Fourdogs wrote: Funk it

Bigger question is, would the Clan like Clermont-Ferrand as city for the weekend. I THINK SOOOOOOO

Right on the money there Fourdogs.

We got our dream draw last time out. Think another big pull for crowds last year was that we didn't get drawn against another Pro12 team which we were used to seeing in Galway... although its not like the Harlequins lads can't find their way from Halo/CPs to Supermacs by now.

Funk it

Bigger question is, would the Clan like Clermont-Ferrand as city for the weekend. I THINK SOOOOOOO

I think that the Clemont fans would love Galway, but more importantly Galway would love them. They seem like a mad but passionate bunch, great spirit.

Did anyone see Michael Cheika's interview I think it was in the Times this week? You can tell his motivation was to push the French view on this. I think the Rabo needs to be firm on the issue and get the best deal possible. The fact is the other 3 provinces are doing extremely well in it and we acquitted ourselves quite well in our debut in the H Cup. To be frank I'd be telling the french to shorten their league rather than try and bully the rest of Europe into making life easier for them.

I agree with connacht exile that the competition can probably survive without the english or the french if one boycotted. The problem is that currently both are threatening to boycott it at the same time unless there is change on the Pro12 side.

I think the 8 qualified from pro12 thing is a non runner as the 4 unions could never agree to that but the most likely compromise is 1 from each union qualify automatically and the other 4 positions from league finishing position. if you take the current pro12 table as an example Leinster, ospreys, glasgow and Treviso would take unions guarenteed spots and Munster, ulster, scarlets and cardiff would take the other 4 based on league finishing position.

Whats certain is that they are after 2 pro12 spots and its likely that they will get them.After all he who pays the piper calls the tune.The 2 spots which go to the union which wins the Hec and Amlin will probably be left alone which would leave the English and French with 7 places each based on league position and the Pro12 with 8 with all three leagues chasing the final 2 on the pitch where it should be.

Benji wrote: your right about the twat at the end
Great weekend. Lunatics to the core the Clermont fans.
Im still wrecked.

Don't think there's anything better in life than going to watch your team play rugby in France, (except maybe watching them win... )....

Have yet to have anything other than a brilliant experience in France with the French supporters, absolutely top class fun at any cost...

Mr Thornley has a bit more detail on the ranking calculations for next year in the IT today.

"Looking further down the rankings, there is a very good chance that Connacht will be third seeds. As things stand Exeter, the two Italians sides and up to three possible French qualifiers – Montpellier, Castres and Racing – would all be ranked below Connacht, as indeed might Sale be if they could yet squeeze through from the Premiership.

The only way that Connacht could drop down to a fourth seed, by this column’s calculations, is if Biarritz claimed the seventh French place by winning the Challenge Cup final, and if Stade Francais muscled into the top six in France at the expense of one of the aforementioned trio. (Stade, in seventh, play Racing, two points ahead of them in sixth, next Saturday at Stade de France)."

Come on Racing!!!

your right about the twat at the end
Great weekend. Lunatics to the core the Clermont fans.
Im still wrecked.

Benji wrote: Its great that we have Heineken cup again for next year. If we make as much progress next year as a club it will be great.
I was in Bordeaux at the weekend. I'd love to go to Clermont or Toulouse again with Connacht. They were mad fans and the ending nearly made me sick.
Were well set up for next year. Any chance we could get Damien Browne?
Faloon is a great addition as is White. An george will have a full preseason so he should continue his end of season improvement.
Lets hope the medical team can sort out Griffins legs and hammers so he can make the 13 position his own and put a run of games together.
I cant wait for announcement of the groups. Credit card at the ready

Clermont fans at the weekend.

Have to say that the video is only spoiled by the bell end at right the end pointing to the two stars on his shiny new Leinster jersey and saying it will be three, ungracious bandwagonning tw*t.....

The Clermontois are an amazing bunch of supporters, we'll be incredibly lucky to receive them in Galway next season. Bring great colour and passion to matches...

I see Seapoint's point: a straight 8 qualification might suit us with the Italians and likely the Welsh to be weak for the foreseeable (with Seapoint's caveat that Munster and Leinster's current 50 man squads might widen to 70), but the outcome as outlined by posters above, a horrible hotchpotch of one team from each of the 4 countries and 4 wildcards, would really hurt us.

For instance, under that scenario the current rabo standings would see us missing out despite finishing ahead of Treviso.

connachta wrote:

rossie wrote: irfu might not have any choice. Money dictates these things and bulk of media revenue is french and english based not to mention sponsorship. Its no good for french and english tv and other media to have an all ireland Hec final and the british clubs fully support the french on this matter.

They want the Pro12 clubs to adapt a league position Qualification system similar to their leagues and obviously a league of 12 teams having 10 Hec places doesnt go down well either. The 4 unions of the Pro12 are obviously against this as it could mean no italian or even scottish partication occasionally so a compromise is most likely.
Something along the lines of 1 guarenteed position per Union and other 4 or 6 places decided on league finishing position is the sort of likely outcome.
The english and french club owners are quite militant about this and are ultimately threaening another boycott or non participation unless changes are made.

