Phil

In the Tower?

There’ll be hell to pay if WRU goes through with plan to kill Welsh rugby Donkeys driving restructure of elite game, who are ignoring vast opposition from players, clubs and fans, must be ejected by revolution or evolution

Little to argue with here. Le Tache is spot on ... www.thetimes.com/sport/rugby-...

Exactly. It’s as if people in different countries, understandably, don’t understand Welsh sporting culture

They think “I like it so why don’t they? They must be wrong”

They should think “why are they different from me?”

But they don’t

But if the URC is so good and the rivalry is good, 7k is woeful

It can’t be both

My club has played Scottish teams for more than two decades

Zero rivalry. Zero

Bristol? Rival

This is Welsh sporting culture because English teams are an hour away. I can understand why the Scottish wouldn’t understand that.

Yes, that happened once and in the Christmas holiday period

After that, Edinburgh crowds returned to their normal sub 7k

So pretty poor.

That must be why Glasgow play at such a tiny ground

But at least now some of its toilets are plumbed

How can you make a rivalry with a team in another continent?

I guess this comes down to the fact that one nation has another nation’s rugby on its doorstep

What is good about the URC, Leslie?

How do the attendance figures line up against, say, those of the two Scottish teams?

If the English league is “dying” then why is its broadcast contract per club so significantly higher than the URC can deliver?

Lee won’t tell us

You don’t have to engage with these moaners, Lee

You could just pretend to be a Cardiff fan living in Dublin instead.

You don’t see the appeal of playing in a league with a far superior broadcast contract and with greater sponsor and fan interest?

Ok.

and Lee still hasn’t told me why the URC broadcast contract is so shit per club

I’m surprised he has not addressed that.

You’d have a point if Welsh fans weren’t consistent in their dislike of the URC, even when their clubs were winning it

It’s almost like there’s nearly 3 million people in Leinster.

It’s almost as though all of the evidence points to Welsh rugby consumers wanting to drive an hour to a game rather than drive an hour to the airport

And that sponsors want the same.

So it would make more money and have lower costs

And would be much better.

I’ve asked Lee why the broadcast contract per club is better in England

I’m sure, from his home in Ireland, he’ll have an answer

Just as he did for when
CAP went cashless. He wasn’t happy about that, either.

Can you explain to me why clubs in the URC receive a lower broadcast payment than those clubs in the GP receive?

Maybe they’d sell out if the opposition was interesting.

Lee lives in Ireland

He’s never understood why sensible people dislike the URC

Unfortunately, I think this is a result of "the optics". We already see right wing dickheads writing of 'third world enclaves' in the UK, so what better way to lead 'integration' (whatever that is) other than by community work? We have to accept how "ill" is our society as its full of thick people

Nice turn of phrase there, Stuart!

Put it like this, even Sonny Bill thinks the Wallabies should have won. Really dodgy yellow card at the end won it for the home team.

It already happened for Gareth Jones of Neath

I’m explaining why comparing turnovers is too simple a comparison as it ignores cost bases

The WRU has lost £24m in the last 2 years. The WRU has over £15m of costs the IRFU doesn’t have. Both true statements

If you think the WRU has more money, from where is it coming? Explain the £24m of losses

It’s factually true, so what are you calling as “rubbish”

The WRU has £15m of costs the IRFU doesn’t have. The WRU spends more on development & amateur rugby than the IRFU (although not by much)

So tell me which of the above statements are untrue and why you think that way

The WRU spends over £15m on hospitality and stadium costs that the IRFU doesn't have in its accounts because those costs are paid by New Stadium DAC

So whilst the IRFU has similar revenue, it's costs are at least £15m less.

The WRU doesn't have the money to "fund the clubs properly", therefore.

I’m not following, sorry

I’ve explained it the best I can

There’s a separate company called New Stadium DAC. It has the income / costs. The profit is then (in some proportion) paid to the IRFU.

So Aviva income and costs aren’t included in IRFU accounts.