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Ospreys chairman makes startling claim over the formation of a British and Irish League
Ospreys officials may have been tongue-tied all week regarding the farcical situation over whether Allen Clarke is still their coach or not.
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However, club administrators used their Friday media conference – at which they confusingly admitted Clarke is still a club employee but not in charge of the rugby – to declare that a British and Irish League will be set-up by 2022.
The struggling Welsh region are expecting private equity firm CVC to sign off on their deal to acquire a 27 per cent holding in the Guinness PRO14 before the end of this year.
That agreement is worth an estimated £120million windfall to the league on the proviso that 27 per cent of the tournament’s income is then annually passed on to CVC.
With CVC already a shareholder in the Gallagher Premiership and current TV broadcast deals set to elapse in 2022, Ospreys chairman Rob Davies believes the situation is heading towards the formation of a B&I League that will forcefully drive new revenue streams.
(Continue reading below…)
That would potentially be quite a shot in the arm for the Welsh regions whose rugby was in such a state of flux that club amalgamations were being considered as recently as last March before it was decided to stick with the current four-team set-up.
“It’s been tough but we’ll come out of it pretty well,” said Ospreys chairman Rob Davies at a media conference reported by walesonline.com.
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“We were already coming out of it pretty well, losing a coach is a mere blip. It’s not going to stop the progress that we are making with the help of the professional rugby board and others.
The curious situation at the Ospreys surrounding Allen Clarke looks like it will run and runhttps://t.co/3E8iVCn2dm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 29, 2019
“We’re making very good progress to achieve our ambition to become a highly competitive region when the British and Irish League commences.
“It’s as certain as once you get these hedge funds involved and there is lots of money on the table, something is going to happen. It will be nothing to do with me but I’d vote for it.
“All the TV deals are due to expire in two years (2022). CVC, who already have an interest in the English, are attempting to secure the rights to the Six Nations, that discussion is well advanced.
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‘The players are all back next week and I’ll have to start selecting… back row is definitely somewhere we have genuine pressure’
– Dean Ryan tells @OwainJTJones about the welcome selection headaches he faces at unfancied @dragonsrugby https://t.co/3g11Efiux7— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 29, 2019
“When you’re dealing with the Irish, the French and the Scots and add in the Italians, it’s not easy to get a consensus. Those negotiations are proceeding quite well. The timescale for them is probably the middle to the end of the autumn internationals next year.
“That will enable a different outlook towards planning a season in a more structured way so you can fit in the league and the Six Nations in a more orderly fashion instead of having all this disjointed way that it currently is. That’s the opportunity and that’s what makes it so exciting. We all believe that will be in 2022.”
WATCH: RugbyPass went behind the scenes at Dragons during the Bernard Jackman era
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments