Glasgow and Edinburgh: Ongoing Banter Thread II

[George Carlin]

First topic message reminder :

A. Edinburgh
 

 
1. Pre-season
 
Fri 30 Aug 2013, 19:45
Edinburgh Rugby 15 - 5 Newcastle Falcons
 
Fri 23 Aug 2013, 19:30
Northampton Saints 24 - 6 Edinburgh Rugby
 
2. 2013/2014 Season - Played
 
Sat 7 Sep, 19:15
Munster Rugby 34 - 23 Edinburgh Rugby
 
Fri 13 Sep, 19:45
Edinburgh Rugby 16 - 13 Newport Gwent Dragons
 
Sat 21 Sep, 18:30
Ospreys 44 - 10 Edinburgh Rugby
 
Fri 27 Sep, 19:45
Edinburgh Rugby 9 - 22 Scarlets

Sun 6 Oct, 14:05
Cardiff Blues 29 - 12 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 25 Oct, 19:45
Edinburgh Rugby 20 - 13 Benetton Treviso

Fri 1 Nov 19:45
Edinburgh Rugby 25 - 23 Zebre

Fri 22 Nov 19:05
Ulster Rugby 41 - 17 Edinburgh Rugby

Fri 29 Nov 19:45
Edinburgh Rugby 43 - 10 Connacht

Fri 20 Dec 19:35
Edinburgh Rugby 11 - 6 Leinster

Thu 26 Dec 15:05
Edinburgh Rugby 16 - 20 Glasgow Warriors

Wed 1 Jan 18:05
Glasgow Warriors P - P Edinburgh Rugby

3. 2013/2014 Season - Next 3 Games
 
Sun 9 Feb 13:05
Newport Gwent Dragons  v  Edinburgh Rugby

Sat 15 Feb 17:00
Connacht Rugby v Edinburgh Rugby

Sat 22 Feb 14:30
Scarlets v Edinburgh Rugby

B. Glasgow
 

 
1. Pre-season
 
Sat 31 Aug 2013, 15:00
Exeter Chiefs 26 - 29 Glasgow Warriors
 
2. 2013/2014 Season
 
Fri 6 Sep, 19:35
Glasgow Warriors 22 - 15 Cardiff Blues
 
Fri 13 Sep, 19:05
Ulster Rugby 12 - 13 Glasgow Warriors
 
Fri 20 Sep, 19:35
Glasgow Warriors 12 - 6 Leinster Rugby
 
Fri 27 Sep, 19:30
Zebre 17 - 24 Glasgow Warriors
 
Sat 5 Oct, 18:30
Scarlets 12 - 17 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 25 Oct, 19:35
Glasgow Warriors 6 - 13 Munster Rugby

Sat 2 Nov, 17:00
Connacht Rugby 12 - 19 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 22 Nov, 19:35
Glasgow Warriors 8 - 23 Newport Gwent Dragons

Fri 29 Nov, 19:05
Ospreys 16 - 28 Glasgow Warriors

Fri 20 Dec, 19:35
Glasgow Warriors P - P Benetton Treviso

Thu 26 Dec 15:05
Edinburgh Rugby 16 - 20 Glasgow Warriors

Wed 1 Jan 18:05
Glasgow Warriors P - P Edinburgh Rugby

3. 2013/2014 Season - Next 3 Games
 
Sun 9 Feb 14:00
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht Rugby

Sat 15 Feb 18:30
Cardiff Blues v Glasgow Warriors

Sun 23 Feb 14:30
Newport Gwent Dragons   v   Glasgow Warriors
 
Any and all patter about these teams is welcome.
 
Any jingoism, sledging or graceless kicking of anyone whilst they are up or down will see posts deleted.
 
Be gracious and be constructive.

[George Carlin]

Caledonia Reds have announced Jason White as their Head Coach, and have scheduled games on the 27th April and 4th May

Did Martin Gilbert get the SRU to buy into this, or is this a completely independent venture?

