What use is Pemiership Rugby Limited?

First topic message reminder :

Since its inception it has always seemed to me that this bunch of ne're-do-wells had leapt from one disastrous decision to the next.

At which point did they lose what brains they had?

Someone will have to remind me of the last (any) time when they formulated a creative and connected collective decision which stood the test of time.

Welshmushroom wrote:

HammerofThunor wrote:Minor point. Regions won the league 3 times out of the first 4. Since then they've never topped the table (it's always been the Irish). Ospreys have won it once or twice on the playoffs. Have they really raised their game to the Irish level? Seems more like the Irish raised it to the Welsh level and beyond. Obviously financial issues have hit in the last couple of years.

Yes we have had some good teams in Wales who have challenged but you only have to look at the historical league standings to realize that actually more often than not, our Irish counterparts finished in the top half.  When 3 of your 4 sides are finishing in the top 6 its hard to argue they are not setting the standards in my opinion.

Yeah, First season the 5 regions were in the top 6 of the league but since then the Irish have been up there pretty much every year.

2003–04 Llanelli Scarlets
2004–05 Ospreys
2005–06 Ulster
2006–07 Ospreys
2007–08 Leinster
2008–09 Munster
2009–10 Ospreys
2010–11 Munster
2011–12 Ospreys
2012–13 Leinster

Five Irish and five Welsh wins.

The ERC always had PRL/LNR spies working within the structure, seeing where weaknesses were and plotting and analysing where weak humanbeings were too within respective Unions.

Didn't I hear that even McCafferty did a stint at some financial bench within the ERC for a while?? - so even he was perusing the books and working out where he'd attack from when his time came.

When PRL and LNR began mentioning how unhappy they were, that must have set alarm bells ringing amongst the wiser members of the ERC - they knew they'd been shuffled from within and that knowledge proved that trust was completely gone within the ERC structure itself

Why in the world would they then negotiate and compromise with a bunch of people they had lost all trust in.

The RFU remained quiet and everyone was saying they were playing things smart and would enter the fray when they were needed to helpfully bring the two sides together - nobility was used about their motives.

But I'm guessing now too that all along members of the ERC felt that the RFU were still a spy in the works and probably tested them out in giving the concessions that the PRL wanted, knowing that the RFU would still not bring the PRL around.  

And nope they didn't.  Almost instantly the concessions were openly criticised as not enough.  Indeed, in real terms those concessions must have been read as a sign of the crumbling foundations of the ERC itself.  The pressure only intensified then - the demands remained the same - full control of any European event for PRL/LNR.

ERC then knew the RFU were using no influence at all, were no honest brokers, were probably readily informing the PRL about words spoken at ERC meetings and the total lack of trust only reconfirmed itself at a deeper level.

Pity about it all.  But there you go - it isn't a perfect world.

Isolation in Europe at club level now a real prospect and fining it's own members for tolerance of non-English players for not toeing the majority line.

What next?
Another rugby schism?

Well done PRL!

Crackin' job...