CAT RIGHT IN AMONGST THE PIGEONS

David Matthews suspects a change of thinking even in the North

Down in the forest something stirs, particularly if you are a rugby follower living in the North of England. Assuming you are not a member of a club likely to be taking part in the closing stages of the Heineken Cup, and therefore still watching live rugby in the middle of May, you can start right now making a judgment on the latest proposals which, though they might not be a bombshell, have been guaranteed to really set the cat amongst the pigeons. Simmering for a long while, the report on Adult Competition Rugby published by the RFU in March, was always guaranteed to trigger off a heated debate.

Actually, the row has been brewing up for some time in this part of the world and the fact that the review is one of the most comprehensive, ‘democratic’ ever taken by the RFU, at the moment offers little comfort to its many opponents. Clubs at levels 3 to 6 are central to the plot and, as you are unlikely to be adding this vast document to your essential bedtime reading, the proposal causing all the anger, is that league rugby to be cut from 14 to 12 teams, with a return to National Cup Competitions; these would be based on the old Junior and Senior Vase Competitions, finals at Twickenham but with an important difference in that the group matches would be contested Heineken Cup style, teams meeting each other home and away in small groups.

As the opposition to a reduction in league rugby is based on the number of Saturdays clubs might just as well remain closed (a big issue even now with 14 team leagues) this offering is designed to convince the clubs that they would still maintain a full fixture list; it is going down like a lead balloon here in the North. The cynical response is that a concept which always had its origins in the South of England, where many clubs were never over enthusiastic on league commitments every week, is just a little sweetener to persuade the rank and file up here that an attractive list of fixtures lies before them.

At this stage I would throw into the pot an observation that where clubs did once enjoy a long cup run to a Twickenham final it often coincided with promotion in the leagues. Between 2000 and 2002 I took charge of three semi-finals which were not only amongst the most memorable matches I refereed but which represented all that was best about club rugby. They were very much Yorkshire based winners: at Sheffield Tigers, soon to be promoted, Malton & Norton, also on the rise and Skipton where visitors Heath from Halifax went on to win the trophy and followed it with promotion.

Like anything else in sport, if your club is doing well then it’s a great success but if you go out in the early rounds it’s not quite as exciting. With this particular radical change I have detected a gradual development from “no chance” to “well it might be worth having a look at.” Even in the North West! We are assured that never in the history of human conflict have so many been consulted so often, with more opportunities still to come, but for the season after the World Cup you have an idea what form the re-structuring might take. I have a notion that we are nearly there despite the protestations.

After an unconvincing start I have to admit to warming to the proposals though not yet feeling red hot (and I’m only up to page 475 of the report!). If ever you get bored during the summer months just throw into conversation at the bar “I think these new league proposals are a great idea.”