Yeah I know - not the most impressive of titles but this post is in response the news that London Welsh will be denied entry to the Premier League should they win their playoff final against Cornish Pirates. As Cornish Pirates also don't meet the Premier League standards then it means Newcastle, who finished bottom of the league, are given a reprieve and are allowed to stay.
As good a team as they are they're not going up
Difficult to know where to start on this one - firstly, it's pretty harsh on London Welsh (and Cornish Pirates), secondly it begs the age old question of whether we should abandon the promotion / relegation system currently employed in the English league.
The case for is simple - look at Ireland and Wales, even Scotland these days. Their club sides are all starting to excel on the European stage and their national teams (Ireland and Wales in particular) are tougher than ever to beat. With no threat of relegation the teams in these countries can rest their star players in league games and roll them out for the big games. It also means that the star performers are not playing as many games, reducing the risk of injury and meaning that they're even fresher for international matches. I don't think it's any coincidence that Irish sides have won five Heineken Cups since 2006 and that both Wales and Ireland are consistently threats during the Six Nations and over the summer and autumn tests versus southern hemisphere opponents.
Leinster celebrating their 3rd Heineken Cup in four years
What the resting of stars also does is give new talent the chance to come in, play and shine and so they keep a production line of good young players coming through who are given the chance to gain experience at a high level.
As for the case against, well it limits the competition throughout the country. There are many clubs in the Championship that are very good and given the chance could compete with some of the bigger clubs - just look at what Exeter have achieved over the last couple of years. Losing the chance to be promoted would mean there's no real incentive for them to achieve. Saying that, if when you do get promoted you're turned down because your stadium isn't good enough then what's the point anyway ??
This argument of course won't go down well with the die hard rugby fans out there - nor will it go down particularly well with the fans of the actual clubs involved. However the bigger picture is that the bigger sides in Europe and the European competition itself is driving more interest and a successful international team gets more people interested in and playing the game which will benefit the game as a whole
Hot off the heels of attending the Heineken Cup here’s my
view on the events that passed. Ok, so
not quite hot on the heels and yes it has taken me a couple of days to get into
a place where I can a) recall most of what went on and b) be able to type
about that (more on that later).
So the day kicked off as you’d expect it to – on the train
and then piling into a pub in Twickenham, along with the rest of Dublin and
Belfast it felt!
The Irish taking over Twickenham High St
Once we made it to the stadium and up high in the gods to
our seats we settled in to watch a decent game of rugby. I was pleased to see both O’Driscoll and RobKearney making it back into the team from injury – it was to be said that BoD’s
ability to come back from the hospital bed will be stuff of legends come the
future. If you haven’t guessed by now I
was behind Leinster for two reasons – 1) I used to live in Dublin so they would
be my home team and 2) the mad Irishman I was with (Ste) is a passionate
Leinster fan and should Leinster win then I wouldn’t be able to take the jokes
and barbs that would come my way following the win and if they didn’t win I’m
not sure I could take his miserable face for the rest of the day.
Our view for the final - not bad!
So the game itself – a lively affair. Was pleased to see that Ulster were keen to
fling the ball around a fair bit. They started
very well and my friend to my right was getting a little nervy when they took
an early 3-0 lead. Ruan Pienaar not “Ruan-ing”
that particular kick – a running poor joke that lasted the full 80 minutes and yet still reduced us to fits of giggles!
Leinster soon hit back though with a try Sean O’Brien that showed
the power that Leinster can now play with to go along with their finesse. A back handed pass come offload from O’Driscoll
(that epitomised the wonderful skill set he’s developed over his career and
then) to O’Brien who then charged through the Ulster defence towards the try
line started off the second try. Cian ‘baby rhino’ Healy then trundled over the line to give Leinster a 14-3 lead, soon
reduced to 14-6 just before half time with a monster penalty from Pienaar that
made me wonder if Twickenham had suddenly been transported to the high veldt
and they were actually playing at altitude!
Cian Healy's alter-ego
By this time the queue at the bar was long but we were
thirsty however once at the head of the queue we were met with a “we don’t have Heineken on tap” anymore, they
only had bottles where the money to beer ratio wasn’t as good. So off we trundled to the next bar only to be
met with “we don’t have any Heineken. At
all”. Panic set in. By now the second half was just about to
start so we made the decision to forego beer and head back to the match.
