Racing 92 and Stade Francais to merge

Gavin Mortimor wrote:BIG NEWS!!
According to L'Equipe, Racing 92 and Stade Francais are set to merge next season. L'Equipe reports that Jacky Lorenzetti & Thomas Savare will unveil their plans this afternoon but it seems it's definitely going ahead and that could be very good news for Grenoble - assuming they finish 13th - because the place freed up in the Top 14 next season will be filled by a play-off this June between the 13th finisher in T14 and the loser of the ProD2 final. Though still to be confirmed by LNR. As for the stadiums, Racing/Stade will play at the new Arena 92 & Stade Jean-Bouin will be home to Red Star, the Div2 football team.

No news for the moment on squad cuts or coaches, and most importantly the colour of their strip
I bet there'll be a bit of pink.

The official communique on the merger says: "This association, effective from next season, will give birth to a new club, which will preserve the roots of Racing 92, like those of Stade Francais, and multiply the means dedicated to the youth & French rugby. Strengthened by our double culture, by the staunch wish of the 2 presidents & the support of an unprecedented catchment area in France, this new club's mission in the long-term is to grow into a real reference.

Just got an email from Jacky Lorenzetti (not just me, alas, all Racing ticket purchasers) & he explains one of the main drivers was that despite Racing & Stade winning the T14 in last two years "it's been very difficult to maintain the level of performance year after year Lorenzetti says 2 clubs wrestled with same question 'How can we win not just once but year after year?' The answer is to join forces

marty2086 wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:

marty2086 wrote:The catalyst, it seems xenophobia played a part as apparently Savare didn't want Stade falling into foreign hands as the only interested buyers were from Qatar

Idiotic statement. It's not xenophobic to prioritise local business/investment over foreign investment.

Its idiotic to say its xenophobia when you would rather destroy something than see it fall into foreign hands?

marty2086 wrote:

Recwatcher16 wrote:
Paris isn't a sporting city, the locals much prefer to eat rich food and consume alcohol in suitable surroundings - not sit on plastic seats in a concrete bowl - unless it is a proper social occasion where they can have the rich food and alcohol after....

I've read a few people saying that it isn't a sporting city yet PSG have the best attendances in France both home and away, maybe it's not a rugby city more than it's not a sporting city but there are plenty who overcome similar obstacles. Wasps moved about 100 miles to get out of an overcrowded city.

I don't know the answer but have Stade or Racing done much in the local communities? Do they work with local schools or clubs trying to grow and improve the game and bring people into the club?

SecretFly wrote:It was weird in many ways - adopting a strict economic 'merger' decision over the heads of people (fans and players alike) who feel, and kinda know, that sport is somehow different.  Yes, sport is largely run along business lines today; the profit margins mean everything, large figures are everything, players and coaches are commodities bought and sold to the highest bidder...but still, sport is sport and teams are teams and history is history.  
People who consistently try to take emotion out of the business of running rugby constantly find that there is a significant following that resist and resist such a drive to turn rugby into nothing more than Lidl or Aldi, Coke or Pepsi.

brennomac wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

Recwatcher16 wrote:
Paris isn't a sporting city, the locals much prefer to eat rich food and consume alcohol in suitable surroundings - not sit on plastic seats in a concrete bowl - unless it is a proper social occasion where they can have the rich food and alcohol after....

I've read a few people saying that it isn't a sporting city yet PSG have the best attendances in France both home and away, maybe it's not a rugby city more than it's not a sporting city but there are plenty who overcome similar obstacles. Wasps moved about 100 miles to get out of an overcrowded city.

I don't know the answer but have Stade or Racing done much in the local communities? Do they work with local schools or clubs trying to grow and improve the game and bring people into the club?

Marty, PSG are the only first division team in a city of 13 million.  London has 5, Madrid 3, Rome 2, Milan 2.  Does seem to suggest that Paris isn't exactly a sporting hotbed.

marty2086 wrote:The catalyst, it seems xenophobia played a part as apparently Savare didn't want Stade falling into foreign hands as the only interested buyers were from Qatar

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

PhilBB wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

Oh.

