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…

Shane Williams caps thrilling Pro 12 finish for champion Ospreys

Leinster 30-31 Ospreys

Congratulations to Shane Williams, who scored a last-gasp try to win the Rabo Direct Pro 12 final for the Ospreys at the RDS Arena in Dublin in his last game for the region.

Dan Biggar’s nerveless touchline conversion gave the Ospreys the narrowest of wins as the Welsh side denied Heineken Cup champions Leinster the double.

It was a fitting way for Shane – who also crossed for a late try in his final international, albeit in a losing cause against Australia  at the Millennium Stadium in December last year – to end his club career. The winger has played for the Ospreys since their inception (as the Neath-Swansea Ospreys) in 2003, and starred for Neath between 1998 and 2003.

And few would bet against the diminuitive paceman repeating the feat again when he plays for the Barbarians against Wales in Cardiff next Saturday.

Cardiff Blues make permanent return to Arms Park

Cardiff Arms Park playing host to a Swalec Cup semi-final earlier this season

Good, if unsurprising, news was announced today by the Cardiff Blues as the regional side revealed it will make a permanent return to the Arms Park next season.

In sharp contrast to the international game, regional rugby in Wales is currently in dire straits. A player exodus has hindered any attempt to bounce back after a season in which only one Welsh side made it to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, where the Blues were thrashed 34-3 by Irish province Leinster in April (incidentally, in front of more than 50,000 at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin).

The Blues’ home matches at Cardiff City Stadium – like with the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea – were played out in front of dire crowds, conveying a depressing sense that the Welsh public were simply disinterested in regional sides, which are often seen (usually justifiably) as soulless and artificially created.