United Rugby Championship

[neill_m]

Will it theoretically be possible for a Regional Pool winner to qualify for the Champions Cup while not being among the top 8 finishers in the League?

Probably yes. You could win 4 interpros and lose every other game - think that would top the regional pool.

It sort of gets back to the original point of the old European Cup of being between representatives from the constituent countries rather than leagues - which I'm fine with.

Qualification for the Heineken Cup is based on all results not just against the other teams in your regional pool.

Q: REGIONAL POOLS WERE MENTIONED EARLIER ON, HOW WILL THEY WORK?
A: The regional pools are a mechanism to ensure all home and away derby games are played while also recognising a champion for that region each season. The Irish, South African and Welsh teams all have their own natural pools of four while the Scottish and Italian teams will enter into their own pool of four because each there are only two participants from each nation involved.

This also means that Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors, Benetton and Zebre will only play two derby games per season rather than three in the PRO14 format. The fixtures from the regional pools will account for six games with the remaining 12 games played against all other teams in the league. Points from all 18 games will be used in the single-standing league table and for the regional pools.

There does appear a slight chance that you could win the league and not qualify for Europe though, which would be a tad farcical.

I suspect they will have back up rules for scenarios for European qualification if a team wins the league / Heineken Cup / Challenge Cup and hasn't finished in a European spot via the league. A 7th seeded side for example would have to play 2nd seeds away from home in quarter finals, not impossible they could win the entire thing, but unlikely.

[neill_m]

An increased free-to-air offering will be welcomed by Irish rugby supporters, with more than 90% of the Irish provinces’ URC games set to be available without any subscription fee.

“We’ll announce it shortly and you’ll see maybe a better blend than we had previously,” Anayi told The42.

“We’ll have pay-TV but also a pretty substantial free-to-air option across the UK and Ireland, which is great. We keep our core pay partner there, which is important when you’ve got 151 games a season. No free-to-air broadcaster is going to have the capacity to show all the games and we want fans to see every game they want to watch.

“With our broadcaster in Ireland, we’re also going to launch an international direct consumer service, an OTT [over-the-top] service, which we’re really excited about. We have those three prongs to it.”

The new four-year broadcast deals are expected to be formally announced soon and the URC is excited about the return of free-to-air games.

https://www.the42.ie/urc-martin-anayi-t ... =shortlink

[cormac]

Not sure I'll be a fan of the late Sep - mid June schedule. Hopefully that's just for this coming season.
The early Sep - late May schedule fits perfectly with the GAA championships.

Pretty sure this is a permanent move of the NH season. Was certainly intended before Covid disrupted the last two seasons.

[dropkick]

Looks good overall. Not perfect but they have multiple parties to keep happy.

[FLIP]

With this change, Munster have never and will never win a Pro tournament.

[Xanthippe]

Will it theoretically be possible for a Regional Pool winner to qualify for the Champions Cup while not being among the top 8 finishers in the League?

Probably yes. You could win 4 interpros and lose every other game - think that would top the regional pool.

It sort of gets back to the original point of the old European Cup of being between representatives from the constituent countries rather than leagues - which I'm fine with.

Qualification for the Heineken Cup is based on all results not just against the other teams in your regional pool.

Q: REGIONAL POOLS WERE MENTIONED EARLIER ON, HOW WILL THEY WORK?
A: The regional pools are a mechanism to ensure all home and away derby games are played while also recognising a champion for that region each season. The Irish, South African and Welsh teams all have their own natural pools of four while the Scottish and Italian teams will enter into their own pool of four because each there are only two participants from each nation involved.

This also means that Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors, Benetton and Zebre will only play two derby games per season rather than three in the PRO14 format. The fixtures from the regional pools will account for six games with the remaining 12 games played against all other teams in the league. Points from all 18 games will be used in the single-standing league table and for the regional pools.

There does appear a slight chance that you could win the league and not qualify for Europe though, which would be a tad farcical.

The regional pools will not be decided by the regional games alone - here's how it should work:

All points won during the URC season will contribute to rankings in the regional pools




The winner of each pool will earn a place in the Champions Cup for the following season.




The remaining four European Cup places will then be awarded to the next four highest-ranked teams in the table, regardless of location




One thing I haven't seen explained yet is what happens to our qualifiers for the Challenge Cup. I assume they will follow the pattern set out above and the next 5 highest finishers (i.e places 9-13 on the table) will be awarded these places

[cormac]

Hope our season goes a bit better than outlined above

[Xanthippe]

Hope our season goes a bit better than outlined above

Me too - Connacht would be delighted though!

