Rugby News from unexpected places

[WorkingClassRugger]

Got into watching the Rugby Europe stream of the Germany/Romania game in Offenbach, Germany. HUGE UPSET!!! A high scoring but tight affair has seen Germany snatch the lead from Romania in the final 5 mins to win 41-38 in the REC fixture.

 

[Wolfram]

Have to rewatch the Germany vs Romania game. Certainly the biggest win in german rugby history.
Unbelievable what a turn rugby took in Germany, despite the fact that is still a unknown sport here.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

Wow, that's a huge result given Romania have been runners-up in four of the last five REC's & in 2010 were the last team other than Georgia to win it.

Georgia having pre-qualified for RWC 2019, the highest-placed REC 2017 team other than Georgia plays off against whoever comes third in the Pacific Nations Cup (Fiji, Samoa, or Tonga) with the loser of that going to the repechage.

 

[Highlander35]

Is it not the team with the best record across this season and next WOB?

They've moved to having a champion named every year rather than across every two years a lá the 6 Nations, but I was almost certain that they kept the home and away qualification system.

 

[waiopehu oldboy]

^^^^^^^ You're right, I've been working off an article on rugbyworldcup.com which is obviously now out of date. Also it's the SECOND-highest ranked ERC team other than Georgia that plays off against third in PRC, my bad!

 

[Highlander35]

Not as simple as that as well.

Every European team gets a chance to qualify.

A series of playoffs between winners of lower divisions means that the 2nd non-Georgia team plays in a one-off game against either the winner of the Next Division down or a very lucky further down team.

 

[amirite]

Can someone link to the game?

 

[Omar Comin']

Spain also upset Russia overnight so it seems 2nd tier European rugby could be getting shaken up a bit.

Also I bet if Spain and especially Germany get to the level of Georgia that they'll be included in an expanded 6 Nations pretty quickly.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Can someone link to the game?

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Spain also upset Russia overnight so it seems 2nd tier European rugby could be getting shaken up a bit.

Also I bet if Spain and especially Germany get to the level of Georgia that they'll be included in an expanded 6 Nations pretty quickly.

Spain has been on an upward trajectory for the last couple of seasons. Building toward a squad that could push Romania and Georgia. Hopefully, this is the year it comes together.

 

[exISA]

absolutely insane game. no one (not even me) gave them a chance. But you can see the slow improvement over the last 3 years of the German 15s team and it came to fruition today. wow .. im still speechless at the result.

 

[Dan54]

Spain also upset Russia overnight so it seems 2nd tier European rugby could be getting shaken up a bit.

Also I bet if Spain and especially Germany get to the level of Georgia that they'll be included in an expanded 6 Nations pretty quickly.

I doubt if they will make 6N as such Omar, unless they decide that a second div in Europe may lead to a promotion relegation for top team, and bottom of 6N , which would be absolutely brilliant in my opinion,

 

[Highlander35]

Spain and Germany present a different financial situation to the 6 Nations committee than Georgia does, there's no shame in admitting it, it's the same reason Japan will be considered over the other PIs for the Rugby Championship.

If those two get up and running, and Russia and Romania don't stagnate, a genuine European Championship is on the cards IMO rather than the 6 Nations in at least one of the years in the cycle.

I'd actually like to see it messed with a little more. Maybe something like:

Year One: Six Nations
Year Two: Home Nations (BILs Year)
Year Three: Euro Championship
Year Four: Six Nations (reverse Fixtures) (World Cup year)

Financially I don't know though.

 

[Omar Comin']

A genuine European championship between world cups would be great.

But Germany would be a very lucrative market for the 6 Nations to crack so if they get to a decent enough level I think they'd be straight in. Apparently the world cup and the rugby sevens at the Olympics rated quite well in Germany too so there's obviously commercial potential.

The problem with promotion and relegation is that I can't imagine the 6 nations unions voting to risk their demotion into a far less lucrative division. Maybe this could be mitigated somewhat by going to divisions of 4, as then the 2nd division could also be very strong and lucrative, with a lot of interest in the fight for promotion. You'd also be able to play home and away in each division. But that would only work when the 6th and 7th best teams are closer to the 5th best team.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I think post 2019 could be very interesting times for Rugby. It is projected that by 2026 there will be 20m participants worldwide which should be close to approaching the tipping point for the game internationally. Assuming they don't have to re-assess those projections as they have once already due to significant jumps in growth.

