Dave,Dave Cahill wrote: ↑August 17th, 2020, 6:02 pm
No, he isn't. Hes living in a world where he finds it ridiculous that the two highest profile players in it, the captains of their countries, the Lions Captain and the Lions outhalf, don't play any games in their club primary competition. And he's right. In the last 10 years, Sexton has started 60 of the 198 Celtic League games he has been at Leinster for (from before he was an international regular). Since returning from France he has started 14 regular season games in the League and 9 of those were interpros.
Now, you can argue the merits of player managment as regards the international team and I don't disagree with a lot of it, but it is inarguable the damage it is doing to the league and sufficient damage to the league will ultimately damage the international team.
- do you think attendances and interest in Welsh regions would change significantly if Leinster sent over a team of front liners every time?
- do you think the people in Welsh rugby who cite the lack of international stars also advocate for the regions to be part of an English league to increase interest and attendance even if that meant a format where regions could end up relegated or could end up playing some teams with no international players
I see a lack of internal consistency in the argument out of Wales. They hang the lack of interest on failure to play international stars and at the same time claim advocate for formats where they could end up seeing no big name players. I don't believe the make up of the visiting teams makes any difference to the interest. The real problem is that this section of Welsh rugby really just wants to play in an English league and preferably dismantle the regions and go back to clubs. There won't be any adjustment to our selection that will change that