Jump to content

Rugby Union


kiwififer

Recommended Posts

In general the Scottish teams have always wanted each other to do well - the Edinburgh qf against Stade at Murrayfield a few years back was full of Glasgow fans supporting Embra.
Both sides were even behind the Borders, which is more than could be said for the Borders fans.
^Toulouse. Rest of post is spot on
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, John Lambies Doos said:
49 minutes ago, Mark Connolly said:
In general the Scottish teams have always wanted each other to do well - the Edinburgh qf against Stade at Murrayfield a few years back was full of Glasgow fans supporting Embra.
Both sides were even behind the Borders, which is more than could be said for the Borders fans.

^Toulouse. Rest of post is spot on

Aye, no idea why I said Stade.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The rivalry between the towns down there is quite big isn't it? Supporting a team based in one of those towns must have not say well with a fair few I imagine. Supporting a team with a lot of heritage and local pride is probably more meaningful, even if it's at a worse level than supporting a new regional team I guess.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They would rather support their local club side and there were squabbles about which venue they'd use etc. is my recollection.


It’s not just allegiances to local club sides. Border towns had already been holding grudges against each other for centuries before Rugby existed

It was always going to be tough to sell a team in Gala to people from Hawick.

That said the number of Borders teams playing top level club rugby at the end of the amateur era also meant that there was more resistance to the effective downgrading of top clubs to a level below the new “Superteams”

There was a similar, but lesser, problem in Edinburgh as well. Of the 25 official championships up to 1998 Stirling County’s 1995 win was the one time the title left the jurisdiction of Lothian and Borders Constabulary. The big teams in the capital didn’t like the idea of being eclipsed but at least the new teams location wasn’t going to alienate people. Although personally I thought Easter Road was a shit idea from the start

On the other hand Glaswegian Rugby had little to lose in the collapse of the old amateur order . None of the clubs in the West had been serious powers at national level for years so the idea of ripping up the old order getting behind a new professional side and for that matter merging GHK with Glasgow Accies was far less controversial.

Link to comment
Share on other sites



It’s not just allegiances to local club sides. Border towns had already been holding grudges against each other for centuries before Rugby existed

It was always going to be tough to sell a team in Gala to people from Hawick.

That said the number of Borders teams playing top level club rugby at the end of the amateur era also meant that there was more resistance to the effective downgrading of top clubs to a level below the new “Superteams”

There was a similar, but lesser, problem in Edinburgh as well. Of the 25 official championships up to 1998 Stirling County’s 1995 win was the one time the title left the jurisdiction of Lothian and Borders Constabulary. The big teams in the capital didn’t like the idea of being eclipsed but at least the new teams location wasn’t going to alienate people. Although personally I thought Easter Road was a shit idea from the start

On the other hand Glaswegian Rugby had little to lose in the collapse of the old amateur order . None of the clubs in the West had been serious powers at national level for years so the idea of ripping up the old order getting behind a new professional side and for that matter merging GHK with Glasgow Accies was far less controversial.

Good post.
I thought West of Scotland were fairly handy at one point re title wins?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, John Lambies Doos said:
Good post.
I thought West of Scotland were fairly handy at one point re title wins?

 

Yes but not according to the SU

Youre going all the way back to the “Unofficial championship” there.

The SRU, progressive as ever, didn’t come around to the idea of a national league structure till 1972

When professionalism arrived the unofficial championship was already more historically distant than the amateur era is now

 

Edited by topcat(The most tip top)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

 


It’s not just allegiances to local club sides. Border towns had already been holding grudges against each other for centuries before Rugby existed

It was always going to be tough to sell a team in Gala to people from Hawick.

That said the number of Borders teams playing top level club rugby at the end of the amateur era also meant that there was more resistance to the effective downgrading of top clubs to a level below the new “Superteams”

There was a similar, but lesser, problem in Edinburgh as well. Of the 25 official championships up to 1998 Stirling County’s 1995 win was the one time the title left the jurisdiction of Lothian and Borders Constabulary. The big teams in the capital didn’t like the idea of being eclipsed but at least the new teams location wasn’t going to alienate people. Although personally I thought Easter Road was a shit idea from the start

On the other hand Glaswegian Rugby had little to lose in the collapse of the old amateur order . None of the clubs in the West had been serious powers at national level for years so the idea of ripping up the old order getting behind a new professional side and for that matter merging GHK with Glasgow Accies was far less controversial.
 

