But it's not working in it's current form, hence only 5-7,000 turning up to watch the Ospreys every week. That sort of attendance is not enough to sustain the Ospreys anymore. If they want to improve on the filed, they need to improve drastically off the field too.
Great post again Stumpy! There is no appetite to re-brand - not from the shareholders nor from the Board. The focus is on improvement and on recovering the status of number one Region in Wales, then winning the PRO14 and challenging seriously in the Champions Cup.
Valley - Stumpy's fourth paragraph says that: The WRU, after disbanding trhe Warriors on the pretext of merging them with the ospreys,reneged on the deal and gave Pontypridd RFC to the Blues and as we know Pontypridd RFC has been starved of financial support ever since.
I think the difference between the two teams yesterday was precision which comes directly from the finances available to Clermont. It was the little things that made all the difference, Clermont were that little bit bigger, little bit stronger, a little more skillful, a little more patient and they had the diminutive Morgan Parra who controlled the game. All of these little things added up to make a huge difference and an easy win for Clermont. If we quadrupled our income then we could improve all those little things but until we do we will always be up against it when playing expensive, heavy duty, state-or-the-art French and English rugby teams.
England are about to dominate rugby for the next 10-15 years (except for the All Blacks maybe). They have finally got it right at school boy level, and talent coming through from u12s right the way through to u18s is frightening. We will not be able to compete with the talent coming through in England year on year.
The French & English clubs have far more cash - and far higher losses. As I've posted previously, Saracens have cumulative losses of more than £50m. But they have owners with deep pockets. So for this season there was no real Champions Cup aspiration - the target was Top 6 in PRO14 - a tall order based on where we sit currently in the Table/Conferences.
Nah, you've been listening to too much Stewart Barnes Valley and believing all the one eyed, patriotic, propaganda, bullshit he comes up with. Barnes only sees in English and is blind to everything else. Financially English clubs will always be better off than us but they will always be the poor relations to the French elite clubs, the super rich clubs. They'll be there or there about but I don't see any English club dominating in Europe.You only have to see the quarter finalists in this years competition to see, England don't dominate in Europe. There's more Irish clubs through than English. Internationally, imo, England have a half decent pack who rely on conflict for success. Take that away, if ref sees their shenanigans and stops their bullying tactics, then, not counting one second row, all they've got is a bunch of aging, big blokes, low on stamina, who cant run fast enough to say onside. In the backs they are decent but no one stands out, imo, the Scarlets have a better back line than England. They have some young players but the majority of the English pack in particular are old men who are due to be found out. Imo Ireland pose more of a threat to world rugby than England, shame of it is both are better than we are now. We've stagnated as a team, not improved on our best and in reality we've gone backwards. This, imho, is down to us being slow to react at the decision making level. We've been stuck with the same old coaching set up for far too long. Our game and probably our players, have been screaming for change to a more dynamic style of rugby for years and last Autumn we saw the first time Gatland has changed his approach since he's been here, far too late imo. The game has moved on from Gatland ball about five years ago and our dinosaur of a coaching team have only just decided its time for change. Thing is, out endeavor might have changed but the results didn't and it was groundhog day all over again imo. We failed to beat the top teams and struggled against lesser teams. Some ol' same ol' as we under perform and under achieve yet again.
My assesment comes from taking my school teams to play in various high class rugby tournements in England. Go and watch the standard of rugby at places like Millfield, Warwick School, or the Rosslyn 7s. The standard of rugby at school boy level in England is frighteningly outstanding. They will dominate rugby for many years if the continued improvement of talent continues, and there's nothing we will be able to do to compete. The facilities of these schools are simply world class. The kids in these public/private schools are already training/analysing/eating etc like professional players.
Did some work at Millfield some years ago, the facilities are second to none. Their facilities would put some professional sporting organisations to shame. Millfield's fees are eye watering at 12k per year.
Agree. They are just one of a number of schools though, that's why we cannot/shouldn't be competing v England on the big stage. The fact that we are able to do so is incredible in itself.
I doubt those privately funded, 'independent' boarding schools you mentioned Valley had to sell their playing fields to keep the school open or had to use any available teacher, usually the one looking to bump up his/her hours, to take rugby training. I imagine the boarding schools you mentioned used the PE dept and its qualified coaches to take training. Also I imagine they were able to find a coach willing to take them for training after hours, hard to do in a state funded school as most don't get paid for out of hours work. I think they probably are able to employ groundsmen to manicure the playing fields they own. To me all this proves is that a well coached team of children luck enough to have access to excellent sporting facilities will learn to play a particular sport well and will usually out play a team who trained by their English teacher with a make do attitude. A measurable reason why it could be said that England will be better than Wales at rugby in the future is a simple one. England out number Wales 20 to 1 in rugby teams and therefor players. I read something once which stated that there are more rugby players in England than there are Welsh Men on the planet. That's a good reason but I don't buy that because of a few private schools, we have to call them 'independent' schools these days, that England will dominate us. England has always had a fair portion of private schools with superb facilities compared to the state funded schools in Wales.
Just look at what they have there: 1) 50m Pool. 2) Athletics track. 3) Golf course. 4) Equestrian centre. Indoor and outdoor 5) Tennis courts. Indoor and outdoor plus grass. 6) Indoor multi use venue. 7) Cricket ground. (Better than St Helens) 8) Rugby pitches. (God knows how many) 9) Hockey pitches. 10) Football pitches.
Go to these tournements and see the huge gap in standard for yourself. Their pace, power, skills etc are on another level. Unfortunatley for Wales, the gap in quality is huge, bar the odd team.
I have, but not for a few years now. Both boys played age grade rugby for Swansea one went on to young Ospreys then gave it up to go out with his mates while the other gave rugby up to go out with girls. Bastards killed my dreams .
