Welsh Prem becoming a joke

[robert rees]

With the 6 point try scheme last season and the split this yr, the on and off ring fencing its making the prem look like a joke. It needs changing, but what should change....here's my thoughts on the matter .

http://lastwordonrugby.com/2017/01/18/p ... f-respect/


Any thoughts or comments?

[marshomano]

All good points to which i agree with. Im not going to say don't fix what isn't broken, because the premiership has been ring fenced for so long now it seems as soon as your in the premiership you can pull up an armchair and relax. Im fully on board with having a regular scoring game (that even helps the commentators when matches are being shown on live tv) and lets have relegation back. If the WRU do this, it gives teams more to play for without the split, with the top half fighting for the cup and the bottom half fighting to keep their premiership status, wasn't that the aim of the split anyway? To give teams more to play for and focus on an exciting brand of rugby?

[viewfromthestand]

Enjoyed your article Rob. Think you have got it spot on. The WRU have no idea or seem to care about rugby below Regional Level. Let s be honest the regional game is a mess. The Pro 12 is only saleable because of the presence of the Irish sides. The Italian sides did count when they first come into the league but in the past couple of seasons The ball held i n at they have just made up the numbers. Zebre have gone semi professional as their main benfactor pulled out. As a rugby nation we are struggling at international level. The autumn international were a poor advert for the Welsh game. We were taught a lesson by the Aussies, lucky v Japan. It was a game too much for Argentina as they were at the end of their busy international season and the South Africans were depleted by injuries and internal turmoil. The Welsh management claimed success but was it?
I kind of agreed with the implementation of the new scoring structure when it was launched last year. It did nt work as planned .It did nt raise the level of running rugby it did develop a catch n kynes culture.
I have always bumped my gums over the correct way to run a league . it is as simple as this, winners and losers. Winners get the honours , losers get to play at a lower level. In essence what the WRU has done is created another league between the premiership and championship.I ll wait until the end of the season and see how it pans out but I really can t see what benefit the split has created. Only time will tell if it produces are more exciting brand of rugby.

[robert rees]

All good points to which i agree with. Im not going to say don't fix what isn't broken, because the premiership has been ring fenced for so long now it seems as soon as your in the premiership you can pull up an armchair and relax. Im fully on board with having a regular scoring game (that even helps the commentators when matches are being shown on live tv) and lets have relegation back. If the WRU do this, it gives teams more to play for without the split, with the top half fighting for the cup and the bottom half fighting to keep their premiership status, wasn't that the aim of the split anyway? To give teams more to play for and focus on an exciting brand of rugby?

totally agree, the prem can be competitive without all this split and return teams to zero points nonsense. It just has to be 30 games, 15 home and away, 1 up and 1 down and make the A licence criteria reasonable. that way we get teams playing competitive rugby, teams play better as they would lose 99% of their funding if they got relegated, it creates a totally better atmosphere for the players and clubs involved. there is also the fairness side to it in everyone gets the chance to have 15 home games to pull in the subsequent income from it that follows, plus aberavon this yr would have a fair chance over ebbw, which lets be fair is how it should be.

[robert rees]

Enjoyed your article Rob. Think you have got it spot on. The WRU have no idea or seem to care about rugby below Regional Level. Let s be honest the regional game is a mess. The Pro 12 is only saleable because of the presence of the Irish sides. The Italian sides did count when they first come into the league but in the past couple of seasons The ball held i n at they have just made up the numbers. Zebre have gone semi professional as their main benfactor pulled out. As a rugby nation we are struggling at international level. The autumn international were a poor advert for the Welsh game. We were taught a lesson by the Aussies, lucky v Japan. It was a game too much for Argentina as they were at the end of their busy international season and the South Africans were depleted by injuries and internal turmoil. The Welsh management claimed success but was it?
I kind of agreed with the implementation of the new scoring structure when it was launched last year. It didnt work as planned .It did nt raise the level of running rugby it did develop a catch n kynes culture.
I have always bumped my gums over the correct way to run a league . it is as simple as this, winners and losers. Winners get the honours , losers get to play at a lower level. In essence what the WRU has done is created another league between the premiership and championship.I ll wait until the end of the season and see how it pans out but I really can t see what benefit the split has created. Only time will tell if it produces are more exciting brand of rugby.

the scoring system like the split, has a good theory behind it, but it never really worked out well for what they wanted. there has to be that promotion-relegation to keep all teams fighting, but also it gets 2 league's playing competitive rugby, or more competitive than what it is now. the split has a good theory, but is full of problems. ideally get 1 up 1 down going and play it like it was a few yrs ago with none of this silly ruling going on to make it more competitive, but allow promotion to keep it flowing.