Change to qualification rules in the Pro12 will stregthen the league and will give connacht a fighting chance of qualification in their own right each year.
In addition the Amlin will be a much stronger competition if Hec is reduced to 20 teams and Amlin remains a 20 team competition.

very good summary of the situation! And a "8 qualified in the league" rule is much more preferable for Connacht than "3 Irish max" I think..

It's actually not at all, because in fact it'll make qualifying tougher for teams with less resources like us. Leinster, Munster and Ulster will have to be much more focused on each game every season to ensure qualification but they are far better resourced than us to achieve that.

If you look at any major league in major sport in Europe they are like Cartels, the same teams finish in the top 6 every season bar the occasional one who raise their game for a season.

What it will mean for Connacht is that the other three provinces will look to hoover up and retain all the top talent in the country and the few players that are released our way now will become non-existent. And on the back of that any fringe talent looking for games will even more look to go to teams that they believe will most likely qualify regularly for Europe.

Its great that we have Heineken cup again for next year. If we make as much progress next year as a club it will be great.
I was in Bordeaux at the weekend. I'd love to go to Clermont or Toulouse again with Connacht. They were mad fans and the ending nearly made me sick.
Were well set up for next year. Any chance we could get Damien Browne?
Faloon is a great addition as is White. An george will have a full preseason so he should continue his end of season improvement.
Lets hope the medical team can sort out Griffins legs and hammers so he can make the 13 position his own and put a run of games together.
I cant wait for announcement of the groups. Credit card at the ready

Clermont fans at the weekend.

As a Russian guy pointed out on one of the other threads, some of the best Russian clubs are in Siberia. They are geographically closer to Japan than Ireland. Aside from the logistics, the costs involved would not be sustainable IMO and I can't see Sky having much interest in televising a HEC pool game at 4am.


That and the fact that their season runs May to September not September to May...

OK so the top three teams in Russia are VVA Podmoskovye (based in Monino, Moscow); Krasny Yar and Enisey-STM both from Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. While the usual rugby season is against them it isn't impossible for them to arrange their league in blocks like they do in the SH. It might mean starting their league a month or two earlier but it's not impossible either.

You got on about logistics. It's just as easy for VVA Podmoskoyve to travel to Paris, London or Dublin as it is to to Siberia. Probably easier as their would be more flights. Also they have these travel costs in their budget so it wouldn't stretched unduly. You mention that Sky wouldn't show them. While that might be true if they played say Viadana, if they got drawn against the likes of Biarritz who are finalists this year then they'd definitely be put on television cause Sky would get the numbers. Yes the Siberian teams might have to play in the early mornings or late evening but as someone who has got up to watch Ireland or the Lions play in NZ or Oz I don't see that as a problem at all. Is it perfect? No not by any stretch but it is doable. Also the ERC made E50 million in profit last year if they couldn't help with travel bursaries then I don't know what we're paying them for.

Creedence wrote:
As a Russian guy pointed out on one of the other threads, some of the best Russian clubs are in Siberia. They are geographically closer to Japan than Ireland. Aside from the logistics, the costs involved would not be sustainable IMO and I can't see Sky having much interest in televising a HEC pool game at 4am.

That and the fact that their season runs May to September not September to May...

connachtexile wrote: That said if they do ''revamp'' the tournaments I'd like to see teams from Russia and Eastern Europe given a chance. They couldn't be much worse than some of the Spanish teams we've played over the years anf if the IRB is serious about the game growing this is an easy way to do it.

As a Russian guy pointed out on one of the other threads, some of the best Russian clubs are in Siberia. They are geographically closer to Japan than Ireland. Aside from the logistics, the costs involved would not be sustainable IMO and I can't see Sky having much interest in televising a HEC pool game at 4am.

rossie wrote:
irfu might not have any choice. Money dictates these things and bulk of media revenue is french and english based not to mention sponsorship. Its no good for french and english tv and other media to have an all ireland Hec final and the british clubs fully support the french on this matter.

They want the Pro12 clubs to adapt a league position Qualification system similar to their leagues and obviously a league of 12 teams having 10 Hec places doesnt go down well either. The 4 unions of the Pro12 are obviously against this as it could mean no italian or even scottish partication occasionally so a compromise is most likely.
Something along the lines of 1 guarenteed position per Union and other 4 or 6 places decided on league finishing position is the sort of likely outcome.
The english and french club owners are quite militant about this and are ultimately threaening another boycott or non participation unless changes are made.

Change to qualification rules in the Pro12 will stregthen the league and will give connacht a fighting chance of qualification in their own right each year.
In addition the Amlin will be a much stronger competition if Hec is reduced to 20 teams and Amlin remains a 20 team competition.


very good summary of the situation! And a "8 qualified in the league" rule is much more preferable for Connacht than "3 Irish max" I think..

While I think the 8 qualified in the league would be a good thing for both Connacht and Irish Rugby it would be detrimental to the Scots and Italians especially. The ERC have gone without the English teams before and quite frankly I really couldn't care less if one or the other boycott them again. The Heineken Cup is such a strong brand I think it could survive at least a year or two without them.

That said if they do ''revamp'' the tournaments I'd like to see teams from Russia and Eastern Europe given a chance. They couldn't be much worse than some of the Spanish teams we've played over the years anf if the IRB is serious about the game growing this is an easy way to do it.