Well, I never thought there was anything wrong with it, but surely the introduction of 4 teams who have no qualifying interest (although they do have a financial interest) isn't going to strengthen the competition. If anything it will weaken it.colinh wrote:Neither ............. There may be an arguement that the Powergen could be taken seriously by the Premiership sides who are mid table and not in danger of relegation and promotion. It could be abetter competition than many of us are giving it credit for.Sorry Colin - I don't follow that.
Are you saying that the O's will not take the CL seriously, because they are almost sure to get one of the 3 welsh HEC berths? And that they will then be able to concentrate on the lucrative AW cup?
How has the change in Irish qualifying criteria changed that?
Celtic League Preview.
Moderator: Moderators
That's why I say 'I think I am happy..'! Normaly I would have agreed with you, but the more I think about the potential dominance of this O's team, the more I'll be happy to take points off them with whatever advantage we can get.colinh wrote:Well I will not be glad to see the Os come here without GH et al.They certainly look like the side to beat on paper, and I think I'm pretty happy that we will be seeing them visit without their internationals.
If it were to happen (and I agree it is very unlikely) - I cannot see why the CL could justify having any more than the 6 births (Ulster in ECC!).Until HEC qualification rests solely with league positions in the CL and there is a big sponsor there will never be a truely competitive CL. We may be closer to a sponsor but we are a long way from the CL being the sole route into Europe. By that I mean that the first 7 or 8 teams from whatever Union will qualify. Realistically I do not see that happening.