whart57 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 I read somewhere the opinion that the amateur game was played for the benefit of the players, not the paying spectators. A typical RU crowd in the 1960s would be small, a few hundred at most even for a top club game, and would be made up of former players for whom a game - and several pints - on a Saturday afternoon was still part of their social round. Nothing wrong with that except that it is not a commercial proposition. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 3 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 3 46 minutes ago, whart57 said: Nothing wrong with that except that it is not a commercial proposition. But it didn’t need to be did it? Membership fees, bar takings, occasional grants and other activities covered running costs. Moving away from that, what about the idea that has been suggested, by whom and how seriously I know not, of a two division, ‘British Isles’ (for want of a better description) League? Any chance of that working and solving some of the issues? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
whart57 Posted January 3 Share Posted January 3 No it didn't need to be. You can see the same dynamic going on in women's football. There is a real push going on to create an elite women's game that can be monetised for paying spectators, be they in the ground or watching on TV. A push to create grassroots facilities for women's football, not so much. The result is that the small community clubs that basically created and sustained the women's game are dropping down the leagues and the sides funded by the major men's clubs are dominating. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 3 Author Share Posted January 3 When I had to retire from playing due to a knee injury, I used to go to Welford Road most home games, the crowds were low thousands at most, it only filled up on Boxing Day when the Tigers played the Barbarians or if a touring Southern hemisphere side played the Midlands team there. I used to rock up 5 minutes before kick off and pay at the gate and sit or stand pretty much anywhere I wanted to and of course there were clubs playing on public parks where there was often just one man and his dog. I used to pay match subs to play and we raised funds for away coaches by running disco's, a bar and a fruit machine in the club house, something we built our selves. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 7 Author Share Posted January 7 Back to european rugby this coming weekend, the domestic league gives us scant clues as to how it will go as the clubs in England seem to be beating each other, with no-one really setting the world on fire, be interesting to see how it goes with the new format. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 RIP JPR Wiliiams, Welsh rugby great and no real age at 74 1 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Brit70053 Posted January 8 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 8 Very sad to read of JPR Williams passing, one of the real Legends of Rugby Union, admired and respected regardless of 'Nation' loyalties. R.I.P. Sir . 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deeps Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 15 hours ago, Brit70053 said: Very sad to read of JPR Williams passing, one of the real Legends of Rugby Union, admired and respected regardless of 'Nation' loyalties. R.I.P. Sir . I have to agree. I was always enthralled watching him play, even when it was against my native England. At the time I usually played in the three-quarters or on the wing, for RN ship teams, and despite my best efforts I never came close to his foresight and command on the field. And who can forget his participation in the famous game for the Barbarians against the All Blacks. For me this was a time of ‘proper’ rugby. 4 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 On 03/01/2024 at 08:00, whart57 said: I read somewhere the opinion that the amateur game was played for the benefit of the players, not the paying spectators. A typical RU crowd in the 1960s would be small, a few hundred at most even for a top club game, and would be made up of former players for whom a game - and several pints - on a Saturday afternoon was still part of their social round. Nothing wrong with that except that it is not a commercial proposition. True, and nobody cared either. The problem was that Test matches, even then drew 50,000-plus crowds paying good prices, plus national tv coverage, to watch unpaid players. The players, quite reasonably wanted a share. A small number of speculators thought the transformation of football could be repeated on a smaller scale. Some very foolish ideas circulated among some players, and we know the rest. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 23 Author Share Posted January 23 Considering the gnashing of teeth as to how bad the English rugby is right now, the results were not too bad in the European cups with a reasonable number getting through to the knockout stages. Anyway back to the league for a final thrash before the 6 Nations kicks off. Grandad Bobs Harlequins host a slowly rebuilding Leicester Tigers on Friday night at the Stoop, this really could go either way, will need to see the team sheet before making any rash statements, ditto any of the other games. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted January 23 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 23 Totally agree TB. I’ve found that making rash statements about my team winning is a surefire way to see them beaten! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 All the England players are in Spain so it's a case of last man standing I think Bob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted January 24 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 24 Hmm, by my count 4 of yours and 6 of ours missing, that could make a difference. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 24 Author Share Posted January 24 If we get a loose heads back we will be alright, Hoyt is a big lad to sit on the bench, but two weeks ago he was playing for my old team in National 1 and he came off the bench, so a loooooooooooooooooooooooong way away from the Premiership. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted January 25 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 25 I can be fairly confident with my predictions on how ‘The Falcons’ will do. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted January 26 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 26 Ouch! A somewhat scrappy but entertaining match. Well played Leicester on stopping Quins playing their usual game and they deserved to win but we nearly nicked it. Never mind, it's only a game. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 We needed the points Bob, good luck going forwards, pity this top game was shorn of the best players, something has to change. 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted January 27 Author Share Posted January 27 Leicester Lions(my old team) win at at Old Deer Park beating Richmond 21-20, so Leicester teams do a London double, that doesn't happen every weekend. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerburnie Posted February 2 Author Share Posted February 2 The 6 Nations kicks off tonight, something I had lost all interest in whilst Skippy the team wrecker was involved, but I might just tune in this weekend as all plans are on halt family wise as the daughter has covid again. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Well done Ireland. They are looking like a team at their peak, right now. France definitely off their peak, but still looking hard to beat. Some solid scrummaging all round. Good to see the ref making little use of the TMO (the crowd's obvious disapproval being an incentive, I'm sure) and there has obviously been some hard thinking all round about the difficult issue of head contact. Can't really argue when a player collects two yellows for the same offense, and the point about not being the "second man into the tackle" sounds like a good approach to minimising the occurrence of collisions. 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 Looking forward to Italy v England, and I don't say that very often. George Ford's quite brilliant 14-man win in RWC against a heavy, fast but not tactically astute opposition gives obvious pointers to today's game. England definitely need to develop the front row, as their demolition by SA showed. I suspect that the departure of Jones will throw this into sharp focus - he definitely knew how to handle "difficult" players like Sinckler, Genge, Hartley and Farrell in a way few other coaches can manage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarcD Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 France let themselves down with discipline and simple handling errors. If you want any chance of winning you need 15 men on the field. School boy stuff and Ireland punished them as any good team would. It's the old story of France having a great team on paper if they can be bothered to turn up. The way the other two matches go could be anyone's call. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold BoD Posted February 3 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3 Would it be fair to say the the grand slam decider was the very first game of the competition? 2 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted February 3 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 3 1 hour ago, MarcD said: France let themselves down with discipline and simple handling errors. If you want any chance of winning you need 15 men on the field. School boy stuff and Ireland punished them as any good team would. It's the old story of France having a great team on paper if they can be bothered to turn up. The way the other two matches go could be anyone's call. They also left the front door open a couple of times. Also rather ironic that with their much vaunted heavies on the field the French failed to stop two rolling mauls …, 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockershovel Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 2 hours ago, BoD said: Would it be fair to say the the grand slam decider was the very first game of the competition? Mmmmmmmaybe. Ireland could well be on for a Grand Slam, France .... not so much. It will be interesting to see what Engjand produce this afternoon. Can't fancy Wales or Scotland 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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