 

Would a "third Pro team" if created, suffer similar problems still or have lessons been learned in how to sell a "third Pro team"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, Doonhamer doon south said:

Would a "third Pro team" if created, suffer similar problems still or have lessons been learned in how to sell a "third Pro team"?

We won't know if lessons have been learned until someone tries.

After two decades the top clubs have probably accepted that they're no longer the pinnacle of the game in Scotland but I reckon it's going to take far longer for  regional pride to displace civic pride in the borders towns. There's probably some proper Borderers on this thread who could paint a more accurate picture.

It might make more sense to put a 3rd team in Aberdeen or Dundee

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, topcat(The most tip top) said:

We won't know if lessons have been learned until someone tries.

After two decades the top clubs have probably accepted that they're no longer the pinnacle of the game in Scotland but I reckon it's going to take far longer for  regional pride to displace civic pride in the borders towns. There's probably some proper Borderers on this thread who could paint a more accurate picture.

It might make more sense to put a 3rd team in Aberdeen or Dundee

 

My non educated guess would be that Aberdeen fc build their new stadium and move into that which frees up Pittodrie as a potential base for Caley Reds/3rdteam. I personally see the borders as the breeding ground of potential top level players that are then cherry picked by Glasgow and Edinburgh. I cant see SRU attempting another pro team in the Borders giving the historical issues been highlighted on here. 

 

Just to add seen on bbc sport scotland gossip this morning that the SRU are looking at a 20% share in Newcastle Falcons. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, John Lambies Doos said:
1 hour ago, ajwffc said:
Edinburgh announce that they will play the remainder of their home games at Murrayfield

Are they hoping for big crowds?

 

28 minutes ago, honestly united said:

This is a strange one, didn't the SRU pay for temporary stands to be in place for the next few years? Has there been some sort of falling out?

From what i can see online the fans don't like Myreside and mention of complainants from the players about the pitch. 

There was talk of the temporary stands getting moved to  one of the back pitches at Murrayfield

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that was a fantastic result for Edinburgh on Friday night.  If I'm being honest Ulster are in a bit of a poor place atm but you can only play what's in front of you and Edinburgh took advantage.  It doesn't appear to be entertaining rugby but remember that they're managed by Richard Cockerill-saurus.  Nothing fancy but far tougher.  If you want to beat Edinburgh just now then you'll have to go through a brick wall to do it. 

Delighted with the Glasgow game on Friday night.  After the Dragons draw it was great to bounce back with a BP win.  Caught out at the start with the Cheetahs pace but Niko scored a great try and Jacko's try made me think that Hogg and himself had been separated at birth.  The fact that Munster had to settle for a losing BP means Glasgow are now 16 points clear with the trip over to Munster on Friday night. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that was a fantastic result for Edinburgh on Friday night.  If I'm being honest Ulster are in a bit of a poor place atm but you can only play what's in front of you and Edinburgh took advantage.  It doesn't appear to be entertaining rugby but remember that they're managed by Richard Cockerill-saurus.  Nothing fancy but far tougher.  If you want to beat Edinburgh just now then you'll have to go through a brick wall to do it. 
Delighted with the Glasgow game on Friday night.  After the Dragons draw it was great to bounce back with a BP win.  Caught out at the start with the Cheetahs pace but Niko scored a great try and Jacko's try made me think that Hogg and himself had been separated at birth.  The fact that Munster had to settle for a losing BP means Glasgow are now 16 points clear with the trip over to Munster on Friday night. 
Can't disagree with much of that post however I think Edinburgh are playing very entertaining rugby; their pick and go is fantastic, Clyne is brilliant and quick at 9 and their defence decent. End of Ulster match was packed with entertainment as was leinster match. Agree that they ain't scoring Glasgow'esqe tries but their structure coupled with Glasgow bodes well for Townsend
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...