Champ, popping up here once in a while to continually prove you to be a total moron is not "bugging me". It's sport. Sadly, it's getting easier.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

Oh.

Champ, popping up here once in a while to continually prove you to be a total moron is not "bugging me". It's sport. Sadly, it's getting easier.

We have a new entrant in the "most pathetic and pointless post of the year" contest ...

Childish.

PhilBB wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

Oh.

Champ, popping up here once in a while to continually prove you to be a total moron is not "bugging me". It's sport. Sadly, it's getting easier.

PhilBB wrote:

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

Oh.

Champ, popping up here once in a while to continually prove you to be a total moron is not "bugging me". It's sport. Sadly, it's getting easier.

We have a new entrant in the "most pathetic and pointless post of the year" contest ...

Childish.

You clearly haven't read some of the drivel aimed at me. I've just had a couple of chaps trying to tell me that Munster being 1/3 didn't make the Turks massive underdogs. That's right, grown men actually put effort into trying to make that argument convincing. That tops, by a country mile, showing Martyn to be the dumbarse he clearly is.

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

Oh.

Champ, popping up here once in a while to continually prove you to be a total moron is not "bugging me". It's sport. Sadly, it's getting easier.

We have a new entrant in the "most pathetic and pointless post of the year" contest ...

Childish.

mikey_dragon wrote:

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

PhilBB wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

PhilBB wrote:I'm still looking for that xenophobic "foreigners" comment, Martyn.

Have you had any joy in producing it, yet?

Haven't even bothered looking but glad to know its still bugging you

Oh.

Champ, popping up here once in a while to continually prove you to be a total moron is not "bugging me". It's sport. Sadly, it's getting easier.

We have a new entrant in the "most pathetic and pointless post of the year" contest ...

Childish.

You got that right Pete; someone has shown up and he's giving you a run for your money. It's clear to see the pressure is getting to you already. I wonder if more Kiwi's are like this i.e., the ABs now that the Lions are in town .

mikey_dragon wrote:Apologies by the way Pete, I didn't scroll down further to see that you advised an end to the bickering. I still think it's true that ABs are starting to feel the pressure though....

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Apologies by the way Pete, I didn't scroll down further to see that you advised an end to the bickering. I still think it's true that ABs are starting to feel the pressure though....

No worries mate. Can't wait for the tour to start myself.

There's no Alistair Campbell trying to throw muck over the damage to SCW's reputation this trip thankfully

marty2086 wrote:

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Apologies by the way Pete, I didn't scroll down further to see that you advised an end to the bickering. I still think it's true that ABs are starting to feel the pressure though....

No worries mate. Can't wait for the tour to start myself.

There's no Alistair Campbell trying to throw muck over the damage to SCW's reputation this trip thankfully

I just hope you guys have learned to clear out rucks properly in the last 12 years

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

marty2086 wrote:

Pete C (Kiwireddevil) wrote:

mikey_dragon wrote:Apologies by the way Pete, I didn't scroll down further to see that you advised an end to the bickering. I still think it's true that ABs are starting to feel the pressure though....

No worries mate. Can't wait for the tour to start myself.

There's no Alistair Campbell trying to throw muck over the damage to SCW's reputation this trip thankfully

I just hope you guys have learned to clear out rucks properly in the last 12 years

Touch wood.

More seriously (and we're horribly off topic on this thread now -sorry!), I'm happy to say both Umaga & Mealamu should've been banned for it, & nowadays they'd have been out for about 3 months each (unless the lawyers managed to establish that combined action accident defence a la Evans & Lee last week*). At at the same time I blame Campbell for all the "pre-planned assault" conspiracy theories and the fact that we're still talking about it.


*Note, I also think the red card was sufficient punishment in that case anyway

Scottrf wrote:Modern way to clear out rucks is for 3 men to fly off their feet. They are in a shocking state.