Rainbow Cup 2021

Eod100

Split competition confirmed here

https://www.pro14.rugby/latest/news/dual-tournament-approach

PMC83

'Confirmation that the Rainbow Cup will proceed without the four South African teams is imminent, and ought to cause huge embarrassment for the organisers of this one-off competition and the Guinness Pro14.'

Gerry coming off pretty smug here.



It was always going to be a punt, but the majority of fans wanted it and in terms of finances the unions needed it. It was a chance taken that didn't come off.

Cookiemunster

The announcement also basically confirmed Pro16 for 21/22.

awec

PMC83 wrote: »

'Confirmation that the Rainbow Cup will proceed without the four South African teams is imminent, and ought to cause huge embarrassment for the organisers of this one-off competition and the Guinness Pro14.'

Gerry coming off pretty smug here.



It was always going to be a punt, but the majority of fans wanted it and in terms of finances the unions needed it. It was a chance taken that didn't come off.

Did they?

This "dual tournament" approach is some laugh.

Eod100

PMC83 wrote: »

'Confirmation that the Rainbow Cup will proceed without the four South African teams is imminent, and ought to cause huge embarrassment for the organisers of this one-off competition and the Guinness Pro14.'

Gerry coming off pretty smug here.



It was always going to be a punt, but the majority of fans wanted it and in terms of finances the unions needed it. It was a chance taken that didn't come off.

It was always going to be fairly half arsed this year. even if it went ahead. Could have finished regular Pro14 and started new tournament in Autumn. Know there was pressure with finances etc but it always seemed like a fairly big gamble.

PMC83

awec wrote: »

Did they?

This "dual tournament" approach is some laugh.

From a lot of what I'm reading online, yeah. Would you prefer the league continue as is? A lot of people in forums and comment sections seem to agree that the SA teams will freshen things up and add much needed competitiveness to the PRO14.

Of course there will be those who enjoy downing the pro 14 no matter what they do but, if they aren't fans of it they wont have much good to say.

awec

PMC83 wrote: »

From a lot of what I'm reading online, yeah. Would you prefer the league continue as is? A lot of people in forums and comment sections seem to agree that the SA teams will freshen things up and add much needed competitiveness to the PRO14.

Of course there will be those who enjoy downing the pro 14 no matter what they do but, if they aren't fans of it they wont have much good to say.

I would have preferred Ulster weren't denied their knockout game for this pile of absolute scutter.

its_phil

PMC83 wrote: »

From a lot of what I'm reading online, yeah. Would you prefer the league continue as is? A lot of people in forums and comment sections seem to agree that the SA teams will freshen things up and add much needed competitiveness to the PRO14.

Of course there will be those who enjoy downing the pro 14 no matter what they do but, if they aren't fans of it they wont have much good to say.

I like the PRO14, but the organisers have gambled and messed this up. I'm raging that the set up took away the playoffs for Connacht.

Cookiemunster

The SARU still stumped up it's €6m entrance fee according to Murray Kinsella, so they had to do something. Yes it resulted in a less than ideal season, but every team is up €500k in times when money is very tight.

KBurke85

its_phil wrote: »

I like the PRO14, but the organisers have gambled and messed this up. I'm raging that the set up took away the playoffs for Connacht.

As a Connacht fan that could be a blessing in disguise given how bad we played our last 5 games. A playoff game may not have been pretty

PMC83

KBurke85 wrote: »

As a Connacht fan that could be a blessing in disguise given how bad we played our last 5 games. A playoff game may not have been pretty

TBF I understand the above grievances re teams missing playoff spots. My argument was more pro SA joining in the long term.



Would rather see the regular pro 14 played out then this mini cup or whatever.


At this stage I'm just looking forward to next season, where hopefully we can have proper pro 16 with home /away games against the saffas

theVersatile

I reckon like the Autumn Nations Cup, the interest will get re-kicked once it gets going

icdg

Just to note, because it wasn’t clear earlier, the South African fixtures for this weekend (Bulls v Lions, Stormers v Sharks) have all now been postponed (they’ve been removed from the Sky EPG for eir Sport) and it seems they are going to play the “Rainbow Cup SA” off over seven weeks at a later date, probably closer to the Lions Tour I guess.

Eod100

icdg wrote: »

Just to note, because it wasn’t clear earlier, the South African fixtures for this weekend (Bulls v Lions, Stormers v Sharks) have all now been postponed (they’ve been removed from the Sky EPG for eir Sport) and it seems they are going to play the “Rainbow Cup SA” off over seven weeks at a later date, probably closer to the Lions Tour I guess.

Pro14 site updated alright without the SA fixtures.

Boscoirl

icdg wrote: »

Just to note, because it wasn’t clear earlier, the South African fixtures for this weekend (Bulls v Lions, Stormers v Sharks) have all now been postponed (they’ve been removed from the Sky EPG for eir Sport) and it seems they are going to play the “Rainbow Cup SA” off over seven weeks at a later date, probably closer to the Lions Tour I guess.

They are the games I was looking forward to

thelad95

Seems to not have been suggested but to re-invigorate interest a little they should maybe have a match between the North and South winner when restrictions allow to determine the ultimate rainbow road winner.

Paul Smeenus

https://twitter.com/glove931/status/1384814722055352321?s=19

Made me laugh.

hold my beer

Why are the Scottish and Italian teams playing each other instead of having derby games?

Squidgy Black

hold my beer wrote: »

Why are the Scottish and Italian teams playing each other instead of having derby games?

Because there's only two Scottish teams and two Italian teams.

Doesn't make much sense to have Glasgow vs Edinburgh and Treviso vs Zebre 3 times in a row.

hold my beer

Squidgy Black wrote: »

Because there's only two Scottish teams and two Italian teams.

Doesn't make much sense to have Glasgow vs Edinburgh and Treviso vs Zebre 3 times in a row.

You'd think they would have went with local derbies first though.

I wonder if the playing squads will struggle to get up to pitch for these games. Feels like a bit of a nothing tournament at this point.

Boscoirl

Cooney did his best to butcher that

Seemed to look for his closest bunch of Connacht defenders

hold my beer

Lovely try from Blade

icdg

Easy to know eir Sport are a broadcaster about to finish its contract, with the panel (Tommy Bowe, Peter Stringer, BJ Botha) barely hiding their disdain for this tournament.

hold my beer

This is an entertaining game all the same

hold my beer

What a finish

Boscoirl

Fitzgerald made a great contribution to the game.

Digifriendly

icdg wrote: »

Easy to know eir Sport are a broadcaster about to finish its contract, with the panel (Tommy Bowe, Peter Stringer, BJ Botha) barely hiding their disdain for this tournament.

TBF they are not the only ones with that view.

Thrashssacre

Glasgow having a mare here, benneton are playing excellently though, their looking like the team of a couple of seasons ago.

icdg

Digifriendly wrote: »

TBF they are not the only ones with that view.

Oh absolutely, but it’s rare for a broadcaster to openly show such disdain for a tournament they are covering - but given the “on borrowed time” message sent out with regard eir Sport, and the fact that they are losing the Pro14 contract at the end of the Rainbow Cup anyway, they are probably going through the motions at this stage.

Plus (whisper it) the game turned out to be quite good!