[erskinechilders]

I really like the look of this tournament. Few things that came into my head :

1. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE allow pro contracted players beef up their AIL teams on weekends they are not playing for the 1st team and during November & February, when there are no fixtures at all. If they decide to play another 'Celtic Cup' or whatever that BS was, it'll show the clubs exactly what Nucifora & the suits think of them. With each match having a bigger significance, more and more of our fringe players should be playing in the AIL.

2. I'm guessing this means we are sticking with a shortened CC for next year?

3. No fixtures during international windows is a great idea! Higher quality of play through out.

[neill_m]

I really like the look of this tournament. Few things that came into my head :

1. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE allow pro contracted players beef up their AIL teams on weekends they are not playing for the 1st team and during November & February, when there are no fixtures at all. If they decide to play another 'Celtic Cup' or whatever that BS was, it'll show the clubs exactly what Nucifora & the suits think of them. With each match having a bigger significance, more and more of our fringe players should be playing in the AIL.

2. I'm guessing this means we are sticking with a shortened CC for next year?

3. No fixtures during international windows is a great idea! Higher quality of play through out.

Yes, it would appear this year's H Cup format is here to stay. The shortened group bit is not good, but the knockout system is not bad.

[Logorrhea]

Less games, with more riding on each game and the top players all playing, along with four new high quality teams full of stars.

Really like the sound of this!

Yeah. Big fan of what I've heard so far. League itself may have more meaning too.

[wixfjord]

I will definitely miss the games on 6N / autumn international weekends though. Watching our second string hockey some poor team was always a good. palate cleanser after a test game.

[riocard911]

I will definitely miss the games on 6N / autumn international weekends though. Watching our second string hockey some poor team was always a good. palate cleanser after a test game.

+1

[ronk]

-1 from 10 of the pro 14

[hugonaut]

After the debacle that was the planning, announcement, programme and delivery of the Rainbow Cup, this reveal has been a pleasant surprise.

It looks convincing. I think it's practical to change the name, and the tone has been judged well [like when they say "... it is the right time to change the name of the tournament that is more fitting and will have much greater longevity. It’s fair to say using numbers in the name hasn’t quite worked out so well." ]

They don't have a whole heap of options with the name, because [paradoxically] you can't use the word 'league' in a league's name, because people will associate it with Rugby League. Now the word has lost all meaning.

Organising the league into national gangs of four is a pragmatic way to approach scheduling. It will have balance issues, because the Italian sides tend to be the worst in the league ... we've seen how that can pan out in the very recent past, with Treviso finishing up top of the Rainbow Cup North pile because their fixture list was a piece of p*ss.

Clearing the international weekends of league matches was obviously a really big deal, and it's good to have a clear principle like that when you are trying to organise anything that has multiple different stakeholders who have differing opinions. Again, it might not work out as equably as we might wish in practice, but it's a good starting point.

[dropkick]

If I heard correctly, after 2 years they can revert back to a straight 8 qualifying for the Champions Cup. It will need only one of Ireland, Wales, Italy or Scotland to vote against it. So probably Ireland.

[neill_m]

If I heard correctly, after 2 years they can revert back to a straight 8 qualifying for the Champions Cup. It will need only one of Ireland, Wales, Italy or Scotland to vote against it. So probably Ireland.

Country protection is on trial for 2 years and indeed can be scrapped and go to straight 8. Apparently IRFU were opposed to country protection but outvoted by WRU, SRU and FIR. The other 3 will only change position if it is in their interests etc.

[sunshiner1]

by neill_m

Country protection is on trial for 2 years and indeed can be scrapped and go to straight 8. Apparently IRFU were opposed to country protection but outvoted by WRU, SRU and FIR. The other 3 will only change position if it is in their interests etc.

Makes sense when your team are s**t. Otherwise it could be all Irish and Saffer teams in the finals.

[D4surfer]

by neill_m

Country protection is on trial for 2 years and indeed can be scrapped and go to straight 8. Apparently IRFU were opposed to country protection but outvoted by WRU, SRU and FIR. The other 3 will only change position if it is in their interests etc.

Makes sense when your team are s**t. Otherwise it could be all Irish and Saffer teams in the finals.

It still could be all Irish and Saffers in the finals but not in European qualification.

[Dave Cahill]

Just pick a f%~king format and leave it alone, stop fiddling with it for gods sake.