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Champions Cup & Challenge Cup suspended
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Steve@Mose View Drop Down
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    Posted: 11 Jan 2021 at 17:51
Heineken Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup suspended temporarily
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Raider999 View Drop Down
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Originally posted by Steve@Mose Steve@Mose wrote:

Heineken Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup suspended temporarily


They need to bring forward 2 rounds of Premiership games to fill the next 2 weeks, otherwise they won't be able to complete the ECC as all weekends are taken up to the end of the season (assuming Lions tour is not delayed/cancelled)
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Points: 435 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote French Connection Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 09:46
No surprise at all. Here in France, Leicester Tigers have been very, very heavily criticized for bringing the 'English variant' over here when they played Bayonne in the Challenge Cup. There's now a serious outbreak in Bayonne and the south west. The FFR were furious and complained that the English clubs had much lower testing and isolation protocols that they did, hence the problem. No idea about the truth of that however. Whatever, I think everyone needs to simply accept that this season is over at many levels.
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Points: 300 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote marigold Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 10:51
Strange decision by PRL today to now NOT bring 2 fixtures forward for the now vacant Saturday's and instead to give the clubs two weeks off. A number of the clubs have already had time off recently due to covid cases plus this will add pressure at the end of the season. Not sure the broadcasters will be happy as some big gaps to fill. Not sure I am happy as watching matches on Friday night , Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon had become the highlights of the weekend. Am I missing something?
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Originally posted by marigold marigold wrote:

Strange decision by PRL today to now NOT bring 2 fixtures forward for the now vacant Saturday's and instead to give the clubs two weeks off. A number of the clubs have already had time off recently due to covid cases plus this will add pressure at the end of the season. Not sure the broadcasters will be happy as some big gaps to fill. Not sure I am happy as watching matches on Friday night , Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon had become the highlights of the weekend. Am I missing something?


Rugby?

Not utilising these 2 weeks for EPL raises the question of how they will fit in the Champions Cup at a later date - unless the Lions tour is cancelled/postponed

Edited by Raider999 - 12 Jan 2021 at 11:07
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In my opinion very sensible to have a two week break when people can stay at home in the current Covid situation rather than have rugby teams, broadcasters and all the associated support people travelling up and down the country.
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Points: 3451 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote corporalcarrot Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 12 Jan 2021 at 14:00
Originally posted by WEvans WEvans wrote:

In my opinion very sensible to have a two week break when people can stay at home in the current Covid situation rather than have rugby teams, broadcasters and all the associated support people travelling up and down the country.
This is probably right but the general benefit of seeing rugby on TV each weekend has genuinely helped me during this period. I don't know how many would be involved but there could be great public benefit in moving elite sportsmen & women (and if need be the associated TV & support staff) up the vaccination pecking order to enable them to maintain fixtures which could then be streamed for supporters to see on a pay per view basis. Probably yet another daft idea which I would not promote if it materially delayed the vaccine roll out to really vulnerable groups. Presumably if the elite players etc were vaccinated it would reduce the need to test them regularly - but this could also be wrong. Stay safe all Spring is coming and the snowdrops are blooming in St Ouen. 
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I think a few weeks break in all sports should realistically be happening. 

On one hand you have every single public health official telling us we are in crisis mode, people should act as if they have the virus and restrict their movements, yet on the other hand you can turn on your TV and see sportspeople jumping on top of each other during celebrations, taking training trips to Dubai and travelling cross country in buses. 

Don't get me wrong..I love watching rugby and plenty of other sports on TV, but I can't see how it can be justified given current circumstances. 

Admittedly young healthy athletes are in a low risk category, but they all will be going home to partners/parents/children etc.
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Points: 1418 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bigmal Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 13 Jan 2021 at 14:28
It certainly is a difficult situation and IMHO there is little chance of ALL competitions ( Prem/Euro/6 N/ Lions) being started let alone completed.

The Lions should really be cancelled now as there are no obvious benefits other than providing income for SA.

The 6 N should be looked at carefully to see how the risks could be minimised - certainly there is some merit in the suggestion that games could be restricted to the most suitable venues . Obviously this could be perceived as unfair but the primary objectives must be to keep everyone safe, restrict the spread of the virus, maintain rugby's profile on the international stage and provide much needed income for the participants albeit tv revenue is the only realistic source.

The Euro competitions need to be streamlined with the primary objective being to both  minimise exposure to and spread of the virus as well as keeping the finals competitive. The British, Irish and French sides could participate in home based knockout competitions with the aim being to produce 4 semi finalists for each competition. Any decision regarding the finals will have to wait until the end of March at the earliest but I cant see Mhazelnutille hosting with spectators - and I have tickets!

The Prem should continue with agreement being reached amongst the clubs that certain rounds should be between second string squads. No relegation makes sense as does taking the opportunity to review the structure at this level.

Any action has to be taken with the wider interests of the public and players being put foremost whilst accepting that the survival of the game NOT bragging rights is vital.

I am sure there will be other views but something needs to be done.
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Originally posted by corporalcarrot corporalcarrot wrote:

Originally posted by WEvans WEvans wrote:

In my opinion very sensible to have a two week break when people can stay at home in the current Covid situation rather than have rugby teams, broadcasters and all the associated support people travelling up and down the country.
This is probably right but the general benefit of seeing rugby on TV each weekend has genuinely helped me during this period. I don't know how many would be involved but there could be great public benefit in moving elite sportsmen & women (and if need be the associated TV & support staff) up the vaccination pecking order to enable them to maintain fixtures which could then be streamed for supporters to see on a pay per view basis. Probably yet another daft idea which I would not promote if it materially delayed the vaccine roll out to really vulnerable groups. Presumably if the elite players etc were vaccinated it would reduce the need to test them regularly - but this could also be wrong. Stay safe all Spring is coming and the snowdrops are blooming in St Ouen. 

I take your point about the value of televised sport CC. Maybe re-running classic games or past competitions would go some way to providing this. I'd love to see some of the old Five Nations games in full again (no offence to Italy!). 
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Steve@Mose View Drop Down
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Points: 1786 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Steve@Mose Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Jan 2021 at 17:00
Heineken Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup pool matches will not be rearranged

Quote The final two rounds of European pool matches that were postponed earlier this week will not be rearranged, Premiership Rugby has confirmed.

The games were set to take place over the next two weekends but instead the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup will go straight to a knockout format in April.

European Cup organisers (EPCR) are set to announce the revamped structure of the competitions in the coming week.

And no matches brought forward to fill the gaps in the broadcast schedules.
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Points: 55 		Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fly Half Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2021 at 10:28
Another big financial hit for the clubs but probably the correct decision.
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