French Pull Out of Next Years HEC

bugler

And the English will follow as promised. Sad day for fans, players and the game of rugby.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/6530741.stm

Its understandable from the French POV.
I'll accept it as long as its only for the world cup and they rejoin it the next year

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

thebaz

Deleted User wrote:

Its understandable from the French POV.
I'll accept it as long as its only for the world cup and they rejoin it the next year

why is it understandable ?
Its one of the things thats wrong with rugby , the power and authoricy of the big boys who want to keep control, and stop smaller Nations and teams developing and in essence bully them out of existence.

The major powers in rugby don't care if they kill the game in Ireland, Scotland, Samoa, or Argentina -- why don't the just have a big Super 5 tournament, and the rest of the world can tune out , and return to soccer , which encourages global growth.
The conservatism in rugby is alive and kicking.

siochain

very dissapointing news, great viewing.

Chucky the tree

England will join them now probaly. Should be scraped next year. It will give teams a chance to take the ML more seriously and will hopefully increase the profile of it.

Although, i am suree leinster will want it to go ahead as it will be there best to win the Heiniken cup.

RuggieBear

Chucky the tree wrote:

Although, i am suree leinster will want it to go ahead as it will be there best to win the Heiniken cup.

now now..let's not go down that path

thebaz

thebaz wrote:

why is it understandable ?

Because the French sides are overplayed as it is. Their prioroty is the domestic league which has been around for a lot longer than the HC.
Like I said, if its for one year and things go back to normal afterwards I dont mind.

buck65

I think the tournament as it was is finished, it will probably be redesigned in the future, either that or the provinces will have to join the Premiership to survive.
Only glad that Munster won it before it is scrapped.
An awful pity really but still I think the English clubs would love the provinces to join them because of the large crowds they would bring thru the gates.

thebaz

Deleted User wrote:

Because the French sides are overplayed as it is. Their prioroty is the domestic league which has been around for a lot longer than the HC.
Like I said, if its for one year and things go back to normal afterwards I dont mind.

Still strikes me of selfishness, sure why don't the Springboks and the Wallabies pull out of the world cup, so the they can concentrate on the Super 14 ... or us and England pull out of the 6 nations in 3 years time , so we can concentrate on the World Cup . Where does it end , Scottish rugby is nearly destroyed, I think rugby nations should look beyond there short term gain and self interest , for the long term interest of the game . The selfishness of rugby is typified by the tri-nations, playing each other 3 times, in pursuit of more money , funny they don't play to full houses with such a bore fest.

Sangre

bye bye HC as we know it.

buck65

I hope it backfires on the All Blacks the French and the English and the Boks win the RWC, that would be hilarious or us even that would be funnier still.
What about the Munster 10 year ticket holders? Surely now the money will have to be sent back to the fans or half it anyway...

Diamondmaker

Chucky the tree wrote:

England will join them now probaly. Should be scraped next year. It will give teams a chance to take the ML more seriously and will hopefully increase the profile of it.

Although, i am suree leinster will want it to go ahead as it will be there best to win the Heiniken cup.

Always count on CTT !!!

I agree however, but not in the sense you possibly mean. Next season should be a strong season for Leinster and it is unfortunate that they will not be able to compete for a HC.

psicic

Any hastily constructed alternatives to a HC that people can come up with, then?

Just mass promote Div 1/Div2 sides from Europe?

Or InterContinental Clubs/Provinces? Sure it wouldn't be a huge draw at the gates, except for matches in Ireland and Wales, but if we got a few teams of Argentinians and the like, could it be interesting enough to let TV deals be maintained?

Or are we going to see our sides on tour in the countries where IRB is trying to help advance rugby (Italy, Spain, Romania?)

Or maybe we can 'racially diversify' our teams enough so the SA Government will force their Union to make their teams play us?

(Oh, any news on Borders yet? Have they been 'saved' after all?)

Chucky the tree

English out now. So its a magners league with italy.

Snickers Man

Feeling decidedly pissed off with the French at this point in time. I've just started humming this little ditty that Rowan Atkinson recorded on his Live in Belfast album about 25 years ago.

Timeless truths indeed.


That's why I hate the French

We offered kindly to donate them Calais
And all they gave us back was the bidet
And now they won't let us go on holiday
That's why I hate the French

They bottle bath-water and call it Perrier
They eat poor froggie's legs then throw the rest away
They even like the look of Johnny Holliday
That's why I hate the French

They eat raw garlic and invented croquet
They think the height of chic is John Paul Gautier

They all wear berets and they're all called Jacques,
They even steal from us the words they lack
Le weekend, Le Camping and cul de sac
That's why I hate the French

They claim their films are the best we've ever had
Well I suppose Emmannuelle wasn't bad
All their songs sound more or less the same
La la la la la la la la.........je t'aime

Sacha Distel has raindrops falling on his head
I wonder if Jean Paul Sartre knows he is dead
What I resent is that they're so good in bed
That's why I hate the French

They bake their bread in such a naughty shape
They brag about their wine and worship the grape
They criticise our food but then they eat crepe
That's why I hate the French

And now they started coming here in droves
French cigarettes, French letters and French clothes
I'm sick and tired of eating all this Brie
And I'll be buggered if I go to gay Paris.

