Edinburgh Rugby Supporters Club

Eildon · International Joined: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 51

Interesting article by Stephen Jones in Sunday's Times

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/columnists/stephen_jones/article4364113.ece?pgnum=1

The four paragraphs below are particularly relevant:

IT TAKES just one roar from the lion to alert the jackal. The RFU have not actually applied to be the host nation of the 2015 World Cup. All they have done is express an interest and they are now waiting for the arrival of the tender document, enabling them to put together what most people in rugby would see as a brilliant bid.

But the actual bid is well in the future and yet already, the Scottish Rugby Union, that dire body that has played a part in diminishing no fewer than three World Cups, is, with a wearying predictability, talking about grabbing a share of an England World Cup, talking about what they (and only they) would see as the benefits of a joint bid by the four home nations.

Privately, nobody at the International Rugby Board has ever denied that the best World Cups by a massive distance were those held in one country - in South Africa in 1995 and Australia in 2003 - although such was the magnificence of France 2007 that at least the traditional grab by the Scots of a few pool games from under French noses did not hamper the whole thing too badly.

The worst occasion in the 2007 World Cup was the Scotland v New Zealand match at Murrayfield, in which the atmosphere was nowhere remotely approaching that at the French grounds. Traditionally, when Scotland have gatecrashed someone else’s party, their own contribution has been negligible.

Easy to say it's only Stephen Jones. Regrettably, though, this is symptomatic of an increasingly widely held view that Scottish rugby has become a bad joke.

Derrick Lee's #1 Fan · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 9:25 pm Post subject: Re: RWC 2015

biffer · One cap wonder Joined: 22 Jan 2008 Posts: 22

He's right though. A world cup is better held in one country. The games in Edinburgh and Cardiff were a joke last year. Why on earth would England want to share a World Cup bid? It's of no benefit to anyone other than Scotland. The Irish could equally hold it on their own (if they could get the GAA on board) and it'd be a great tournament.

If the SRU had any balls whatsoever they'd start to look at a bid for a Scottish World Cup - four 50,000 seater stadiums is enough, add in places like Pittodrie, Perth, Dundee, Kilmarnock, Inverness for the smaller pool games and we'd be set.

Martin Bell · Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:18 pm Post subject:

But it is only Stephen Jones.

Derrick Lee's #1 Fan · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 9:28 am Post subject:

Mind you, it could be argued that Mr Jones isn't totally biased against us...I remember him saying in another of his recent articles that the Welsh regional model was inadequate and that the teams needed to be given back to their communities and allowed to function as proper clubs...well, isn't that basically what's been happening up here lately?
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jrp · World Cup Star Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 544

Jones is an @rse - he rages at us for wanting to piggy back and get games but sees nothing wrong with the taffs doing it.

The day I get upset over something written by that idiot is the day to end it all.

Tarquin · World Cup Star Joined: 03 Feb 2008 Posts: 221

I tend to agree with his sentiments but when I read it didn't he go on to say wales should get a game or two out of it? I know wales is only west england anyway and they have always wanted to get into the rugby bed with them but it kind of killed his argument.