I think the Welsh regions spend around a third of the amount on wages that the big English teams do. Lots of teams making big losses to keep up.
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The Welsh national team is an invitational side and thus there is no restraint of trade. The WRU would just say that Webb isn't good enough to be included and they rate the players playing locally to be better, Webb would have to prove in a court of law he was the best scrum half Wales have which of course would be farcical.
His excuse is that he had no idea of the impending changes to our selection policy which must be bollocks. They have called Webbs bluff by saying he could rip his contract up with Toulon which I highly doubt he will do to play for pittance in front of a few thousand hardy souls shuttling around in the Liberty on a Friday night. I hope he calls the WRUs bluff and tells them to go **** themselves and wait until they come grovelling back when Gareth Davies inevitably picks up an injury, we do not have the strength in depth to not pick players. Our players should be able to play where they like, there is simply not the money nor the appetite in Wales from the public for club rugby anymore.
The real fall out from this rule will begin in a few seasons time when the lads playing abroads contracts comes up. After that date they will not be able to play for Wales unless they come back and play within Wales for an inferior wage, an inferior quality of rugby and inferior lifestyle (who wants to live in Llanelli when you can live in the South of France). The likes of Moriarty and Francis have never played within Wales and making them move here is unfair in my opinion. The 1948 prediction is that this new law will fall on its arse when the players agree within their whatsapp groups to leave on mass and call the WRUs bluff. Player power will prevail.
Got no problem with rugby was a good hard tackling full back in my day
But the Welsh media and soccer !! Haters make me puke
Rewind twenty years and both our club sides and national team were in a mess. At least our national team has been competitive in recent times. Having said that the regions are a mess and many supporters particularly in the valleys have been disinfranchised.
It was always going to be difficult for Welsh rugby when the game went pro. The upside was that our players no longer had to turn to rugby League to make their money. The downside was that we were never going to compete with the English and French club sides who could lure our best players with huge financial packages.
There are no obvious answers and I do fear the national team is in decline and we could be about to begin a depressing period for the game in Wales.
As someone who used to play the game, what we see today is totally different to what I remember growing up.
The league structures are all different, the rules are all different, scoring is all different - bonus points, wtf is that all about? The style of the game has changed - I'm just over 6 foot and used to play back row, I'd probably be too short to play in the centre these days. There was a certain skill, and not to mention some skullduggery in the line outs, lifting was penalised, today second rows have "handles" taped to their legs ffs and a kick to touch is pretty much giving the ball away rather than trying to get possession deep in the opposition half. Gone are the days of intricate sidesteps and passing movements, fast wingers who could beat a man with pace, it seems to be all about crash ball these days.
It seems understandable to have this situation in place don't New Zealand and Australia have similar rules regarding players plying their trade overseas.
Ultimately you need a club structure, and that structure needs funding. The clubs pick up the talented youth, they develop it, and turn them into international rugby players. They need that club structure to thrive to keep the sport alive in Wales.
Wales need sports and a variety of sports. What do we have in Wales 3 Football teams after say 20 kids a year each for their academies. That is 60 kids playing football a year and with 90% of them not making it.
Im happy that in my local village there is a structure training 5-15 year olds, under the banner of the blues. Whats the alternative really, less active children.
Regional rugby in Wales hasn't taken off as expected. You would think that one day the generation that it failed would be gone and the next generation would only know the regions but it hasn't happened yet. Personally i would like to see more sport, and therefore more sport choices for kids in South Wales rather than being bitter about a sport that is not my favorite.
:ayatollah::ayatollah: havent been on here for a few years, eggy eggy eggy oi oi oi!!!
just cos we beat up kids it don't make us thugs - Soul Crew 2007
chip alley :ayatollah::hehe:
I have no hatred for the game of rugby, I just hate the maggots that follow it.
The average attendee to the Mill Stad on matchday are either obese, violent, drunk valleys women in cowboy hats, obnoxious visitors from the opposing teams country and Taffia.
I'd love to remove all three from our city.
I doubt you go to games at the millennium as it is far more of a family event than football.
And people in the ground are more civil than the embarrassing twats screaming at referees in football. Grown men losing it haha. They don't allow booze while sat for a reason, because football fans are often scum and they can't have an ounce of responsibility as they'll abuse it like children.
This is bullshit of the first order. I have been to the Mill three times in the last two years for 6 nations games.
You are constantly having to get up to let drunken louts and slags pass you so they can buy booze and or piss.
Judging by the comments of people sitting nearby the vast majority know ferk all about the rules of the game or
are not very concerned about the game. Only getting even more bladdered.
By contrast the Wales football fans at Euro 2016 knew how to behave and were given an award by EUFA.
As I said above Rotten Egg.
I have been to the Millennium Stadium and become sick and tired of having to stand up to let punters past so they can go and get another beer or go to the toilet and it’s bloody annoying. So you are right in that respect. However some of the comments on here are a joke. There are plenty of us that love rugby and go to watch the game and understand the rules. I love both football and rugby. I go for the buzz of watching live sport. We should not all be tarred with the same brush.
Last time I went I felt the need to do a lily Allen and apologise to a group of England lads who had received abuse and stuff thrown at them from a few numpties. All this in view of stewards who did nothing. Same behaviour at the ccs would’ve seen the culprits thrown out.
Like I said, I used to play rugby and going to internationals back in the 70’s was something special.
Nowadays I just don’t enjoy it for many of the reasons previously stated. Plus the view from anywhere but the middle tier is crap.
Plus the fact, that they play the same bloody teams every few months.
In years gone by, playing New Zealand & Australia were rare and these were looked forward to.
Now they live in each others back yards, they play so often.
PS:--- I say play in the lightest content, what I really mean is "they charge into each other" :hehe:
The supposed egg 'fans' (once or twice a year acting drunk on 2 pints) don't have a tenth of the passion of us Welsh football fans. The anthem last week could never be sung like that with the eggers, most of them are too pissed to notice. It's dying a slow painful death and the WRU know it, that's why they are now making military junta type rules restricting players movements and freedom to play where they want. FEK THE EGG
My old man used to take me and my sister to watch neath aberavon and Bridgend and Cardiff city when we were kids , I lost interest in watching rugby though as I got into city , by the time I was 15 I didn't bother with the rugby and my old man used to go in the old family enclosure , canton end of the terrace in front of the grandstand , think it was £2 fifty for him and 50 pence for me , great memories