Provinces v Clubs??

Qprmeath

Im always watched rugby but would not consider myself a huge fan. Its always bothered me that provinces from some countries play clubs from other countries. Is the playing field really level? Maybe its because Im used to club v club or county v county from other sports. With the Irish teams continuing to dominate the Heineken cup will it ever come to pass that the club teams involved will get fed up with the situation of being beaten by provinces? I am aware that is was a very tough job to get the balance of the Heineken Cup right in the first place. Maybe Im missing the point but Id be interested in hearing real rugby fans opinions on it.

NickNolte

Qprmeath wrote: »

Im always watched rugby but would not consider myself a huge fan. Its always bothered me that provinces from some countries play clubs from other countries. Is the playing field really level? Maybe its because Im used to club v club or county v county from other sports. With the Irish teams continuing to dominate the Heineken cup will it ever come to pass that the club teams involved will get fed up with the situation of being beaten by provinces? I am aware that is was a very tough job to get the balance of the Heineken Cup right in the first place. Maybe Im missing the point but Id be interested in hearing real rugby fans opinions on it.

It makes absolutely no difference. They're essentially just clubs as players can be bought in and transferred out. Leinstermen can play for Munster. Munstermen can play for Leinster. Perpignan can sign Kiwis. Sale can sign Frenchmen. Whether rugby branches are local or provincial, it's a semantic point. These clubs/provinces are run like businesses and aren't restricted by their cachement area.

Ireland simply isn't big enough and rugby isn't popular enough to warrant having more than 4 clubs/provinces representing us at European level.

thomond2006

Too many new threads, brain overload!!!

sock puppet

Qprmeath wrote: »

Im always watched rugby but would not consider myself a huge fan. Its always bothered me that provinces from some countries play clubs from other countries. Is the playing field really level? Maybe its because Im used to club v club or county v county from other sports. With the Irish teams continuing to dominate the Heineken cup will it ever come to pass that the club teams involved will get fed up with the situation of being beaten by provinces? I am aware that is was a very tough job to get the balance of the Heineken Cup right in the first place. Maybe Im missing the point but Id be interested in hearing real rugby fans opinions on it.

No. England and France could field regions if they wanted to. But why would they? They have a very healthy club system. And the Irish teams aren't always going to be successful either.

anonymous_joe

Qprmeath wrote: »

Im always watched rugby but would not consider myself a huge fan. Its always bothered me that provinces from some countries play clubs from other countries. Is the playing field really level? Maybe its because Im used to club v club or county v county from other sports. With the Irish teams continuing to dominate the Heineken cup will it ever come to pass that the club teams involved will get fed up with the situation of being beaten by provinces? I am aware that is was a very tough job to get the balance of the Heineken Cup right in the first place. Maybe Im missing the point but Id be interested in hearing real rugby fans opinions on it.

An average English club has a similar catchment area to an Irish province.

Dublin and the rest of the province might be a lot bigger than Leicester, but the average attendance isn't much bigger. Limerick and Cork are decently sized places, but Toulouse can draw an equal number of fans.

Judgement Day

Perhaps in the not too distant future when Rugby finally eclipses the GAA as the most popular sport in Ireland we will be able to enter clubs rather than provinces in the HC etc. Apparently even De Valera saw rugby as 'the' Irish game!

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/%C3%89amon_de_Valera

anonymous_joe

Rugby and hurling I thought.

Blisterman

50 million People in England
12 Clubs in the Guinness Premiership

That's over 4 million people per top level club.

5 Million people in Ireland.
4 Provincial Teams.
That's a little over 1 million per team.

anonymous_joe

Blisterman wrote: »

50 million People in England
12 Clubs in the Guinness Premiership

That's over 4 million people per top level club.

5 Million people in Ireland.
4 Provincial Teams.
That's a little over 1 million per team.

Now that's just a load of bullshít.

Leicester Tigers, historically England's best club, are miles behind Leicester City, 47th football club in England.

Sale Sharks don't rival United or City.

Wasps don't rival Arsenal or Chelsea.

AlphaMale 3OO

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Now that's just a load of bullshít.

Leicester Tigers, historically England's best club, are miles behind Leicester City, 47th football club in England.

Sale Sharks don't rival United or City.

Wasps don't rival Arsenal or Chelsea.

Don't think he is suggesting that they are, he's just making an example based on per capita proportions. To the OP, Scotland and Wales also run a regional system but as has been said, it's a moot point because every Heineken team is effectively a franchise and there are no restrictions on player movement. 'Leinster' and 'Munster' are merely labels now. It's like suggesting that the New England Patriots have an advantage over everyone else because they represent a broad region (3/4 states?) while say, the Green Bay Packers just represent one city. Likewise the Carolina Panthers (North Carolina and South Carolina) having an advantage over the Oakland Raiders (small city). I'd put the Irish teams' success down to the top down structure of our game as opossed to the catchement area of our clubs.

You also have to remember for every Garryowen or Blackrock, which are now feeder clubs in Ireland, there are several more under the likes of Leicester or Toulouse in France so the system is effectively the same.