They're pretty cocky 'bout their games in the dark
They think with girls they light a special spark
But look what the bastards did to Joan of Arc
That's why I hate the French

Teg Veece

From BBC:

The French clubs are also thought to be unhappy at their domestic championship being disrupted by the World Cup.

Yeah, that pesky World Cup. :rolleyes:

Obviously the French have a few more toys they want to throw out of their pram.

GreenHell

Irish rugby shouldn't be that badly effected over one season, if the ML can't capitalise on this and produce a higher standard of competition then we're in trouble. Scottish rugby will probably be wipped off the map.

Can't see this being good for england either, I understand their claim and they need to sort out their club v country issue once and for all, but surely this is as a big a blow for them as it is for us.

And the French, ****ers. Thats all I have to say about them.

Diamondmaker

Wheres Steffano?

We need a scape goat!:D

This is a real pisser, it really was a great couple of months entertainment.

Must beat Fr at WC, must beat Fr at WC, Must beat Fr at WC.......

Steffano2002

The reason why we pulled out of the Heineken Cup are as follows:

The "Accords de Paris" stated that the European Cup would never be "franchised". Indeed, we want the clubs to become stake-holders in this tournament. The RFU agrees then does a full 180 and says "sorry lads, ain't going to happen that way actually".

What do you expect us to do? Handle it the Irish way? (i.e. "Ah sure look it, what can you do?")

No. The LNR doesn't give a fook about the RFU and clubs outside of France (and why should they?). So we boycott. Got a problem with that? We really don't care what you think... That's the honest truth.

We also hate this Syd Millar (IRB president) who wants to put an end to club rugby as we know it in favour of huge franchises and provinces... Basically he wants rugby to become the new american football.
Syd Millar even proposed last week-end to start a new world championship grouping the Top 10 Nations every 2 years! How about that for developing rugby in the world?

And I read on this thread some people think we, the French, are trying to stop emerging nations from becoming good at rugby... Yeah, whatever mate... :rolleyes:

Furthermore, Serge Blanco is right in the middle of the TV Rights re-negociations for the Top 14 (the most important one as far as he is concerned) and between the RWC and 6 Nations it was just too much to be playing the H-Cup also (because of international duties the Top 14 will already miss its internationals for 7 "journées").

I fully support Blanco in his quest. There are just too many games being played by the international players (Top 14, Autumn/Summer Internationals, RWC, H-Cup).
Unlike here, the players belong to the clubs, not the FFR. All Serge Blanco is doing is looking after N°1. It's not our fault you guys have a sh!t domestic league (sorry for being brutally honest). We look after the Top 14 because to us it is more important than the H-Cup. End of story. To you the Magners League is nothing compared to the H-Cup. Different views, different opinions.

You can be angry at the French all you want, it won't change a thing... Take out your anger on us at the World Cup!

Inquitus

Steffano2002 wrote:

The reason why we pulled out of the Heineken Cup are as follows:

The "Accords de Paris" stated that the European Cup would never be "franchised". Indeed, we want the clubs to become stake-holders in this tournament. The RFU agrees then does a full 180 and says "sorry lads, ain't going to happen that way actually".

What do you expect us to do? Handle it the Irish way? (i.e. "Ah sure look it, what can you do?")

No. The LNR doesn't give a fook about the RFU and clubs outside of France (and why should they?). So we boycott. Got a problem with that? We really don't care what you think... That's the honest truth.

We also hate this Syd Millar (IRB president) who wants to put an end to club rugby as we know it in favour of huge franchises and provinces... Basically he wants rugby to become the new american football.
Syd Millar even proposed last week-end to start a new world championship grouping the Top 10 Nations every 2 years! How about that for developing rugby in the world?

And I read on this thread some people think we, the French, are trying to stop emerging nations from becoming good at rugby... Yeah, whatever mate... :rolleyes:

Furthermore, Serge Blanco is right in the middle of the TV Rights re-negociations for the Top 14 (the most important one as far as he is concerned) and between the RWC and 6 Nations it was just too much to be playing the H-Cup also (because of international duties the Top 14 will already miss its internationals for 7 "journées").

I fully support Blanco in his quest. There are just too many games being played by the international players (Top 14, Autumn/Summer Internationals, RWC, H-Cup).
Unlike here, the players belong to the clubs, not the FFR. All Serge Blanco is doing is looking after N°1. It's not our fault you guys have a sh!t domestic league (sorry for being brutally honest). We look after the Top 14 because to us it is more important than the H-Cup. End of story. To you the Magners League is nothing compared to the H-Cup. Different views, different opinions.

