Not to start the thread off on a negative but all not looking good for Worcester Warriors:
I wonder if they fold could Easling be promoted
Worst piece of refereeing I've seen for a long time by Craig Maxwell-Cheats this afternoon. Did everything in his power to ensure that Harlequins could beat London Irish. It took him until the 85 minutes to achieve his aim, but he managed it in the end. Quins 26 - 24 L Irish. I feel sick.
There is a complete disconnect between premiership rugby fans and english rugby fans.
The typical fan at games in twickenham doesnt go to premiership games and the typical fan at premiership games doesn't go to twickenham.
Im always amazed at the kick off times for games in the GP And how they clash and never seem to attempt anything different like a late saturday game.
Compared to football. Compared to basketball, Compared to the nfl, baseball etc...
I said I don't know what the answer is. But, it's in current condition, the premiership is a joke. They've got to do something to make it more attractive. The premiership has been around for a while and yet it's finances are precarious.
Biggar off to Toulon, the Saints can't afford him. Simmonds leaving for a better league. They need people that can market the clubs and good business people.
Well you put out these big statements so surely you must back them up sometimes...
Rugby isnt a popular sport compared to what?
I dont think England want to run a system like ours. England is a big enough country to run 12 or so top level teams and has the population base to cover that number of teams in a top division but do they want to fund all those sides and have to substantially reduce their money going towards amateur rugby to pay for pro rugby then?
You have to get across a very good product to get stadiums full.. I dont think what works in Ireland will work in England. Theyre not comparable
Australia is for another thread but sport is too much for people from a certain background and hasnt done enough to get beyond those people to get money in...
Obviously the answer is not with me. But in its current state the premiership appears to be a financial cripple. Rugby is not a very popular sport, compared to others. I believe there's the biggest number of registered players worldwide in England and yet they struggle to keep their heads above water.
Maybe a system like ours would work. Perhaps a semi union run league with the union owning part of each team. Filling stadiums is a must! There's got to be ways to keep fans coming and to attract more.
Maybe auction off England tickets for each match? Meet and greet with the players and fanzines? In it's current condition, the premiership is a mess. Maybe better business and advertising people should be involved?
I think rugby needs an enema and a reboot. Oz can't fill their stadiums for international matches! The business end needs help.
What would you suggest as a rethink and change to attract more supporters?
Wow! Who would come in? The premiership needs a rethink! There needs to be some kind of way to promote it and attract more supporters.
Good for Biggar. Fine player and a competitor.
trimming to make way for a couple or few of ex wasps / worcesters surely
Saints trimming the wage bill
I wouldn't be surprised. Especially as so many people have been arguing for a 11 team premiership. No one has been arguing for relegation.
The number of teams in the premiership can't be cut unless all p share holders agree. If a club goes into administration they can be forced to sell their p shares to the league.
It never struck me as likely that someone would vote to relegate themselves.
if so that could be it for the prem in its current form.
Unbeaten Sale were stuffed by Quins this afternoon! FT 13 - 29.
The quins pack plus Care and Smith played the Sharks off the park. It's hard to describe how poor Sale were, so suffice to say that Manu was about as useful as a spare wheel on a tank.
Jackman in indo reckons one more premiership club are about to to bust
Inevitable finish - Exeter aren't going to win much unless they can stop giving away scrum penalties.
Tom Foley seems to have improved as a referee this season now that he's getting the bigger games. (I wonder has Karl Dickson been relegated to the lower leagues, if so, I'm not surprised. He was rubbish in the Saints - Leicester game.)
And van Graaaaaaan has done it! Bath 27 - 14 Saints.
Normally doesnt get pinged unless the arm comes out from the body, itoje tucked the ball and kept his arms tight.
Itoje leading with elbow there?
mako clearly wrong and farrell doing a terrible job talking with the ref
Problem there is that it appears that the clubs with fewer international players want to play the teams that will be depleted during the international season!
Based on that debatable penalty against McFarland? I assume you've no problem with Mako's yellow card and penalty try?
In other news, Van Graaaaaaaaannnnnn may be about to get his first win since the 1840's. (Bath 14 - 0 up V Saints at HT)
I dont think i would ever have an ounce of sympathy for sarries but it looked like they are being rode sideways by this ref
Owen Farrell having a mare
Causing a penalty to be reversed followed by YC for a trip
They could have fewer games clashing with internationals, surely that would be good for all concerned.
I think if they realigned the fixture list one of the goals would be to give weekends to the cup.
Maybe there would be some more value in the cup competition if the games were on weekends rather than mid week between fixtures.
That said there is an argument that fitst teamers would be used in the cup and doing that sort of move would punish those with a deeper squad and a weaker first team.
They'd burn through the fixtures quicker playing 5 games a week, I suppose.
Absolutely. Utter madness.
It's ridiculous, only 4 games each weekend, that means only 8 teams playing and 3 not. Obviously the odd number of teams mean one won't be playing each weekend but having two others sitting out is just stupid and must undermine sponsorship and tv deals.
They should recast the fixture list from Christmas. Bristol were due to host Wasps on NYE, surely that is one of the most commercially attractive matchdays so they should play someone else instead. The inability to agree something further damages the leagues credibility.
From what I could gather, a meeting of representatives from the remaining teams took place this week.
They couldn't agree on a new fixture list. Everyone fighting their own quarter. Noone thinking of the bigger picture. (I'd hazard a guess at too many egos)
Kidney and Kiss's "Irish" go down to Gloucester 21- 22 in an interesting game. Three tries by Argentinian hookers and the winning score was a DG by Hastings from about 55 metres.
Its a pity they couldn't rearrange the cup game from midweek to this weekend. Newcastle who they played midweek in the cup don't have a fixture this weekend.
They are also playing a friendly with Italy A in a few weeks to fill the gaps in and keep people match fit iirc.
It's worth noting that Leicester had a mini cash flow crisis losing 2 home games in a row after Wasps and Worcester collapsed.
![Photo of [Deleted User]](https://w5.vanillicon.com/v2/540d8cb314832a1dac2dc9192a568ed1.svg)
