2020/21 Leagues Announced

Red- definite freudian slip re disease. Totally agree especially if playing season delayed more than a couple of months. What would be the point of shoe horning a full season into an already congested timetable, especially as games may be played in front of none/limited numbers of spectators. What would be so bad about a season of more local fixtures and no league promotion and relegation? At the end of season 2020/21 clubs would have a much more detailed view of what level they could continue at if a restructuring takes place.

Monkey Boy wrote: islander wrote: Monkey Boy wrote: Ex Coach wrote: Talking Rugby Union suggested yesterday that matches could start in  November. Incidentally if anyone doesn't follow them on twitter it is a great source of Rugby News and interviews with players from all levels of the game.  Clickbait not sure why one media organisation gets singled out for criticism by our resident simian sceptic. they are all speculating what might happen regarding resumption, for one simple reason: no-one knows - it remains TBC. sports journos haven't had any live sport to cover for 2 months, so those still in work are dividing their time between this type of story and retro 'best game/player ever' type features... both perfectly legitimate options, in the circumstances, IMHO.  They haven’t been singled out. Crack on

The distances travelled in Nat 1, are insane, the sooner Nat 1 is split N and S the better. 12 teams per league, with play off games for top 4 in N and S, winner moves to Champ.

I get what your saying  Rabbie, but it is unsustainable and all clubs know it, also National 2 is already regional so it does make sense and would make for better player welfare, more derbies, bigger crowds, more players staying playing and a very exciting end to the season for most clubs.

I suspect we have plenty of time to discuss - I can't see rugby returning outside the Prem/Pro/Top 14 until a vaccine arrives.

I guess there's an outside chance of some if/when a reliable cheap test appears and there's certainty regarding immunity. Could we envisage both sides lining up to have their studs and certificate checked by the ref?

Not sure what the latest is on vaccine (there seems to be the occasional optimistic headline) but unless there's some big breakthrough we likely won't see rugby until pre-season 2021.

My hunch is that the hospitality facilities at clubs will be open before there is any safe way to prevent super spreading in a scrum.

Edited by Bill Sley - 11 May 2020 at 06:20

Runitback wrote: I get what your saying  Rabbie, but it is unsustainable and all clubs know it, also National 2 is already regional so it does make sense and would make for better player welfare, more derbies, bigger crowds, more players staying playing and a very exciting end to the season for most clubs. It would also stop Nat 1 becoming a London League!!!

Why not go the whole hog and regionalise the Premiership and Championship.

If N1 is predominantly Southern then that is because the best teams are in the South. Regionalise N1 means artificially promoting a number of Northern teams to balance the numbers.

Runitback wrote: The distances travelled in Nat 1, are insane, the sooner Nat 1 is split N and S the better. 12 teams per league, with play off games for top 4 in N and S, winner moves to Champ. The same could happen for Nat 2 . . . . with 3 up three down play offs Lots of excitement and lots of crowds . .post Covid!

Edited by hills17 - 11 May 2020 at 11:53

billesleyexile wrote: Raider999 wrote: Robb wrote: Redted wrote: Is teams travelling all over the country by coach, a great form of transport for transmitting the decease, the best thing to do next season? Would the game not be better served by having local leagues next season? In my area for instance a decent top league would be Cornwall & Devon which could easily be covered using car travel. Given the financial uncertainty this would save a massive amount on travel money for both the RFU and the club's.  National Leagues could then restart In the new format in 2021/2022. Guernsey currently have a 14 day quarantine for anybody travelling from the UK. They'd have to just force Guernsey to play all their games in the UK. Guernsey playing in UK wouldn't work as presumably they would have to quarantine when they returned to the island - doubt they could afford to base in UK for 3 months? I suspect it was probably tongue in cheek, but that appears to be the plan for Catalans and Toronto in SuperLeague, and potentially Toulouse in the Championship. Come over here, stay here for the season, play every fixture as an away match, worry about going home at the end. Of course the two points to note on that are: 1) in the case of Toronto most of the team are English anyway, so would be at "home" 2) just because that's what's being talked about it still won't (IMO) happen!

The difference is Catalans and Toronto are professional clubs whereas I suspect Guernsey are not (please advise if they are) so will need to be at home to work.

Runitback wrote: I get what your saying  Rabbie, but it is unsustainable and all clubs know it, also National 2 is already regional so it does make sense and would make for better player welfare, more derbies, bigger crowds, more players staying playing and a very exciting end to the season for most clubs. It would also stop Nat 1 becoming a London League!!!

Raider999 wrote: [QUOTE=Runitback] I get what your saying  Rabbie, but it is unsustainable and all clubs know it, also National 2 is already regional so it does make sense and would make for better player welfare, more derbies, bigger crowds, more players staying playing and a very exciting end to the season for most clubs. It would also stop Nat 1 becoming a London League!!!

Why not go the whole hog and regionalise the Premiership and Championship.

Runitback