Post by caspday on Sept 14, 2012 22:22:50 GMT -5
Are the criteria elitist? What lies at the zyhaa915 heartAuthentic Lions Jerseys of who should be in the Premiership is also driving the bid of the leading clubs in England and France to change the qualification process for the Heineken Cup. Merit is the word they use and, in principle, having the top six teams from the Top 14, Pro12 and Premiership competing for the trophy, along with the holders and the winners of the Amlin Challenge Cup, is fair, but if a consequence is to shrink the boundaries of the game, would it be right?
Premiership Rugby argued when announcing its television deal with Official Lions JerseysBT on Wednesday that it wanted the game in Europe to grow into a third competition that took in teams from smaller unions such as Russia and Spain, but it is not fuelled by altruism as it does battle in Europe. Having outflanked European Rugby Cup Ltd so adroitly, leaving the organisers minus belt and braces, it is now a battle between the clubs of England and France and the unions of the other four countries who cannot afford a devalued Heineken Cup.
Much has been made of the success of Ireland in the Heineken Cup Matthew Stafford Jerseysin recent seasons, first Munster and then Leinster: only twice in the last seven seasons has the trophy gone elsewhere, and if the rules were changed so that Ireland no longer had any automatic qualifiers, the pair can expect to be in the top six of the Pro12 for the foreseeable future.Leinster and Munster are the only two Pro12 teams who attract support most Premiership clubs would be envious of. In the opening two rounds of the respective leagues, excluding the double header at Twickenham, seven sides attracted five-figure gates.
Bath, Gloucester, Harlequins and Northampton drew between 10,438Calvin Johnson Jerseys and 12,550 spectators while Leicester played host to 19,250; more than Exeter, London Irish and London Welsh combined. Leinster and Munster's crowd figure for games that did not involve their leading Irish players were similar, 15,724 compared to 15,642.Likely casualties if the Heineken Cup rules are changed are Scotland and Italy. Their four professional teams between them could not reach the spectator figures generated by Leinster and Munster on the opening two weekends.
How much more difficult would it be to Ndamukong Suh Jerseyssell rugby in the two countries if the Heineken Cup was not on the menu? How would it affect the recruitment of players?It may be too simplistic to say that the argument is whether wealth should be concentrated in the hands of a few or shared widely, but the crowd at Harlequins last Friday night were short-changed. The home followers would have been satisfied at a bonus point victory, but it was a match that reflected one side having three times the spending power of the other.