How can the Pro12 go the next level?

First topic message reminder :

Regardless of what anyone says about the quality of the league, I believe it is the best but I'm biased, the whole product seems to be suffering and there isn't the cash to prevent the exodus of players to France and England. This article sums it up better than I ever could so if you wish give it a read http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/latest/iain-morrison-cap-won-t-stop-celtic-exodus-1-3670331


I don't think we are in the doomsday scenario that the article predicts, the Irish are suffering a momentary blip but still have three quality teams, the Welsh seems to be curbing the exodus, Glasgow are on the verge of outgrowing Scotstoun and Edinburgh are showing signs of improvement (and I think the academies in Scotland could make a real difference long term) . The less said about the Italians currently the better.

The options I would propose are that we add in another Welsh team and another Scottish team and remove the Italians. They can't be much worse and they'd result in more derbies which would help the broadcasters, make it more tribal and increase interest. The negatives are that it would damage Italian rugby and the Italians are unlikely to agree with it, what I would suggest alternatively is that we introduce a new league and drop down to a ten team top division meaning fewer games in the top division allowing smaller squads with higher quality players and competitive games all year round and start a second division and introduce a play off between top team from Division 2 and the bottom from Division 1 so we don't end up with a London Welsh situation

TJ wrote:On Scheduling of Games - all Edinburghs games seem to be Friday night games - no doubt at all that has damaged crowds

TJ don't agree with that. Personally I like Friday night games, good start to the weekend. Alternatives? Saturday afternoon guys are involved with their local clubs, Saturday evening I tend to be out as do a lot of people, the game against Munster this weekend is going to be a bit of a pain to get to, Sunday's - just no.

But that's just my view and different people will have different ones, particularly if travel is involved.

Pot Hale wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:In a similar vein to the 6 Nations suggestions, I think we should kick out the worst performing teams.

Let's say we get rid of the bottom 5 clubs and have a Pro 7, with the best teams playing each other on a more regular basis. That would mean kicking out both Italian sides plus Cardiff, Dragons and the Scarlets. The dross could then have a mini-league, with amateur teams from Spain, Portugal, Romania etc. joining in.

Agreed.  It is the dross holding the league back.   Perhaps get in some english teams who would at least make the league a bit more competitive and open a door to greater financial backing.

As Mick Dawson emphasises in his podcast interview, the Pro12 needs a branding makeover and needs to attract in more sponsors and a better TV deal - the Welsh need to get their players back to improve their performance and marketability, the Scottish teams, particularly Edinburgh need to be more competitive.  And the best market to go after is the UK market.   Interestingly he didn't mention the Italian sides once.

So time to shape up or ship out....

Time to shape up AND ship out, shewerly?

Edinburgh are 7th in the table right now. hardly uncompetative

Never mind the lads, TJ. Splitting up Leagues to separate 'wheat' from 'chaff' is all the rage this year. Next season we'll have all moved on to a different topic.

I think it'll be something like new rules to force Professional teams to only have three Internationals per squad...... You've heard it here first, folks!