OLDCROMWELLIAN wrote:I think there is a hard core NRC following that refuses to watch the dragons, in essence they are the rugby equivalent of the MK dons, and I totally get that. Imagine Newport County split into a Gwent team and playing in obscure leagues?
I guess the worrying thing is that our landlords are also the same organisation that has totally f..ked up Welsh Rugby.
Whilst the WRU may be guilty of being unreasonable with the county at present to say they have f***ed up Welsh rugby is frankly nonsense. Since the concept of rugby going professional and the creation of regional rugby the national team has won several six nations championships , at least two grand slams and have been world cup semi-finalists,despite being massively under-resourced compared with England and France.[/quote]
I do not mean the national team, I am talking of the dwindling attendances at club and regional level.
An Ulster man will always be an Ulster man , a Gwent man is either from the Valleys, Cwmbran or Newport and it will always be that way. The WRU have ripped that identity out of the towns and cities in my opinion and whilst you highlight the short term success, the long term implications maybe very different.[/quote]
Whilst agreeing with you about the dwindling attendances at club and regional level, and the loss of identity because of that, with the possible exception of Llanelli and Cardiff, unfortunately i would argue that the WRU had no option if it were to compete at a professional level with other professional nations. Results say they have been relatively successful at that. Furthermore the majority of the dragons players are drawn from the Gwent area and a lot of there supporters, including myself, identify with that.
O for the day, however naive it may be, that the same could be said for the county. This is probable a topic for a seperate thread, but unless this old mans memory is playing tricks with me, i'm sure that the team i watched regularly from the early sixties to the late seventies were always well represented with local players.[/quote]
In my youth Newport Rugby played Cardiff 4 times a season to large attendances, and many a great battle with Pontypool and Newbridge. As I recall the Welsh side was also quite successful despite being played by amateurs.
Regionalisation is probably the worst of all worlds as local identity is lost, inter club rivalry does not exist and it has little appeal to the masses. When I look at the English scene where the historic identity has been retained, you see games with attendances that the Welsh Clubs can only dream of. Several times a year I will attend Exeter or Bath games, great atmospheres and generally full grounds. The money these Clubs have is what dreams are made of, and in the case of Exeter Chiefs is reflected in the continual development of their ground. The English side is not too bad either.