Aironi to leave the PRO12

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17640035

Aironi's licence for the PRO12 has been pulled by the Italian union. They are planning to replace them with another side next season. Either in the north again or the Roman team probably

Italian side Aironi will pull out of the Pro12 at the end of the season after their licence was revoked.
The Italian Rugby Federation (FIR) made the decision to withdraw the licence on financial grounds.
Aironi, who are bottom of the Pro12 , are expected to complete the final three games of the current season.
"The federal council has decided unanimously to revoke the licence of Aironi Rugby at the end of the current season," the FIR announced.
Aironi was formed from a group of north eastern clubs and based at Viadana, but have struggled financially in the two seasons since joining the league in 2010 and are reportedly 4 million euros in debt.
The FIR are planning to nominate another team for the Pro12 next season, and will have to decide whether to go for a different side in the sport's heartland or re-examine their original plans to have a team based in Rome.
Previous plans to base a side in the capital also fell through for financial reasons.

As the title suggests looks like Aironi have had their chips. Shame, at the same time though a team that continues to be whipping boys doesn't improve the quality of the league so maybe for the best. What's everyone else's views?

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/17640035

oh dear

I always thought having a team in the middle of nowhere surrounded by farmland made no sense, financial and otherwise. Probably much better for Italian Rugby in the long run prompting them to re-think their business strategy. A team in Rome, for me, is a must if they can make the money side work. They would certainly have more people travelling to Rome to suppport their team's away matches.

Nightmare :/

Could be Cardiff Blues soon too.

Difficult times.

Moderators merge?

Sad news but most of those players will be with the new team I think. There will still be 2 Italian teams in the Pro 12 but one will have different name next season and will play in a different city.

Will all the players have to see out there contracts or will they just be signed up to the other club?

I never really understood the Italian choices for their 2 professional teams, Treviso were always a big club, but the biggest was generally Milan at the start of professional rugby.

Having Milan back would be nice.

Ironic that this should be announced only hours after my Bradford Bulls post.

Portnoy wrote:Ironic that this should be announced only hours after my Bradford Bulls post.

Agree.
Its all your fault.

AlynDavies wrote:I never really understood the Italian choices for their 2 professional teams, Treviso were always a big club, but the biggest was generally Milan at the start of professional rugby.

Having Milan back would be nice.

Aye, they were big when they had Silvio Berlusconi as a sugar daddy Once he decided to focus on the roundball game they all but disappeared.

Scarlets will put a cricket score on Aironi next week for sure,
The players will not be bothered putting their bodies on the line for a club that is to be disbanded in four games time.

I think commercially they have to put a side in Rome. Praetorians Roma was initially in the mix before they decided on these 2 so I see that idea being revived.

The Praetorians fell through due to financial reasons. They are looking at them again but who knows if the money is there.

sugarNspikes wrote:Could be Cardiff Blues soon too.

Difficult times.

If you think the WRU would let a capital city side go down the pan, then you need to think again, they will let a valleys side go, but they would not let a West Wales or a capital side go.

viewtothegym wrote:Scarlets will put a cricket score on Aironi next week for sure,
The players will not be bothered putting their bodies on the line for a club that is to be disbanded in four games time.

In hindsight, think the players knew when they came to Ravenhill last week. They were very poor by their own standards.

Notch wrote:

viewtothegym wrote:Scarlets will put a cricket score on Aironi next week for sure,
The players will not be bothered putting their bodies on the line for a club that is to be disbanded in four games time.

In hindsight, think the players knew when they came to Ravenhill last week. They were very poor by their own standards.

I can't see that scenario in reality. If the Italians do create Phoenix side, then there'll be contracts to be work for.

Indeed but if you get told when you get into work in the morning the company is going bust and you aren't guaranteed a job next year I think you'd find it hard to fully concentrate on your work too.

Aironi were just starting to make progress as a team and build up some team spirit, as epitomised by their win over Munster. This is bound to have damaged morale. I was surprised at how apathetic they looked at Ravenhill. Now I know why.

Fortuitous timing for the Premiership bosses.

Aironi gone and Blues on the brink. There's the extra two spots they were looking for.

Simples.

premiership bosses?

GavinDragon wrote:premiership bosses?

Premiership bosses. The owners of the Premiership clubs. The Big Cheeses. The Big Kahunas. The top dogs. The head honchos. The Big Chiefs.

yes welsh premiership? aviva premiership? and why would they be happy?

Pity. This seems to be a pattern in the Pro12's history. Scotland cut Borders and Wales cut Warriors. The IRFU tried to cut Connacht for financial reasons but a fans protest thankfully prevented them.

But hopefully this time, Italy might be able to immediately replace them with a Rome team. A Rome team might make more sense anyway.

GavinDragon wrote:yes welsh premiership? aviva premiership? and why would they be happy?

Work it out.

I didnt say they would be happy.

This team was a new entity and was always going to need time to build. What did they expect? They need more money and more time. But they really shouldn't leave that area with no pro representation. The North is where rugby is mostly played and the people deserve a team that represents them, not just one city. Why didn't they tap into local loyalties though by naming the side for one of the provinces there? (I should probably have said regions, although some were once countries/states) It seemed like an obvious thing to do.

I remember staing when Aironi and Teviso were joining the League, it would be intresting to see which does better, the promoted super Club or the region.
Guess super club wins.

However it's still my opinion that long term region will always win because they can appeal to a wider crowd.

Where did it go wrong for Aironi?
crowd numbers were at least comparable to Glasgow/Edinburgh/Connacht, so I don't know if they budgeted for bigger crowds, but that would have been silly.

They didn't have a hugh squad on big bugets (similar to Teviso who would have had similar funding)

I just don't know why it went wrong.

Also Aironi were supposed to be the best team finically. The FIR didn't want to enter Teviso as a standalone club, and Praetorians Roma were not finicially viaable. Of the 3 Aironi were supposed to be the best.


So what now enter Praetorians Roma, market them no end and hope they can get huge crowds straight away?

Aironi got crowds around the same level as Glasgow and failed, does anyone really think that Praetorians Roma would be able to get bigger crowds than Glasgow in a city that is as football dominated as Glasgow?

If Aironi failed to be competative and had about 4 million of debt, Will the FIR better fund a new region to get it off the ground. Why not stick with Aironi if that was the case at least it was in the rugby hearland and had a chance to improve. Praetorians Roma would need about 8000 average to survice, is this realistic as Glasgow can't get this and have been trying for 10 years.

Insted of Praetorians Roma I think we may see "Cavalieri Toscana Rugby Eccellenza", (a new rugby franchise with the aim to represent the professional élite rugby of region Tuscany set up in 2010) think they've been pushing for a place like the Welsh Valleys.