Leinster scored a penalty try early in the second half when
Ulster bought down an impressive rolling maul.
Leinster were really starting to bully Ulster out of the match. Their scramble defence was epic, though there
were times when the decision to run rather than pass by Ulster made the job a
little easier. They did get back in the
match with a try Dan Tuohy which was when I made the fateful decision to find
beer. It was needed.
I had to go all the way back down to ground level and buy
the last six bottles of Heineken from a vendor with a cool box on his
back. And then semi-sprinted up a
seemingly endless spiral of stairs to get back to our seats with numerous
people congratulating me on the way for going all out for the beer. I was met at our seats with a greatful hug
from Ste and many a pat on the back from numerous beer/rugby fans around
me. There may have been heroes down on
the pitch but up in block U15, I was the man!
·After the Ulster try, Leinster went on to nail
their name back on the trophy with a try each from Van der Merwe and Cronin
after good build up work for both.
Ulster’s defence was simply nowhere near the level of Leinster’s and it
was great pomp and ceremony that Leinster were once again crowned champions of
Europe. And they deserve it. The talk afterwards was of dynasties and
wanting more trophies and even when O’Driscoll’s body does finally say enough
is enough you can still see throughout the side, enough young talent to see them
to more glory days. Compare that to
their kin down in Munster and you have to worry for the boys from Limerick.
Leinster parading the trophy around HQ
·We stayed in
Twickenham soaking up the atmosphere but not the Heineken as once again the
stocks were depleted.Note to the ERC and
Heineken – when hosting the Heineken
Cup final, be sure to bring enough Heineken, or if you don’t have enough ensure
there’s a backup lager!
Later on we
watched Chelsea’s amateur dramatic team pick up some other European trophy
before heading for home, a sing along on the train, a rugby tackle gone wrong
(my shoulder is still buggered but at least I can now type), a kebab and one or
two more beers!
A good time had
by all. Next year it’s back to Dublinand the Aviva and it would only be right for Leinster to win it on home
soil. On this type of form and this
level of confidence flowing through them who wouldn’t back them?
I'm back! Been a while hasn't it! This post is based upon something I saw on Sunday whilst watching the climax to the Premier League (football that is!). It was pretty exciting, probably one of the best endings to a season I've seen in a long time. Whilst flicking between the two key matches and keeping an eye on the buzz on Twitter I saw this:
For those of you that don't know, Sonja is a sports journalist for BBC Radio 5 and will also be on Channel 4 for their coverage of the Paralympics. She's well respected and I follow her because usually her view on things is normally pretty good.
Now granted - there's no clear definition as to what she's actually comparing the football to, and I'll caveat this whole article based on me maybe jumping the gun the little. So I've presumed that she's comparing the end of the football league to that of the rugby Premier League and maybe having a pop at the playoffs and how it's maybe anti-climactic. If I have made one presumption too many then Sonja, I apologise!
So whilst Sunday's action was devilishly exciting and had me off my seat screaming "OH MY GOD!", and in general it has been a very entertaining season. It was but one season in many that has been that exciting. Recent history shows that the football league has been decided BEFORE the last game of the season. So this would be a bit of a one off.
Utd players looking a little upset about their swing in fortunes!
Now, on Saturday I had the pleasure of watching (mainly from behind a cushion) a thrilling, intense, exciting game of rugby which was the Quins v Northampton semi-final playoff. From what I hear the Leicester v Sarries match was equally enthralling with Leicester keen to exert a measure of revenge. Next up Leicester v Quins in the final, at Twickenham in front of a bumper crowd sounds like a pretty exciting affair - especially given the last meeting between the two sides.
Quins players at the final whistle versus Northampton - was that game not exciting enough ?
What I struggle to see is how Sonja could not find this exciting? And we get this more or less every year - not once every so often where a team who have shelled out hundreds of millions in transfer fee's and salaries have failed to take advantage of their financial muscle (another slight at the footballing world!).
Lastly, it would be a little unfair to simply just have a league system as it punishes those teams that supply a lot of international players during the autumn tests and six nations competitions. Take Leicester for example who earlier in the season were closer to the bottom then they were the top of the league, no easy ride for them to finish in the top four. With four "winning" places up for grabs rather than one it also ensures that more teams stand a chance of gaining a place and thus making the last few games of the league equally exciting.
