Papa John's Trophy

Archangel wrote:

Structure depends on how many, if a "group" of 16 then a first round on 12/04, then a 2 legged 2nd round/qu final on 26/04 & 03/05, semi the week after then final 17/05

I don't think it is a 2 legged quarter final.

I assume that this is to help the phoenix club.

Will they sell enough tickets to break even?

Sweeney Delenda Est

I have a less complicated idea to fill the Saturdays of April; increase the leagues by at least 2 teams.

Raider999 wrote:

Mountain Man wrote:

I have a less complicated idea to fill the Saturdays of April; increase the leagues by at least 2 teams.

What a good idea, I wonder why the RFU don't do this?

Because of course they did a few years ago and decided level 5 needed 12 rather than 14 teams a league and threw the Pizza Trophy in to try to plug the loss of revenue.

The Papa Johns Trophy has been a non event for most clubs. Balancing income and expenditure for these games has left most clubs out of pocket and in many cases expensive long journeys later in the rounds. Gates have been poor and bar take low. I am sure most Clubs Treasurer's would prefer League games which bring in more income to the club and can be planned which results in better sponsorship and Pre Match lunches. Even in the Championship the Prem Cup was difficult to sell as the RFU did not announce the fixtures until virtually the start of the season leaving clubs to try to sell the games to sponsors who had already booked the league games. Cups are not a replacement for meaningful league games.

Does the Pizza Cup still involve clubs from Level 6 and below, or is it Level 5 and below?

I seem to remember the regional and counties leagues being reduced in size a few years ago due to concerns over the number of fixtures and players becoming burntout/injured, hence most leagues at those levels (where players aren't contracted/paid) ending by early April. This was after consultation between the RFU and the clubs themselves.

As a result, on the flip side of the coin some clubs felt that the season had ended prematurely, and so welcomed a cup competition to extend things. The main issue is that there is a lack of uniformity across the board insomuch as many clubs (from all over the country) aren't interested and their players are already welcoming the rest, which contributes to the many walkovers each year.

There is also a timetabling issue with the County Championships to contend with, with counties now leaning more heavily on players from the Regional leagues since the rules changed as opposed to the National Leagues in previous years. On the whole, those are the very same players who would feature in the Pizza Cup, which would mean extending a player's season into May and even June. If you factor in a club's typical pre-season, that makes it almost a calendar year of rugby. Great for supporters, hard on the body for players.