[IanBru]

Say WHAAAAAAAAT?

[123456789]

They haven't announced that yet but it can't be any of the Pro12 teams or the Aviva teams, so I imagine it will have to be an invitational side or a Championship side outside of the play-offs so a defeat would be pretty damning with a view to them joining the Pro12. The teams will surely be made up of the best player in either the Caledonia region or just the Scottish Premiership

Apparently more details will be released over the next 24 hours, but if they don't have a backer or a league to play in, it all seems to be pretty futile.

[cakeordeath]

A quick search reveals a Facebook page about it, I can't read it at work though.

[123456789]

We are almost there with preparations for two historic matches on Sunday 27th April and Sunday 4th of May. We are delighted to announce that our Head Coach for the upcoming games is Caledonia Rugby legend Jason White. The first game is on Sunday 27th April at Duffus Park in Cupar, 2pm KO. Further details and ticket info will be publicised within 24 hours.

[123456789]

That's straight from the facebook page

[jimbopip]

Caledonian Reds? If one of the Italian sides is dropping out of the Rabo does this leave a space for them? A third Scottish side would be superb news, but I thought it would be Aberdeen based. Mind you Jason White is an Aberdeen lad is he not? We need more info sharpish.

[RDW]

It looks very much to be an entirely independent organisation that has got Jason White to agree to 'coach' for a couple of games at the end of the season. I suspect the team will be made up of amateur players from the local area playing against one of the Prem 1 teams or a visiting team from another country, again likely to be amateur.

Basically a first step to try and show that there is support for a pro club.

[George Carlin]

Should I change the title of this thread to "Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen: Ongoing Banter Thread"? The thought of that makes me happy.

[RDW]

Well we're not far away from needing a part 3!

Why have the Caley Reds chosen Cupar of all places? I would have thought the Caley reds heartland could be anywhere from Dundee up to Aberdeen.

[tigertattie]

calm down guys.  It's like my local amateur team announcing that they have scheduled in a summer friendly against a touring dutch side!

Its not the start of a new Pro team for Scotland and they won't be joining the Rabo. 

It's actually a bit daft.  Not many folk will realisitcally rock up to see this as it is amateur rugby.  But say they have a crowd of 90 or 100, the SRU will just turn round and say "see, there's not going to be enough support for a 3rd pro team in Scotland"

[cakeordeath]

calm down guys.  It's like my local amateur team announcing that they have scheduled in a summer friendly against a touring dutch side!

Its not the start of a new Pro team for Scotland and they won't be joining the Rabo. 

It's actually a bit daft.  Not many folk will realisitcally rock up to see this as it is amateur rugby.  But say they have a crowd of 90 or 100, the SRU will just turn round and say "see, there's not going to be enough support for a 3rd pro team in Scotland"

They still have more marketing know how than the SRU

[GLove39]

I was excited when I read the news here, 3rd team, games scheduled, Jason White etc. But why play in Cupar a place with a population of less than 9,000! Surely Aberdeen or Dundee would have been logical. And who are they going to play?

[GLove39]

Explanation from the Reds with regards to location

the venues chosen were dictated largely by both availability on those dates and to suit the opposition we were pursuing. Hopefully Cupar is convenient for most from a Midlands perspective and whilst we did our best to get a game up in the north as well, there just wasn't anyone willing or available to travel up there on such short notice. But, hopefully this is just the beginning and with more time to plan, we will be able to share games around other venues in future.

[123456789]

I think the real aim for them would be to offer pre-season friendlies to Glasgow, Edinburgh, London Scottish and maybe Newcastle, then work from there with a view to joining a league in 2015.

[RDW]

Getting games is one thing but getting a squad of 40 pro players is another!

[123456789]

Getting games is one thing but getting a squad of 40 pro players is another!