You can be angry at the French all you want, it won't change a thing... Take out your anger on us at the World Cup!

The French clubs vote 11-3 against

What we can assume is that Toulouse, Biarritz and Stade were the 3 to vote in Favour, so the 3 biggest clubs in France who carve up the French Championat between them do give a toss about the HC, its just the little clubs and Serge Fat Cnut Blanco who don't.

TBH this sort of self serving crap will do French Rugby no good, we should boycott their World Cup imo. Too many fixtures, gonna lose our internationals for Magner's league weekends........

Steffano2002

Inquitus wrote:

What we can assume is that Toulouse, Biarritz and Stade were the 3 to vote in Favour, so the 3 biggest clubs in France who carve up the French Championat between them do give a toss about the HC, its just the little clubs and Serge Fat Cnut Blanco who don't.

How do you know it was Biarritz, ST and SF?

Inquitus wrote:

TBH this sort of self serving crap will do French Rugby no good, we should boycott their World Cup imo. Too many fixtures, gonna lose our internationals for Magner's league weekends........

Nonsense... Come up with something more intelligent such as "we're going to punish you by beating you in the World Cup" :rolleyes:

RuggieBear

Inquitus wrote:

The French clubs vote 11-3 against

What we can assume is that Toulouse, Biarritz and Stade were the 3 to vote in Favour, so the 3 biggest clubs in France who carve up the French Championat between them do give a toss about the HC, its just the little clubs and Serge Fat Cnut Blanco who don't.

TBH this sort of self serving crap will do French Rugby no good, we should boycott their World Cup imo. Too many fixtures, gonna lose our internationals for Magner's league weekends........

erm...my understanding is that it was 14 -3. All the french clubs voted for pulling out with just the three FFR-type officials voting to stay in the ERC.

Altho i have to say i don't agree with alot of Steffano sentiment it is totally in the french clubs best interests to boycott. still hope it bites them in the arse bigtime...somehow.

Steffano2002

RuggieBear wrote:

erm...my understanding is that it was 14 -3. All the french clubs voted for pulling out with just the three FFR-type officials voting to stay in the ERC.

Hadn't even spotted that! Indeed, only Lapasset (FFR President) and his FFR friends voted against IMO...

RuggieBear wrote:

Altho i have to say i don't agree with alot of Steffano sentiment it is totally in the french clubs best interests to boycott. still hope it bites them in the arse bigtime...somehow.

Of course you do! But deep down you it won't

Erin Go Brath

Chucky the tree wrote:

Although, i am suree leinster will want it to go ahead as it will be there best to win the Heiniken cup.

I join the masses in condemning Blanco! Loved him during his days as full back. Hate him during his LNR presidency days. Hes been making sounds for the last few years about trying to get the French teams to pull out of the HEC. Now it seems he's got his wish.

The repurcussions of this could be quite serious. This could be the beginning of the end of Professional Rugby in Europe apart from in 2 countries. Simple economics, if the money isn't there O'Connell, Drico etc will be off to England or France to earn their living. Munster/Leinster will be no more.

Serve the French right if they got kicked out of the World Cup, the tournament they're hosting because of this. Blanco would take that smug look of his face then!

Steffano2002

Erin Go Brath wrote:

Serve the French right if they got kicked out of the World Cup, the tournament they're hosting because of this. Blanco would take that smug look of his face then!

You don't seem to understand the difference between the FFR and the LNR...

thebaz

Steffano2002 wrote:

Of course you do! But deep down you it won't

I know what i'd prefer watching next year , Champions league football , or French championship rugby , pink shirts or not ! Apart from the French who cares whether Toulouse , Biarritz wins there championship .. the whole thing is so small minded and short sighted ... i think common sense will prevail , but i find it so dissapointing that a great player like Blanco, is behind this whole mess.

Erin Go Brath

Steffano2002 wrote:

You don't seem to understand the difference between the FFR and the LNR...

Yeah, they're seperate organisations I know. Maybe it would be more appropriate to make the French clubs suffer then, instead of the national team.

Oh yeah, and I get to kick Blanco in the arse, Bishop Brennan style

Sangre

Steffano2002 wrote:

What do you expect us to do? Handle it the Irish way? (i.e. "Ah sure look it, what can you do?")

No. The LNR doesn't give a fook about the RFU and clubs outside of France (and why should they?). So we boycott. Got a problem with that? We really don't care what you think... That's the honest truth.

Wow, what a wonderful attitude to have steffano.

Teg Veece

Sangre wrote:

Wow, what a wonderful attitude to have steffano.

Was just about to post the very same thing.

thebaz

Teg Veece wrote:

Was just about to post the very same thing.

agreed -- if we all handled it the supposed Steffano French method , there would be no international rugby , just insular domestic organisations, and professional rugby would die.
So thank God for the positive Irish outlook