Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors to kick-off Euro campaigns with trips to England

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1. Reading the article with the news that our pair of professional clubs are looking at pre season training and trips South of the Border brought to mind how they would view that return in a couple of seasons IF the proposed World Cup of Club sides actually does come to fruition and they were looking at least 18 hours on a flight for an away fixture.
   I suggest a doubt because although those that want the competition have unilaterally agreed ‘a structure’ that is still a long way from a proposal in principle reaching fruition: hopefully.
   With all the ‘we must have player welfare’ noise, I suggest noise is as much as there is in reality, when the ‘owners’ sniff an opportunity for increased income that tends to be missing from the ‘minutes’ it’s just another nail in the coffin of common sense.
   Northern versus Southern Hemisphere with SA moving into the Northern group and Japan guaranteed a single team entry is there anyone that has had the patience to read this far prepared to ‘Bet’ folding money that it will NOT lead to a monumental increase in financial enticements for players to jump ship to Yokohama, or la belle France? With Sweeney of the RFU seemingly salivating at the thought [lots of freebies for Suits] and with a ‘Deil tak the hindmost’ as far as other home unions are concerned what will or would the SRU ‘cut’ in order to attempt to keep up with larger and richer Unions or Club owners?
   As if the things weren’t bad enough financially, not to mention player welfare, it’s just another crass idea dragging the game ever further from the grass roots, the very locus that made the game what it was admired for, now its High Court visitations, fixtures arranged to fit in with marketing and television schedules plans cooked up in Dublin placing SA Club sides in the URC, don’t tell me there wasn’t some insider trading with that idea in view of the constitution of the proposed World Clubs farce.
   The only potential good point is that if the administration of Rugby continues in this mindless direction moving South Africa North something even nature was unable to do, just for the sake of yet another competition the entire ‘professional’ system crashes and we go back to what we had before, but that’s just me looking through nostalgic rose tinted specs: I’m sure other opinions are available and I look forward to David Barnes putting metaphorical pen to paper with his reports and observations of the proposal in future articles in the Offsideline.

2. How do we get to Castres?

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3. Surprised they’re still bothering. Thought they might field a joint team with Newcastle and Cardiff.

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