Anglo Welsh gone Prem Cup returns

[Gloskarlos]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/44066837

Didn't even know this was being discussed!

[Gloskarlos]

With total prize money of more than half a million pounds, the new competition will be played over four pool rounds, including the Derby Day, semi-finals and Final.

To replace the Anglo-Welsh Cup the Premiership Rugby Cup will comprise three pools of four teams each and will kick off with the first two pool rounds starting on the last weekend of October and the second two starting at the end of January.

One of the second two rounds will see Derby Day clashes for the 12 teams before the Cup moves into the knockout phase with the three pool winners and the best runner up moving into the semi-finals.

"The Cup has been a highly successful competition in recent years in helping develop the best new Premiership and England players, in front of big crowds and TV audiences," said Premiership Rugby Chief Executive, Mark McCafferty.

"The pathway for young players is now clear linking the Under-18s League, the A League and now the Premiership Rugby Cup into one strong route towards Gallagher Premiership Rugby, European competitions and Test matches.

"Many Test players including Owen Farrell, George Ford and Maro Itoje all made their senior debuts in the Anglo-Welsh Cup and some of the most recent Breakthrough Players of the Year have been Jack Nowell, Jonny May and Adam Radwan.

"In addition, the competition has seen many different club coaches taking responsibility for the Cup team and developing their experience and skills in charge.

"This focus on new playing and coaching talent will continue in the new Cup format with young players and coaches experiencing the challenge of bigger crowds and TV exposure.

"This season has seen record TV audiences throughout the competition and success in the Final for Exeter Chiefs to support their quest for another Aviva Premiership Rugby title.

"More than 1.3m fans watched live coverage of the Cup on BT Sport this season, a 37% increase year on year. This competition is fundamental to developing young players for Premiership action in front of big crowds and more intense atmospheres.

"We are sad that our friends in the Welsh Regions will not be involved next season but we have been discussing for some time that they need to move a new structure, prioritising an Under-23 format."

A Pro Rugby Wales spokesperson added:
"The review of development structures and processes we have undertaken together with the WRU over the last 12 months has clearly illustrated the need for us to focus on our 18 - 23yrs player development through a dedicated U23 competition, which unfortunately means we will no longer have the resources to be able to compete in the Anglo-Welsh Cup.

"We have thoroughly enjoyed our time in the competition, which has certainly contributed to our player development in the past and we are delighted to see the way it has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years, with record TV audiences in the 2017-18 season.

"We have a great working relationship with the English clubs and Premiership Rugby and hope we can work together in the future as the game continues to evolve. We wish them the very best of luck with their new competition."

The pool draw for the new Premiership Rugby Cup will be announced at the BT Tower on 6 July.

• New competition to be called Premiership Rugby Cup
• Prize money in every match for the winning team
• Four rounds followed by semi-final and Final
• Final to be staged at the home ground of the highest seeded team

[Mellsblue]

Shame they couldn’t find room for the Champ teams. It might have been a useful bargaining chip in the ring-fencing argument. Also, one less option for replacing the B&I Cup.

[Gloskarlos]

Shame they couldn’t find room for the Champ teams. It might have been a useful bargaining chip in the ring-fencing argument. Also, one less option for replacing the B&I Cup.

Yes - if you could ignore the number of games played then an 'FA cup' style cup would be far more exciting

[Puja]

Shame they couldn’t find room for the Champ teams. It might have been a useful bargaining chip in the ring-fencing argument. Also, one less option for replacing the B&I Cup.

Agreed - seemed an missed opportunity. Even if they just had the top 8 qualify, then they could have 5 pools of 4 with no need for any extra games.

Puja

[Oakboy]

Shame they couldn’t find room for the Champ teams. It might have been a useful bargaining chip in the ring-fencing argument. Also, one less option for replacing the B&I Cup.

Yes - if you could ignore the number of games played then an 'FA cup' style cup would be far more exciting

I don't follow the Championship much. Is giant-killing realistic in club rugby? I'd expect the discrepancy in pack standard to verge on dangerous.

[Gloskarlos]

Shame they couldn’t find room for the Champ teams. It might have been a useful bargaining chip in the ring-fencing argument. Also, one less option for replacing the B&I Cup.

Yes - if you could ignore the number of games played then an 'FA cup' style cup would be far more exciting

I don't follow the Championship much. Is giant-killing realistic in club rugby? I'd expect the discrepancy in pack standard to verge on dangerous.

I would say top 4 Champ sides have a semi decent chance at bottom 4 Prem sides, and at least they would get some additional wonga out of it to further strengthen.

[Mellsblue]

Yes - if you could ignore the number of games played then an 'FA cup' style cup would be far more exciting

I don't follow the Championship much. Is giant-killing realistic in club rugby? I'd expect the discrepancy in pack standard to verge on dangerous.

I would say top 4 Champ sides have a semi decent chance at bottom 4 Prem sides, and at least they would get some additional wonga out of it to further strengthen.

If it's still being used as a development comp then it won't really be Prem packs and upsets are more likely.

[Which Tyler]

Stupid idea - bring in the Championship teams; 4 pools of 6, Cup, plate and Shield QFs; no players with more than 1500 minutes in the Prem/Europe from the previous season are eligible; replaces the AWC and the B&I both in one fell swoop, returning the Cup closer to what it's supposed to be.

I guess that comes with the downside of promoting the Championship clubs and letting them have a little cash; and that would go completely against the aims of a protection racket.

[Rich]

A total waste of time. This is what's wrong with English rugby team owners looking to play players to the max.

How about replacing the Anglo-Welsh cup with a shorter season ?

[Puja]

A total waste of time. This is what's wrong with English rugby team owners looking to play players to the max.

How about replacing the Anglo-Welsh cup with a shorter season ?

The problem is that the AWC is played during international weekends, so losing it wouldn't make the season shorter unless we're willing to have AP game played then.

Puja

[Which Tyler]

A total waste of time. This is what's wrong with English rugby team owners looking to play players to the max.

How about replacing the Anglo-Welsh cup with a shorter season ?

The problem is that the AWC is played during international weekends, so losing it wouldn't make the season shorter unless we're willing to have AP game played then.

It would help for the non-international players, but the stars would be just as ground down, of course there's also £$€.

I still think the best thing to someone be to INCREASE the domestic cup, to cover all 10 weeks of mid-season international rugby, and make it officially developmental - whether U25s or (my preference) no players with more than 1500 minutes in the previous season.
That would, of course, need more teams to make it work... Approximately 12 more teams. If only there was a competition in English rugby, with 12 teams in need of a little more game time, who play at a level broadly equivalent to the premiership's 2nd/3rd XVs...

It would also, of course, necessitate a shrinkage of the Prem to make space in the season, allowing for better player welfare, with fewer (higher quality) matches the first XV are expected to play.
In turn, that would mean increasing investment in that mythical batch of 12 teams at the level of Prem 2nd/3rd XV players, but then, it would also have automatically liberates the funding that currently goes to the lower 2-4 Prem teams.


If only such a convenient batch of 12ish English rugby clubs existed, that we could use in this way to boost the entire game in England... As it is, well have to go with the "competition is a bad thing in sport" philosophy, and just play with ourselves some more.

[Mellsblue]

The Championship fixtures were released today, along with the fixtures for a new cup comp........which is a just a Champ Cup comp. Missed opportunities all round, other than for some alliteration.