So the judge finally ruled against Pontypool despite the best efforts of everyone involved with the club. It is clear to everyone including the judge that the WRU bent and ignored their own rules as it suited them but not enough for the court to do anything about it. Let us hope that this is not a portent of even more of a dictatorship going forward.
I suppose around this time last year we were resigned to life in the championship when the ten club premiership was announced. We felt bad when we heard that the premier clubs had voted ten to four that the nominated clubs should be relegated. Unfortunately we did not have the muscle of Carmarthen Quins (Scarlets) and Bridgend (Ospreys) and they managed to steal a march on us. Good luck to them, if we could have, we would have!
So on to life in the championship next season with a playing staff completely decimated and short of funds. I understand that there is no prospect of promotion for three or more years so we have time to build a team as long as we can stave off the threat of relegation. It will be good to lock horns with our traditional rivals at Ebbw Vale and Newbridge again - it does seem incredible that we are now all in the third tier of Welsh Rugby with Bedwas above us. What has become of Gwent rugby? The Dragons franchise has a lot to answer for.
Am I bitter about what has happened? Of course I am, but there was an air of inevitability in this David v Goliath battle when Goliath can make up the rules as he goes on.
Come on Pooler, let's show them that we are still a force to be reckoned with on the field.
Thursday 12 July 2012
Tuesday 3 July 2012
It's up to the judge now
Well Pooler had their day (or three) in court but it came at a cost. As always the only people who will get rich are the lawyers and a lot of money will be drained out of Welsh Rugby no matter who wins.
The case seems simple to the man who stands on the bank - we were resigned to life in the new Championship when the WRU did their initial cull to ten clubs. Everyone knew that this was a cut of Tory proportions and as Ed Balls would say "a cut too deep too soon". The WRU tried to back out of their initial mistake when everyone was engrossed in the World Cup by sneaking two clubs back into the Premiership using some criteria that they just made up on the spot and that seemed to more about money than anything else. Pontypool asked why they were not one of these two clubs and could not be given a satisfactory answer so decided to contest the decision.
In an amazing U turn, the WRU seemed to be saying in court that the decision should only be based on playing performance on the field (in 2010-11) and that the ground and other facilities based criteria previously paramount did not seem to matter any more. If this was the case would it not have been far simpler to say in October that the bottom two from the 2011-12 season should be relegated than go through the complicated and convoluted process that they came up with. I guess they were afraid that the wrong clubs might have finished at the bottom. Pooler are rightly questioning what has gone on and have stuck to their guns despite the WRU trying to price them out of the court judgement.
Last season three of the bottom four places in the Premiership were filled by clubs from the Newport Gwent Dragons region which tells me that Gwent rugby needs all the support it can get as it is still a vital breeding ground for Welsh international players - disenfranchising virtually all of Gwent at Premier level including Pontypool, Ebbw Vale and Newbridge is not going to help. Yes their performance on the field is not as good as clubs from the other regions but that it is almost entirely due to a lack of funds. Look what has happened at Cross Keys with a bit of money.
What is the best the Pooler can hope for from this court case? Reinstatement I guess and a bloody nose for the WRU. Even then we face the start of a new season without a team and relegation will be difficult to stave off. The worst is unthinkable - an impoverished Pooler and with it Eastern Valley rugby sink into oblivion.
The case seems simple to the man who stands on the bank - we were resigned to life in the new Championship when the WRU did their initial cull to ten clubs. Everyone knew that this was a cut of Tory proportions and as Ed Balls would say "a cut too deep too soon". The WRU tried to back out of their initial mistake when everyone was engrossed in the World Cup by sneaking two clubs back into the Premiership using some criteria that they just made up on the spot and that seemed to more about money than anything else. Pontypool asked why they were not one of these two clubs and could not be given a satisfactory answer so decided to contest the decision.
In an amazing U turn, the WRU seemed to be saying in court that the decision should only be based on playing performance on the field (in 2010-11) and that the ground and other facilities based criteria previously paramount did not seem to matter any more. If this was the case would it not have been far simpler to say in October that the bottom two from the 2011-12 season should be relegated than go through the complicated and convoluted process that they came up with. I guess they were afraid that the wrong clubs might have finished at the bottom. Pooler are rightly questioning what has gone on and have stuck to their guns despite the WRU trying to price them out of the court judgement.
Last season three of the bottom four places in the Premiership were filled by clubs from the Newport Gwent Dragons region which tells me that Gwent rugby needs all the support it can get as it is still a vital breeding ground for Welsh international players - disenfranchising virtually all of Gwent at Premier level including Pontypool, Ebbw Vale and Newbridge is not going to help. Yes their performance on the field is not as good as clubs from the other regions but that it is almost entirely due to a lack of funds. Look what has happened at Cross Keys with a bit of money.
What is the best the Pooler can hope for from this court case? Reinstatement I guess and a bloody nose for the WRU. Even then we face the start of a new season without a team and relegation will be difficult to stave off. The worst is unthinkable - an impoverished Pooler and with it Eastern Valley rugby sink into oblivion.
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