Comments on: Club v Country conflict rears its ugly head again http://www.therugbyblog.co.uk/club-v-country-conflict-rears-its-ugly-head-again Rugby Union opinion and discussion, for the fans, by the fans. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 18:50:52 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Rob Watson http://www.therugbyblog.co.uk/club-v-country-conflict-rears-its-ugly-head-again/comment-page-1#comment-5100 Rob Watson Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:30:14 +0000 http://www.therugbyblog.co.uk/?p=753#comment-5100 It's not helped either by the RFU getting greedy and cramming 4 fixtures in to the Autumn series. Their usual excuse for doing this is that it follows a World Cup year in which they usually make a loss due to the lack of Autumn Internationals at HQ, but as has been well documented, they still made a profit in 2007. I remember thinking when the deal was announced that it was good news, but there could be problems around players that get brought in from outside the Elite squad. We need to be able to plan around this when it happens, because it will always happen that some players emerge early in a season that look to have England potential. You'd hope that a man on £400k with international experience as a player would be alert to this and plan for it. Maybe in future when someone plays for England they have to be added to the Elite squad for the remainder of that season, and the club and the RFU agree between them (what a novel idea eh?) how many more games that player should play before the end of that season. Anyway, to end on a happy note, although the agreement isn't working as planned, at least there's only 7 and a half more years of it! It’s not helped either by the RFU getting greedy and cramming 4 fixtures in to the Autumn series. Their usual excuse for doing this is that it follows a World Cup year in which they usually make a loss due to the lack of Autumn Internationals at HQ, but as has been well documented, they still made a profit in 2007.

I remember thinking when the deal was announced that it was good news, but there could be problems around players that get brought in from outside the Elite squad. We need to be able to plan around this when it happens, because it will always happen that some players emerge early in a season that look to have England potential. You’d hope that a man on £400k with international experience as a player would be alert to this and plan for it.

Maybe in future when someone plays for England they have to be added to the Elite squad for the remainder of that season, and the club and the RFU agree between them (what a novel idea eh?) how many more games that player should play before the end of that season.

Anyway, to end on a happy note, although the agreement isn’t working as planned, at least there’s only 7 and a half more years of it!

]]> By: Uncle Mat http://www.therugbyblog.co.uk/club-v-country-conflict-rears-its-ugly-head-again/comment-page-1#comment-5093 Uncle Mat Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:22:15 +0000 http://www.therugbyblog.co.uk/?p=753#comment-5093 What's needed here is some trust and cooperation between the RFU and the clubs. It's true that the issues discussed above are consistent with the agreement everyone signed up for, but a little bit of flexibility - for example allowing for cup games to count as rest weeks, as EJ had suggested - would go a long way. The RFU has needed the clubs to be flexible and give a little more in the past, and they have often agreed. But the current situation encourages all parties to stick to the letter of the agreement, which is not good for either side. I hope both the clubs and the RFU reflect on how Rob Andrew's main attraction (I assume, ie there's nothing else) was his ability to build a trusting relationship with the clubs... and that he has failed. What’s needed here is some trust and cooperation between the RFU and the clubs. It’s true that the issues discussed above are consistent with the agreement everyone signed up for, but a little bit of flexibility – for example allowing for cup games to count as rest weeks, as EJ had suggested – would go a long way. The RFU has needed the clubs to be flexible and give a little more in the past, and they have often agreed. But the current situation encourages all parties to stick to the letter of the agreement, which is not good for either side.

I hope both the clubs and the RFU reflect on how Rob Andrew’s main attraction (I assume, ie there’s nothing else) was his ability to build a trusting relationship with the clubs… and that he has failed.

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