there is going to be announcement soon, devil will be in the detail.
I think your interpretation is closer than mine Neill :thumleft:

There will be an overall league which takes precedent over the four groups.

What I do like about it is that there does seem to be a clearly defined inter provincial table/pool within the overall league which I think is good. If someone could dust off the old inter pro trophy and award it to the winners that would be great.

The Scotland/Italy pool looks like an easy way for Edinburgh and Glasgow to pick up points but I guess there has to be a weakest pool, and what is the weakest today may not be so in a few seasons time. The low attendances in that group will be a concern for the money men at those clubs.

Look forward to hearing more, from Fannings tweet I'm expecting a press release today / tomorrow?
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UlsterNo9
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by UlsterNo9 »

Nothing really new in this but a few snippets to take away.....

https://www.ft.com/content/a818f21c-10f ... 531e11352b
Pro14 club rugby pushes forward with CVC revamp
Sweeping changes signal private equity group’s newly acquired influence in the sport


The Pro14 club rugby competition is changing its name, adding more South African teams and has agreed new broadcast deals, in the first sign of how private equity firm CVC Capital Partners aims to revamp the sport.

The buyout group paid £120m for a 28 per cent stake in the tournament last year, one of a series of rugby deals as it seeks to reshape the global game by changing how the sport is sold to fans, sponsors and broadcasters.

The contest, an annual tournament featuring teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa, is rebranding to “United Rugby Championship”, people familiar with the decision said.

These people said it has also secured new television deals for the start of the 2021/2022 season in September, including with the BBC in the UK, RTE in Ireland and SuperSport in South Africa. The organisers will also launch a new global subscription streaming service for fans.

Though the aim is for the majority of matches to be screened on free-to-air TV to reach the largest possible audience, the broadcast deals will help boost annual revenues for the competition to £55m, up from £25m last year.

The tournament may still struggle to secure new viewers and revenues, however. Rugby is dominated by interest in national competitions, such as the Six Nations in Europe, the Rugby Championship in the Southern Hemisphere and the Rugby World Cup.

According to people close to the decision, the newly named United Rugby Championship will play fewer weekend matches when international fixtures are held and star club players represent their national teams.

Alongside its stake in Pro14 CVC has also invested in England’s Premiership Rugby and the Six Nations, Europe’s top national team rugby tournament.

Its plans for United Rugby Championship points at how CVC intends to act as a powerbroker between the disparate groups that run the sport in order to enhance the value of its investments.

The Luxembourg-based group, a former owner of Formula One and Moto GP, has tended to take minority shares in sports competitions, seeking commercial control in a way that will allow it to bundle together TV rights for different competitions and sell them to broadcasters.

As well as rugby, the buyout group has also acquired a stake in volleyball’s global governing body and held recent investment talks with companies including the ATP and WTP, the men’s and women’s tennis tours, Italy’s Serie A football league, and US basketball franchise San Antonio Spurs.

The United Rugby Championship will expand from 14 to 16 teams. Two South African sides, the Southern Kings and Cheetahs, have left the competition, but will be replaced by four of the biggest teams in the country: the Lions, Stormers, Sharks and Bulls.

Over time, South Africa Rugby, the country’s union, will also become a shareholder in the competition, tying it closer to some of Europe’s leading unions.

CVC has also discussed investing in South Africa Rugby and is engaged in talks to create a Club World Cup tournament of the world’s top club rugby teams. CVC’s recent influence across rugby has helped to progress the talks and a new global contest could launch as early as 2024, according to people close to the discussions.
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Neill_M
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Neill_M »

It is now official, the winner of the 4 mini pools - Ireland etc qualify for Heineken Cup with next best 4 sides. For the playoffs it is the best 8 sides regardless of country, so you could make top 8 but not Heineken Cup!

https://www.ulsterrugby.com/2021/06/uni ... lub-rugby/
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by germcevoy »

This will hurt the Irish provinces European representation. Three Irish provinces have to play Leinster twice while the rest of the league only has to play them once. I’m glad to see the back turned on conferences at least.

More time needed to study the detail.
Neill_M
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Neill_M »

germcevoy wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:12 am This will hurt the Irish provinces European representation. Three Irish provinces have to play Leinster twice while the rest of the league only has to play them once. I’m glad to see the back turned on conferences at least.

More time needed to study the detail.
Aye fair chance, the next best 4 could be 2 x Irish and 2 x South African - 3 Irish, 3 South African, 1 Welsh, 1 Scots/Italian.
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Silverstu »

From first glance it looks like a good format- not too many games and avoiding international windows hopefully means more stronger sides being fielding. I think its going to be a tougher competition, especially for the irish sides to get European qualification but hopefully that will help build stronger squads and a better standard of game. Playing the Saffer sides will be a real test but will probably mean we are better prepared for the big French and English sides in Europe.
Might be a little difficult to develop players though if there are more high stake games.
Interesting , I wonder who the broadcaster is [really hoping its not sky]. Ideally back to the BBC but premier is ok and you get all the matches.
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Neill_M »

R1 24/25/26 Sep, R2 1/2/3 Oct, R3 8/9/10 Oct, R4 15/16/17 Oct, R5 22/23/24 Oct, R6 29/30/31 Oct, R7 3/4/5 Dec, R8 24/25/26 Dec, R9 13 Dec/1/2 Jan, R10 7/8/9 Jan, R11 28/29/30 Jan, R12 18/19/20 Feb, R13 4/5/6 Mar, R14 25/24/27 Mar, R15 1/2/3 Apr, R16 22/23/24 Apr, R17 29/30/31 Apr, R18 20/21/22 May, QF 3/4/5 Jun, SF 10/11/12 Jun, Final 23/24/25 Jun - No games in November window or clashing with actual 6N weekends
Neill_M
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Neill_M »

Silverstu wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:27 am From first glance it looks like a good format- not too many games and avoiding international windows hopefully means more stronger sides being fielding. I think its going to be a tougher competition, especially for the irish sides to get European qualification but hopefully that will help build stronger squads and a better standard of game. Playing the Saffer sides will be a real test but will probably mean we are better prepared for the big French and English sides in Europe.
Might be a little difficult to develop players though if there are more high stake games.
Interesting , I wonder who the broadcaster is [really hoping its not sky]. Ideally back to the BBC but premier is ok and you get all the matches.
No Sky - the chat is a mix of Premier, BBC Regional channels & S4C in UK with Premier entering Irish market with TG4 and maybe RTE.
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by germcevoy »

Wouldn’t mind seeing Premier again. The subscription would seem decent value now that they have the Top14 as well.
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Dave
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Dave »

Wall to wall interpros and repeat.
I have my own tv channel, what have you got?
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UlsterNo9
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by UlsterNo9 »

Silverstu wrote: Tue Jun 15, 2021 10:27 am Might be a little difficult to develop players though if there are more high stake games.
Good point.

More than likely we are going to see "fodder" sent to away games like they do in the French Top 14 with certain away games targeted to pick up points on the road.

Will be interesting to see how Leinster balance this, they could potentially field weakened teams at home and send strong teams away. We on the other hand need to field our strong team at home in order to make a better than even chance of winning......

In my head the full squad will still need to be utilized, the Irish player management system for international player will come into play.

Player rotation and strategy will be massive, whomever gets it right will greatly improve their chances.
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Re: United Rugby Championship

Post by Lurgan Lad »

South African teams in the Heineken then, standard certainly is going to be raised. If only there was two good Italian teams it would be serious competitions for everyone. The Welsh pool will also be quite a weak one, all in all looks like a good step forward
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