Let’s hope for more quality European rugby weekends

I went to a couple of Heineken Cup games last weekend – Saracens v Toulouse at Wembley and Northampton v Ospreys at Franklin’s Gardens.

The Wembley game, which Saracens somehow conspired to lose in front of 61,000 fans, was exciting – even if the rugby wasn’t always of the highest quality. Saints’ 27-16 win was more one-sided than the scoreline suggested.

Northampton Saints v Ospreys at Franklin’s Gardens

It was a decent weekend for the other Welsh sides: the Scarlets followed last weekend’s epic victory at Harlequins with a 26-26 draw against Racing Metro.

And the Blues got the result of the weekend, turning over defending champions Toulon 19-15 at Cardiff Arms Park thanks to a last-gasp try.

This week, European Rugby Cup talks aimed at ensuring such excitement continues in future seasons took place in Dublin.

Franklin’s Gardens

There isn’t a whole lot of optimism that they will be successful. French and English clubs were this week joined by the Welsh regions in supporting a breakaway league which they have demanded is set up to try to end what they see as the skew in favour of Celtic and Italian clubs.

Saracens v Tolouse at Wembley Stadium

The English and French say – with some justification, admittedly – it is unfair only half their top-flight clubs can earn a Heineken Cup berth, while both Italian and Scottish clubs are guaranteed a place each season, along with seven of the eight Irish and Welsh provinces/regions. There are also disputes over the divvying up of Heineken Cup television revenue.

The problem lies in that the Pro12 as a league is over-represented compared to the Premiership and Top 14, while the individual Celtic nations – obviously much smaller countries in any case – would be swamped if they weren’t given a leg up into the competition. Scottish rugby pundits fear a tournament in which they didn’t have two representatives would have dire consequences for club rugby north of the border.

That said, the ERC talks this week appear to have resolved, broadly, to accepting the proposed English and French model. Whether that is enough to end the game of brkinkmanship, or whether it will lead to the demand for further concessions, remains to be seen.

For the club rugby fan, there is nothing quite like a Heineken Cup weekend. A solution needs to be found, and quickly.

P.S. I was very impressed with Dan Biggar…

Thumbs up for the new Wales jersey

Despite the fact I’m usually a bit of a traditionalist – and that I now don’t own the most recent version – I quite like the new Welsh rugby shirt.

Here it is the new WRU home jersey! Available from http://t.co/0MeFgozKVE pic.twitter.com/u8eZv8iTX9

— Welsh Rugby Union (@WelshRugbyUnion) October 17, 2013

 

Wales players @__Yanto @taulupe @acuthbert11 and @AlunWynJones lead the #armyofred at the Millennium Stadium pic.twitter.com/AxKuSFxnkO

— Welsh Rugby Union (@WelshRugbyUnion) October 17, 2013

The red shorts are the real change, of course, and it’s possibly a bit Canada-y. But it’s miles better than some of the recent showings, including the famous Brains shirt of 2005 Grand Slam fame (sacrilege!).

My only small complaint would be the shade of red is not as light as I’d like it to be – pedantic or what – but that might be because the unveiling was done in the artificial light of the closed Millennium Stadium.

Mind you, despite liking the shirt myself, I thought this tweet was inspired:

@gwladrugby Wrong pic. Thats next year’s Toulouse strip. And next year’s Toulouse players.

— SouthTerracer (@SouthTerracer) October 17, 2013

The ideal sporting weekend

I thought it would be a shame if the weekend went unrecorded here.

First, it was to Cardiff City Stadium to watch Newcastle’s 2-1 win over the Bluebirds:

Before kick off of Newcastle United’s 2-1 win over Cardiff City

 

Then, the Cardiff Half Marathon:

Colin Jackson and me

 

Great weekend. Plenty of sport, third @cardiffhalf completed and a curry to top it off. @huwsilk @Peter_M_Gray pic.twitter.com/58hoQ9A5tK

— Alex Bywater (@_AlexBywater) October 6, 2013

Followed by cut-price entry to the Blues’ 29-12 Pro 12 win over Edinburgh:

Cardiff Blues 29-12 Edinburgh

 

Wrapped up by watching a thrilling, epic win for my Denver Broncos in the NFL:

 

5-0. pic.twitter.com/zJ8q4Au2vG

— Denver Broncos (@DenverBroncos) October 6, 2013

Why a London NFL franchise wouldn’t work

Last week, for the first time since I saw my Broncos lose to the 49ers in October 2010, I went to the NFL’s International Series match at Wembley Stadium.

Both the atmosphere and the on-field action at Wembley were electric

 

Typically – and Gene Simmons’ singing aside – it was a fantastic occasion, this time matched by the action on the pitch. Inspired by 2012 MVP Adrian Peterson, the Vikings emerged victorious, condemning the Steelers to their fourth consecutive loss, the first time they’ve suffered that fate at the start of a season.

But despite the fact 83,000 fans packed into Wembley, the seventh successive season they have done so, I was convinced once and for all that a British-based NFL franchise would be a mistake.

It’s probably just about feasible, either for someone like the Jacksonville Jaguars – visitors to London at the end of October – or the St Louis Rams, who have home games in Blighty in the next three seasons, to relocate. There could also be another reorganisation of the NFL’s divisions.

But travelling would be tough for west-coast teams, even if the UK team could spend a few weeks being a road franchise rather than making a transatlantic flight once a fortnight.

For me, the main problem with the idea would be the fanbase – or lack of it. Not because there aren’t enough NFL fans in the UK – there are – but because those NFL supporters already have their own teams.

Personally, I’d continue to support Denver.* I’m sure the vast majority of fans at Wembley, most of whom wore jerseys of the other 31 clubs, would be similarly unwilling to transfer their allegiance. The Wembley game is currently so popular because it is an annual one-off. If there were at least eight games a year there, I’m certain tickets would be tough to shift. And what would we have then, a TV blackout? Could that be applied to Sky Sports? Such are the problems with the concept of an overseas franchise.

Still, long live the International Series and its brash pomp bringing an annual slice of Americana to north London.

One thing though: LET’S NEVER HAVE ANOTHER MEXICAN WAVE AT WEMBLEY AGAIN.

 

*Wembley was great, but in terms of sporting action, the highlight of my Sunday was checking, via an app, score updates from Denver’s Peyton Manning-inspired 52-20 trouncing of the Philadelphia Eagles at Mile High.