I suppose 25 current premiership players, 10 players not used by Glasgow and Edinburgh and 5 established pro players and one or two "marquee" players shouldn't be too difficult

[RDW]

1 - do you really think the clubs would support an idea where a new pro team would mean they have to lose all their best players

2 - there's no way in hell that team would even be remotely competitive

3 - there's still the major stumbling block that no one has any money to pay for it

[123456789]

I don't think anyone is suggesting that this new team would be "competitive" initially, no more than Zebre were at least but that in 5 years time we have another side providing top level rugby in Scotland both for fans and for younger players be it as an equal to Edinburgh and Glasgow or as more of a development side in the Connacht ilk. I can't see any negative, if the club has a solid financial basis, of having another pro team in Scotland.

[RDW]

A team with 30 or so amateur players would lose by cricket scores week in week out, Making it very difficult to attract much of a fan base and sponsorship making the club unsustainable.

Not the mention the lack of credibility for the league if one team was getting humped week in week out. Zebre lost but were at least relatively competitive.

You'd need 30 pro players never mind 30 club players to make a competitive squad

And once again - there's no money!!

[123456789]

A team with 30 or so amateur players would lose by cricket scores week in week out, Making it very difficult to attract much of a fan base and sponsorship making the club unsustainable.

Not the mention the lack of credibility for the league if one team was getting humped week in week out. Zebre lost but were at least relatively competitive.

You'd need 30 pro players never mind 30 club players to make a competitive squad

And once again - there's no money!!

The Facebook Group have repeatedly claimed that they have potential financial backers, Aberdeen FC have claimed they would back a new rugby team in Aberdeen, I'm not saying that the team would be all amateur players (although I don't know for sure but it's highly unlikely) but if they had a year's preparation at the intensity of a pro team (especially from someone like Jason White who's played in all three of the top leagues) then they would be at a much higher standard, added to that a group of existing pro players both Scottish and not and presumably some SQ players from the southern hemisphere then they would not be the collection of complete amateurs that you are purporting. I agree that, like Zebre, they are likely to lose the vast majority of games in their first three or four seasons but surely a side giving a professional platform to more Scottish players is better than no side at all even if it's losing.

[RDW]

What they have is companies saying they'd consider sponsoring the team, and 100k a year's sponsorship is very different from 4-5 million required to run a team!

I'm being very negative about this but they're basically relying on someone being happy to spend millions on something that they'll never make any many off,on a team that won't win much for several years.

[123456789]

I think we all accept the money's going to be a massive issue but I think that is the only real stumbling block. Although there must be an egotistical and insanely rich person somewhere in Scotland who wants to run a rugby team.

[GLove39]

Right come on chaps, let's have a whip round for the Reds. I'll donate the money I'd have sent at the pub tonight. So that's about £11.
Anyone else?

[RDW]

For me the only viable funding option is for the SRU to fund it. They would take the financial hit by using profits from Scotland, Glasgow and Edinburgh,  and would be happy to make a loss given it Would be used for player development. It would also mean they have full control of player movements, assigning the right player a to the 3rd team.

However, being viable doesn't mean it is practicable. The SRU are still in a lot of debt, and Edinburgh and Glasgow are only starting to play catch up with professionalism. Given a 3rd team would mean less funding for them, I think it would be bonkers to waste progress that has been made.

For me 2 strong pro teams is better than 2 average teams and one development team.

[IanBru]

The 606v2 Scotland Supporters Forum
First Topic: Funding a third professional team

Live streaming:

[GLove39]

The 606v2 Scotland Supporters Forum
First Topic: Funding a third professional team

Live streaming:

Love that sketch   

[George Carlin]

Good effort everyone - almost another 1,000 posts which prove beyond any reasonable doubt that we should be running everything to do with Scottish rugby.

Let's move the party back to FES' Hugh Hefner-esque Stockbridge townhouse a new thread:

https://www.606v2.com/t53119-glasgow-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-iii 

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