Galles: Scarlets e Dragons chiudono?
Inviato: 7 apr 2009, 22:41
http://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/sport/ ... y_reality/
ROBIN DAVEY SAYS: Two regions is a scary reality
12:20pm Tuesday 7th April 2009
THE way things are going in domestic Welsh rugby we won't have four regional teams much longer and we won't even have three. It will be down to two. And they will be based in Cardiff and Swansea.
A friend of mine who played his fair share of top class rugby has claimed from almost the day the game went professional it would eventually boil down to two teams called East and West Wales, and I'm beginning to think he's right though the names might simply be the Blues and the Ospreys.
It's calamity time in the two extremities of east and west with the Dragons suffering a shocking 39-17 defeat against bottom team Connacht in Galway and the Scarlets faring even worse with a 38-21 defeat by Glasgow - at home, the Scottish team running riot and scoring six tries.
There is no sign of any real improvement on either front, if anything the situation is worsening. The Scarlets are in difficult contract negotiations with some players, there has been an alarming drop-off in form, senior figures within the organisation are leaving and the coaching position has become a revolving door.
On top of that their brand new stadium already looks like becoming a white elephant. It has a 15,000 capacity and they can't even get half that number through the doors, giving the whole place an eerie type of feeling. The Dragons are similarly trying to resolve contract and player release situations. It always happens at this time of year with some players no longer required, it's part of professional sport but it's difficult to manage and in some cases a player's heart may no longer be in it though he remains part of the team.
At least the Scarlets were a major European force at one stage, regular Heineken Cup quarter-finalists and twice semi-finalists, victorious in Toulouse, though it looks as though those days are over once and for all.
The Dragons, on the other hand, have never made their presence felt in Europe and have regularly been last-placed Welsh team confined to the lesser European Challenge Cup competition.
To claim their organisation has at any stage been dynamic or ambitious or driven hard would be foolhardy. Outside backers haven't emerged since the departure of Tony Brown and now, like the Scarlets, they are struggling financially to compete with the other two Welsh regions and certainly with their English and French counterparts.
The only thing that saved the Dragons at the weekend was the Scarlets disaster at the hands of Glasgow. That is the result which has attracted all the attention and all the bad headlines, with the Dragons result on Friday night in far off Galway completely submerged.
But that can't detract from the seriousness of the situation and it needs to be addressed. I don't believe for one minute getting rid of the coach gets to the heart of the matter and neither does anything peripheral like altering the name of the side.
Take a look down west. The coach has gone from Gareth Jenkins, to Phil Davies to Nigel Davies, all former Llanelli players, all from the area, all steeped in the tradition of the club/region. But what effect has it had? None, and it's getting worse.
They've even changed their name from Llanelli to Llanelli Scarlets to the Scarlets, their traditional title which takes in all the history and emotion surrounding decade upon decade of Stradey teams. What effect has it had? None.
In the case of the Dragons, the board is made up entirely of Gwent men while the coaches and management are all men of Gwent. What effect has that had? None.
Anyone who supposes just changing the name of the team would lead to a great revival in fortunes on or off the field is simply living in cloud-cuckoo-land. It hasn't had any effect with the Scarlets and it wouldn't with the Dragons.
The one vital necessity for all teams in the professional age is money and lots of it. Without it, without benefactors, without sponsors and all the accompanying drive and ambition no-one will get anywhere and the result will inevitably be failure.
In Wales the major centres of population based around capital city Cardiff and Swansea will probably always have the best chance of lasting success - the rest will be fitful at best.
The Blues and the Ospreys have the financial clout and largely because of that they enjoy the results and they have been challenging in the two major competitions at Anglo-Welsh and European level.
At least the Dragons should have a better chance of emerging from the wreckage with a better chance than the Scarlets for I believe increasing isolation and scant population down west will reduce their chances of ever getting back to the top so that I fear for their future even more than the Dragons.
Gwent remains the biggest rugby populated area in Wales with the largest number of clubs and the Dragons' crowds are actually up on last year, so the support is definitely out there despite the constant negativity of a minority.
The only thing that will guarantee success is results, but a whole lot of other things within the organisation have to be right before consistency of performance can be achieved.
The first season of the Dragons apart that has never been the case here while the Scarlets are clearly on a rapid downward slide.
On top of all the mayhem there is still no sign of any agreement between the regions and the WRU over a new participation agreement which means the four teams don't even know what their budget from central 'government' will be for next season. What way is that to run a business?
