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The London Irish Premiership restart riddle that Darren Childs still doesn't have an answer for

By Chris Jones
(Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)

Premiership Rugby chiefs have admitted that London Irish are still sorting out where their delayed Gallagher Premiership fixtures will be played as their new home at Brentford is not ready to stage matches.

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Premiership Rugby are confident that Irish will be able to find a temporary home but the uncertainty clouded Friday’s confirmation of the dates for the final nine rounds of the interrupted regular season that returns with Harlequins hosting Sale Sharks on Friday, August 14 – ironically at one of the potential temporary ‘homes’ for the Irish.

Darren Childs, Premiership Rugby’s chief executive, tried to play down the problems faced by the Irish who are no longer able to play at the Madejski Stadium in Reading after signing an agreement to share with Brentford Football Club at the new 17,200 capacity community stadium in West London.

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Wasps and New Zealand’s Lima Sopoaga guests on The Breakdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

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Wasps and New Zealand’s Lima Sopoaga guests on The Breakdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

Childs, whose handling of his CEO role has been far from impressive with the administrator opting for a low profile approach amid the Covid-19 pandemic, claimed that he “didn’t know the specific details” of the Irish situation which has them pencilled in to first host Northampton on August 22 before welcoming Saracens eight days later.

He added: “London Irish are in that transition period from the Madejski over to Brentford and this (restart) falls between that. The unplanned consequences of that we are working hard to sort out.”

There was more detail from Jan Gooze-Zijl, the Premiership’s chief financial operating officer. He explained: “This is a pretty unusual time. London Irish do have to leave the Madejski Stadium and there are a couple of options which are available to them. We hope to confirm that in the next couple of days. We think we have a solution to that.”

Under the new fixture schedule, which sees mid-week matches used to try and ensure the competition is completed in time for the play-off semi-finals and then the Premiership final at Twickenham on October 24, teams will have to play three games in eight days.

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They will also have to deal with the on-going testing for the virus which saw ten positive tests – six players – from the first round of testing last Monday. Meanwhile Leicester city, home to the Tigers, is currently under lockdown due to the number of positive cases.

Childs added: “I’m cautiously optimistic we are going to emerge from the worst of these horrors of Covid-19 which have had a massive impact on society and sport. We are all working around the clock to make sure we can get back safely. 

“We are also focussed on the financial stability of the league and the clubs. With the rugby calendar squeezing us into just eight weekends it was inevitable we would be forced into midweek matches. It was absolutely critical to us we could deliver sporting integrity of the league.

“It does mean we will have to play a very small number of midweek games. We have agreed there will be a minimum turn around for midweek games of four days to give the players as much rest as possible. 

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“Every club is on board and totally supportive of the schedule. Many other leagues have cancelled rounds and we have found a way of doing it safely and that is a great result for the league.”

Childs believed the ten positive tests for coronavirus were “in line with expectation”, claiming that Premiership Rugby had “put in one of the most rigorous testing regimes in elite sport and it has taken us some time”

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Jon 5 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 8 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 9 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

30 Go to comments
T
Trevor 12 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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