THE UNSUSTAINABILITY of England's Gallagher Premiership is becoming more-obvious as this season progresses. I get the impression many of the other club owners adopted the stance of: “there but for the grace of God go I,” when Saracens' cavalier attitude to the salary rules came out. Now that Leicester are finding themselves in the smelly stuff, with historical practices at Welford Road being looked into, one or two other club benefactors might be feeling the chill of reality blowing.
Exeter, long viewed as one of the better-run clubs, have had to let two international locks, one of them a British Lion, depart Sandy Park, with England's Johnny Hill and Scotland's Sam Skinner leaving for Sale and Edinburgh respectively.
The Sandy Park club opened their new East Stand for their New Year's Day clash with Bristol Bears. This new stand increases the capacity of the ground to 15,000, a figure which, though impressive in club rugby, comes nowhere close to the capacity of the stadiums in the English football Premiership.
For all the valiant efforts of the BT Sport team to convince the public that the Gallagher Premiership is, like its football cousin: “The Best League In The world.” That's pish when the title is hung on the football competition, it is even-more-pungent pish when referencing the rugby competition.
Just look at the stadium capacities:
Ricoh Arena – Wasps – 32,609
Ashton Gate – Bristol Bears – 27,000
Welford Road – Leicester Tigers – 25,849
Brentford Stadium – London Irish – 17,250
Kingsholm – Gloucester – 16,115
Franklin's Gardens – Northampton Saints – 15,249
Sandy Park – Exeter – 15,000
Twickenham Stoop – Harlequins – 14,816
Recreation Ground – Bath – 14,500
Sixways – Worcester Warriors – 12,024
AJ Bell Stadium – Sale Sharks – 12,000
Stone X Stadium - Saracens – 10,550
Kingston Park – Newcastle Falcons – 10,200
These figures mean, the average capacity of a Gallagher Premiership stadium is 17,162. The average capacity of a Premiership football ground is 41,125 – more than twice as high. Therefore, it is all but impossible for top-flight professional rugby in England to have the same crowd appeal as football.
Thus, aping football's financial practices will not work, so, they have to try something else. Rugby does not support the free market economy in the same way as football does.
Saracens have been collared, now it looks as if Leicester are following them. Who will be next? I suspect it will be a lengthy and very-slow process, but, I feel the playing field may be being levelled-out.
I GOT it wrong, when I suggested Al Kellock had boobed in going public on asking the Exeter Chiefs fans to ditch the Native American head gear and their tomahawk chant when visiting Scotstoun.
I favoured asking Exeter nicely, by letters which would not be made public – appeal to their better nature. Watching the game from Sandy Park on Saturday, while we got few crowd shots, and I didn't detect any descendants of Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse in the crowd, the sound track did contain plenty of evidence of the so-called “Tomahawk Chant” still in use. But, given the stuff we hear week-in, week-out inside Scotland's football grounds – which has nothing to do with Scotland or Scottish football, who are we to get our sashes in a twist.
What I did see, during the Exeter v Bristol game, was further proof that England's Kyle Sinckler cannot scrum. I have been getting pelters from England fans in the btl comments section of The Guardian for months, for daring to suggest that neither Sinckler nor Ellis Genge can scrum properly.
How dare a “Sweatie” make such a suggestion, these players are England regulars, therefore, the best there is – that is the argument I get from infuriated Ruperts and Nigels.
Fact is, we have at the top end of the game, far-fewer scrums than we used to have, therefore, modern props haven't put in the heavy minutes and the hard yards of heaving of their predecessors.
Modern props are more ball carriers and impact runners than the “piano shifters” of old – and it shows in the deterioration of the scrum. I doubt very much that Sinckler and Genge has come anywhere close to 10,000 hours of scrum practice, they are still learning.
Probably the best English scrummaging prop at the moment is Joe Marler, and he has improved no end since coming under the wing of Adam Jones at Harlequins.
But, to return to Master Sinckler. I am quite looking forward to seeing what Pierre Schoeman does to him come Calcutta Cup day.
SPORTING Halls of Fame are one North American invention which I endorse on this side of the big pond. A sport which forgets where it came from, and the big names who helped that sport flourish, is a sport headed for disaster, in my view.
Therefore, I definitely praise the decision to induct Eric Liddell into the Scottish Rugby Hall of Fame, on the 100th anniversary of his Scotland debut. Eric Liddell is one of the most-legendary Scottish sportsmen after all.
But, and what a pity there has to be a but, recent inductions appear to have been happening on a piecemeal agenda – Liddell, before him Tom Smith, Dee Bradbury and the other ladies recently inducted.
What is wrong with having a big annual induction ceremony, with a set number of inductees each year?
That is how they do it in North America. Everyone connected with the sport knows when Induction Day will be, and their sporting press get to indulge themselves with a bit of pre-induction speculation, increasing the interest in that sport.
Mind you, properly selling Rugby Union is not a high priority with the current Murrayfield Junta, and a Media Department who would struggle to attract midges to a picnic on Skye.
The sad reality is that football in England isn’t in a much better state. And the Championship is a complete sea of red ink.
ReplyDeleteWhere rugby has got it wrong is believing that Mr Micawber doesn’t apply to them. “ Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”
Without munificent millionaires paying for the losses they would be really up the creek. Pat Lam states that Steve Lansdown has put £80m into Bristol. They lost £300k with the game against Scarlets being cancelled. That is economics of the madhouse.