For mine, the key will be the ability of the game to develop more professional leagues over the next 10-20 years. I actually think it needs to be one of WR (World Rugby) key strategic goals. The key is creating more demand.

I know that a number of the top Spanish clubs are looking to form an Iberian League with a number of the Portugese clubs with the intent of it being professional and that post 2015 a TV network floated an offer to help establish a Pro12 like competition featuring teams from Georgia, Russia, Romania and a couple of other nations. Don't know if that's is still in play.

While PRO is likely dead in the water even if they manage a 2nd season there are a number of clubs looking to transition fairly quickly to professional entities. Those three including Canada regarding the US would be high on my priority list.

So the Pro12 like competition appears to be still in play. The German team manager stated that a European franchise league with a German team is planned to launch sometime in 2018.

Some sources (they're Russian so am relying on the Russians on the T2 forum to pass on info here) suggest 8 teams while others 10. I think 10 makes more sense if the suggested composition is correct being a team each from Germany, Belgium, Spain and Portugal and two teams from Romania, Georgia and Russia.

Some suggestion that initially teams will play each other only once. We'll see.

 

[amirite]

So the Pro12 like competition appears to be still in play. The German team manager stated that a European franchise league with a German team is planned to launch sometime in 2018.

Some sources (they're Russian so am relying on the Russians on the T2 forum to pass on info here) suggest 8 teams while others 10. I think 10 makes more sense if the suggested composition is correct being a team each from Germany, Belgium, Spain and Portugal and two teams from Romania, Georgia and Russia.

Some suggestion that initially teams will play each other only once. We'll see.

I always thought some kind of league featuring lesser European nations made sense, but mine is should leverage existing clubs because they have stability and existing fanbases.

The Russian league is dominated by around 3 sides, and Italy isn't really getting development outcomes out of their current model, so it makes sense for them to join.

I'd personally love to see -

• 3 Russian teams (clubs picked from their professional comp based on performance, funding, and geographic footprint)
• 5 Italian teams (clubs picked from National Championship of Excellence based on performance, funding, and geographic footprint. This would be in addition to Treviso and Zebre.)
• 2 Romanian teams
• 2 Georgian teams
• 1 Spanish team (ideally one of their well-funded clubs affiliated with Football sides)
• 1 Portuguese team
• 1 Belgian team

16 round competition with 1 BYE, and a potential to have the top 2-4 sides play Champions Cup and the rest play change for 20-24 games in a year.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

I always thought some kind of league featuring lesser European nations made sense, but mine is should leverage existing clubs because they have stability and existing fanbases.

The Russian league is dominated by around 3 sides, and Italy isn't really getting development outcomes out of their current model, so it makes sense for them to join.

I'd personally love to see -

• 3 Russian teams (clubs picked from their professional comp based on performance, funding, and geographic footprint)
• 5 Italian teams (clubs picked from National Championship of Excellence based on performance, funding, and geographic footprint. This would be in addition to Treviso and Zebre.)
• 2 Romanian teams
• 2 Georgian teams
• 1 Spanish team (ideally one of their well-funded clubs affiliated with Football sides)
• 1 Portuguese team
• 1 Belgian team

16 round competition with 1 BYE, and a potential to have the top 2-4 sides play Champions Cup and the rest play change for 20-24 games in a year.

Ironically, the Italian teams would arguably be too weak for this league. The has been a 3rd tier Euro Shield for the past few seasons and the Italian squads have not performed well at that level. In that time they've lost to pretty much everyone but the Belgium's Dendermonde and Portugal's CDUL.

But those are club sides and these franchises would be full strength national squads in all likelihood.

 

[amirite]

Ironically, the Italian teams would arguably be too weak for this league. The has been a 3rd tier Euro Shield for the past few seasons and the Italian squads have not performed well at that level. In that time they've lost to pretty much everyone but the Belgium's Dendermonde and Portugal's CDUL.

But those are club sides and these franchises would be full strength national squads in all likelihood.

Currently, but I imagine if they were elevated they would attract better talent distribution from the current Pro12 Italian sides, and probably better external talent too.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

Currently, but I imagine if they were elevated they would attract better talent distribution from the current Pro12 Italian sides, and probably better external talent too.

I really cannot see the FIR giving up their two places in the Pro12, a tier 1 league, for what would be a t2 league even if it meant having 5 teams.

 

[WorkingClassRugger]

A new semi-pro/pro club based league to be announced in the US. Currently mooted as the Major Rugby League it will feature 9 teams.