The real doomsday scenario in Wales is going down to two professional teams and more major unemployment.
Don't rule it out.
ROBIN DAVEY SAYS: Two regions is a scary reality
12:20pm Tuesday 7th April 2009
THE way things are going in domestic Welsh rugby we won't have four regional teams much longer and we won't even have three. It will be down to two. And they will be based in Cardiff and Swansea.
A friend of mine who played his fair share of top class rugby has claimed from almost the day the game went professional it would eventually boil down to two teams called East and West Wales, and I'm beginning to think he's right though the names might simply be the Blues and the Ospreys.
It's calamity time in the two extremities of east and west with the Dragons suffering a shocking 39-17 defeat against bottom team Connacht in Galway and the Scarlets faring even worse with a 38-21 defeat by Glasgow - at home, the Scottish team running riot and scoring six tries.
There is no sign of any real improvement on either front, if anything the situation is worsening. The Scarlets are in difficult contract negotiations with some players, there has been an alarming drop-off in form, senior figures within the organisation are leaving and the coaching position has become a revolving door.
On top of that their brand new stadium already looks like becoming a white elephant. It has a 15,000 capacity and they can't even get half that number through the doors, giving the whole place an eerie type of feeling. The Dragons are similarly trying to resolve contract and player release situations. It always happens at this time of year with some players no longer required, it's part of professional sport but it's difficult to manage and in some cases a player's heart may no longer be in it though he remains part of the team.
At least the Scarlets were a major European force at one stage, regular Heineken Cup quarter-finalists and twice semi-finalists, victorious in Toulouse, though it looks as though those days are over once and for all.
The Dragons, on the other hand, have never made their presence felt in Europe and have regularly been last-placed Welsh team confined to the lesser European Challenge Cup competition.
To claim their organisation has at any stage been dynamic or ambitious or driven hard would be foolhardy. Outside backers haven't emerged since the departure of Tony Brown and now, like the Scarlets, they are struggling financially to compete with the other two Welsh regions and certainly with their English and French counterparts.
The only thing that saved the Dragons at the weekend was the Scarlets disaster at the hands of Glasgow. That is the result which has attracted all the attention and all the bad headlines, with the Dragons result on Friday night in far off Galway completely submerged.
But that can't detract from the seriousness of the situation and it needs to be addressed. I don't believe for one minute getting rid of the coach gets to the heart of the matter and neither does anything peripheral like altering the name of the side.
Take a look down west. The coach has gone from Gareth Jenkins, to Phil Davies to Nigel Davies, all former Llanelli players, all from the area, all steeped in the tradition of the club/region. But what effect has it had? None, and it's getting worse.
They've even changed their name from Llanelli to Llanelli Scarlets to the Scarlets, their traditional title which takes in all the history and emotion surrounding decade upon decade of Stradey teams. What effect has it had? None.
In the case of the Dragons, the board is made up entirely of Gwent men while the coaches and management are all men of Gwent. What effect has that had? None.
Anyone who supposes just changing the name of the team would lead to a great revival in fortunes on or off the field is simply living in cloud-cuckoo-land. It hasn't had any effect with the Scarlets and it wouldn't with the Dragons.
The one vital necessity for all teams in the professional age is money and lots of it. Without it, without benefactors, without sponsors and all the accompanying drive and ambition no-one will get anywhere and the result will inevitably be failure.
In Wales the major centres of population based around capital city Cardiff and Swansea will probably always have the best chance of lasting success - the rest will be fitful at best.
The Blues and the Ospreys have the financial clout and largely because of that they enjoy the results and they have been challenging in the two major competitions at Anglo-Welsh and European level.
At least the Dragons should have a better chance of emerging from the wreckage with a better chance than the Scarlets for I believe increasing isolation and scant population down west will reduce their chances of ever getting back to the top so that I fear for their future even more than the Dragons.
Gwent remains the biggest rugby populated area in Wales with the largest number of clubs and the Dragons' crowds are actually up on last year, so the support is definitely out there despite the constant negativity of a minority.
The only thing that will guarantee success is results, but a whole lot of other things within the organisation have to be right before consistency of performance can be achieved.
The first season of the Dragons apart that has never been the case here while the Scarlets are clearly on a rapid downward slide.
On top of all the mayhem there is still no sign of any agreement between the regions and the WRU over a new participation agreement which means the four teams don't even know what their budget from central 'government' will be for next season. What way is that to run a business?
The real doomsday scenario in Wales is going down to two professional teams and more major unemployment.
Don't rule it out.
