Connacht back in HCup 2012-2013!

It says the decision must be unanimous does anyone really see the IRFU giving there consent?

irfu might not have any choice. Money dictates these things and bulk of media revenue is french and english based not to mention sponsorship. Its no good for french and english tv and other media to have an all ireland Hec final and the british clubs fully support the french on this matter.

They want the Pro12 clubs to adapt a league position Qualification system similar to their leagues and obviously a league of 12 teams having 10 Hec places doesnt go down well either. The 4 unions of the Pro12 are obviously against this as it could mean no italian or even scottish partication occasionally so a compromise is most likely.
Something along the lines of 1 guarenteed position per Union and other 4 or 6 places decided on league finishing position is the sort of likely outcome.
The english and french club owners are quite militant about this and are ultimately threaening another boycott or non participation unless changes are made.

Change to qualification rules in the Pro12 will stregthen the league and will give connacht a fighting chance of qualification in their own right each year.
In addition the Amlin will be a much stronger competition if Hec is reduced to 20 teams and Amlin remains a 20 team competition.

Sorry that shoud say english not british clubs

Obviously delighted, it was a good weekend all round for Irish Rugby.

I'm looking forward to HC rugby next year. Really last year came at a bad time (if there is such a thing) in terms of on the pitch, the squad had been decimated and the new signings weren't going well and as a team we were still finding our shape. We did fairly well , winning 1 and being in with a shout in the closing stages of 3 other games but we should look a lot more settled heading into next season.

We have retained that squad again bar Ray Ofisa and Henry Fa'fili who'll have had the experience under their belt, add in Nathan White, Dan Parks, Willie Falloon and hopefully another signing or two and we're a much more solid outfit heading into next season. If Connacht can attract 4-5 k season ticket holders I'd imagine there'll be other sponsors wanting a piece of the action.

Being 3rd seed should be a help but it mightn't work out that way. Either way its great to have it to look forward to.

rossie wrote: irfu might not have any choice. Money dictates these things and bulk of media revenue is french and english based not to mention sponsorship. Its no good for french and english tv and other media to have an all ireland Hec final and the british clubs fully support the french on this matter.

They want the Pro12 clubs to adapt a league position Qualification system similar to their leagues and obviously a league of 12 teams having 10 Hec places doesnt go down well either. The 4 unions of the Pro12 are obviously against this as it could mean no italian or even scottish partication occasionally so a compromise is most likely.
Something along the lines of 1 guarenteed position per Union and other 4 or 6 places decided on league finishing position is the sort of likely outcome.
The english and french club owners are quite militant about this and are ultimately threaening another boycott or non participation unless changes are made.

Change to qualification rules in the Pro12 will stregthen the league and will give connacht a fighting chance of qualification in their own right each year.
In addition the Amlin will be a much stronger competition if Hec is reduced to 20 teams and Amlin remains a 20 team competition.

very good summary of the situation! And a "8 qualified in the league" rule is much more preferable for Connacht than "3 Irish max" I think..

Fourdogs wrote: the 24 teams made up of 7 French, 6 English, 4 Irish, 3 Welsh, 2 Scottish and Italian.

We could end up with 2 French and an Italian sides in our pool.

Being 6 groups of 4, I think we are guaranteed 1 English and at least 1 French side. Looking forward to the away games already.

rossie wrote:
irfu might not have any choice. Money dictates these things and bulk of media revenue is french and english based not to mention sponsorship. Its no good for french and english tv and other media to have an all ireland Hec final and the british clubs fully support the french on this matter.

They want the Pro12 clubs to adapt a league position Qualification system similar to their leagues and obviously a league of 12 teams having 10 Hec places doesnt go down well either. The 4 unions of the Pro12 are obviously against this as it could mean no italian or even scottish partication occasionally so a compromise is most likely.
Something along the lines of 1 guarenteed position per Union and other 4 or 6 places decided on league finishing position is the sort of likely outcome.
The english and french club owners are quite militant about this and are ultimately threaening another boycott or non participation unless changes are made.

Change to qualification rules in the Pro12 will stregthen the league and will give connacht a fighting chance of qualification in their own right each year.
In addition the Amlin will be a much stronger competition if Hec is reduced to 20 teams and Amlin remains a 20 team competition.


very good summary of the situation! And a "8 qualified in the league" rule is much more preferable for Connacht than "3 Irish max" I think..

