Yesterday was a big day in the Bertram household, as we are season-ticket holders at “Bristol Rugby”:http://www.bristolrugby.co.uk/ and Bristol beat Newcastle Falcons convincingly and thereby secured our Premiership status for next season (Leeds would need to win every remaining game with a bonus point, with no further points for Bristol to catch us — it isn’t going to happen). Bristol came up from National Division One last season and were every pundit’s tip to go straight back down. So it is a very nice feeling that the critics have been proved wrong. I expect it will be tough again next season, but at least there will be a next season in the top division.
{ 6 comments }
dearieme 04.10.06 at 12:37 pm
I hope it was a better match than the dire cup final between Wasps and Llanelli – that was a bore of almost soccer proportions. (Professor Wenger’s Academy excepted.)
Chris Bertram 04.10.06 at 12:44 pm
It was a great match!
mpowell 04.10.06 at 3:11 pm
I think the european method of running professional leagues this way is awesome. It certainly keeps the season interesting for far teams than just the top ones in the top league. Coming from an american perspective, it is hard to imagine how the politics work out. In the NFL, for example, the league is operated by the owners collectively. Who operates the premier league and what is its association w/ the other leagues?
Chris Bertram 04.10.06 at 3:26 pm
That’s a somewhat fraught question at the moment, right across European sport. In rugby the Premier League is in constant conflict with the governing body (the RFU) over the availability of players for internationals etc. In soccer the G14 (an elite group of some of the richest clubs) want a system the guarantees their members Europe-level competition year-on-year without having to qualify via their domestic leagues.
On relegation, I agree it keeps it interesting. But there is something silly about the way it works in rugby in England because the club season continues running during internationals. So you get weeks when the strongest club sides are without their best players. If you are a weak team (like Bristol or Leeds) you hope for a fixture list that gets you the best opposition when they are deprived of international players. The lucky points that you pick up because of the vagaries of the fixture list may make all the difference between survival and relegation.
Tim Worstall 04.11.06 at 3:58 am
Does Malcolm Pearce still own Bristol? Or did he set up that consortium he was talking about around the time of relegation?
It always rather bugged him that he got beaten to the ownership of Bath.
Still, with Leeds so far behind I think Bath is safe again this season as well?
Chris Bertram 04.11.06 at 4:09 am
No Pearce bailed out after failing to get anywhere with plans to take Bristol to Oxford or to merge with Bath. He claimed that the city didn’t want to/was unable to sustain top-flight rugby, but I think he’s been proved wrong on that one.
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