While I think the 8 qualified in the league would be a good thing for both Connacht and Irish Rugby it would be detrimental to the Scots and Italians especially. The ERC have gone without the English teams before and quite frankly I really couldn't care less if one or the other boycott them again. The Heineken Cup is such a strong brand I think it could survive at least a year or two without them.

That said if they do ''revamp'' the tournaments I'd like to see teams from Russia and Eastern Europe given a chance. They couldn't be much worse than some of the Spanish teams we've played over the years anf if the IRB is serious about the game growing this is an easy way to do it.

connachtexile wrote: That said if they do ''revamp'' the tournaments I'd like to see teams from Russia and Eastern Europe given a chance. They couldn't be much worse than some of the Spanish teams we've played over the years anf if the IRB is serious about the game growing this is an easy way to do it.

As a Russian guy pointed out on one of the other threads, some of the best Russian clubs are in Siberia. They are geographically closer to Japan than Ireland. Aside from the logistics, the costs involved would not be sustainable IMO and I can't see Sky having much interest in televising a HEC pool game at 4am.

Creedence wrote:
As a Russian guy pointed out on one of the other threads, some of the best Russian clubs are in Siberia. They are geographically closer to Japan than Ireland. Aside from the logistics, the costs involved would not be sustainable IMO and I can't see Sky having much interest in televising a HEC pool game at 4am.

That and the fact that their season runs May to September not September to May...

As a Russian guy pointed out on one of the other threads, some of the best Russian clubs are in Siberia. They are geographically closer to Japan than Ireland. Aside from the logistics, the costs involved would not be sustainable IMO and I can't see Sky having much interest in televising a HEC pool game at 4am.


That and the fact that their season runs May to September not September to May...

OK so the top three teams in Russia are VVA Podmoskovye (based in Monino, Moscow); Krasny Yar and Enisey-STM both from Krasnoyarsk, Siberia. While the usual rugby season is against them it isn't impossible for them to arrange their league in blocks like they do in the SH. It might mean starting their league a month or two earlier but it's not impossible either.

You got on about logistics. It's just as easy for VVA Podmoskoyve to travel to Paris, London or Dublin as it is to to Siberia. Probably easier as their would be more flights. Also they have these travel costs in their budget so it wouldn't stretched unduly. You mention that Sky wouldn't show them. While that might be true if they played say Viadana, if they got drawn against the likes of Biarritz who are finalists this year then they'd definitely be put on television cause Sky would get the numbers. Yes the Siberian teams might have to play in the early mornings or late evening but as someone who has got up to watch Ireland or the Lions play in NZ or Oz I don't see that as a problem at all. Is it perfect? No not by any stretch but it is doable. Also the ERC made E50 million in profit last year if they couldn't help with travel bursaries then I don't know what we're paying them for.

Its great that we have Heineken cup again for next year. If we make as much progress next year as a club it will be great.
I was in Bordeaux at the weekend. I'd love to go to Clermont or Toulouse again with Connacht. They were mad fans and the ending nearly made me sick.
Were well set up for next year. Any chance we could get Damien Browne?
Faloon is a great addition as is White. An george will have a full preseason so he should continue his end of season improvement.
Lets hope the medical team can sort out Griffins legs and hammers so he can make the 13 position his own and put a run of games together.
I cant wait for announcement of the groups. Credit card at the ready

Clermont fans at the weekend.

I see Seapoint's point: a straight 8 qualification might suit us with the Italians and likely the Welsh to be weak for the foreseeable (with Seapoint's caveat that Munster and Leinster's current 50 man squads might widen to 70), but the outcome as outlined by posters above, a horrible hotchpotch of one team from each of the 4 countries and 4 wildcards, would really hurt us.

For instance, under that scenario the current rabo standings would see us missing out despite finishing ahead of Treviso.

your right about the twat at the end
Great weekend. Lunatics to the core the Clermont fans.
Im still wrecked.

Mr Thornley has a bit more detail on the ranking calculations for next year in the IT today.

"Looking further down the rankings, there is a very good chance that Connacht will be third seeds. As things stand Exeter, the two Italians sides and up to three possible French qualifiers – Montpellier, Castres and Racing – would all be ranked below Connacht, as indeed might Sale be if they could yet squeeze through from the Premiership.

The only way that Connacht could drop down to a fourth seed, by this column’s calculations, is if Biarritz claimed the seventh French place by winning the Challenge Cup final, and if Stade Francais muscled into the top six in France at the expense of one of the aforementioned trio. (Stade, in seventh, play Racing, two points ahead of them in sixth, next Saturday at Stade de France)."

Come on Racing!!!