Now we must wait on the boys in Dublin to decide
The prospect of Gloucester, one of the Premiership’s more traditional clubs, falling into French ownership, came several steps closer on Friday when both EPCR and the club confirmed that Altrad Participations, the owner of Montpellier, and a vehicle for billionaire, Mohed Altrad, had announced it wanted to buy a majority stake in Gloucester Rugby.
Neither statement took us much further forward from what was rumoured, and we’re now in the phase where everybody with skin in the game gets their say. It seems that the FFR, the French equivalent of the RFU, are on board, the word is that the RFU won’t get in the way, which leaves World Rugby and EPCR.
It’s impossible to secondguess what the boys in Dublin will say, although it’s hard to see what their real interest can be – if the respective Unions are happy then surely they’ll have to rubber stamp it? That leaves EPCR which are understandably keeping their cards close to their chest at this stage.
Their worry would be the potential problem that might occur if Gloucester and Montpellier were drawn in the same Cham-Gloucester Cup pool. Imagine if the dice had rolled in such a way that they played each other in the final round – theoretically that could leave the qualification for the knock-out stages open to manipulation. Some sort of Chinese wall would have to be built – not beyond the wit of the parties involved, but imagine the moaning from the fans of the club that lost out in such a scenario!
Quite how this differs from the control that the IRFU and WRU can exercise over their provinces and regions, or the relationship Saracens have with their partner clubs, is hard to understand, and it would be a major surprise if the deal failed to go through.
M. Altrad’s interest in Gloucester isn’t a recent thing. When the Walkin- shaw family were looking to sell their stake in the club, he was keen to buy their shares. However, Martin St Quinton, the minority shareholder in the club had the right of first refusal, which means that if the two offers were the same, he took priority. Who knows what the bid price is now, but I would imagine that for this to be going on, it is likely to be higher.
Once a club are sold, it’s entirely up to the new owners what they decide to do, and already there are rumours that Altrad might bring in his own coaches – Gloucester old boys Philippe Saint-Andre and Olivier Azam’s names are in the frame. In a peculiar development on Thursday, a columnist in the local Gloucester paper went as far as saying that the curpions rent coaches had been given their P45s! He subsequently claimed that he was being ironic, and it was rapidly retracted and changed in the online edition to something along the lines of it being easier to get rid of coaches than players! Let’s just say that in that rugby-mad city, the atmosphere is febrile, and his words were leapt upon.
If I had a pound for every time commentators refer to Gloucester as a ‘sleeping giant of English rugby’, I’d be a very rich man, but there is some truth in it. It is a rugby city, its stadium is close to the city centre, and it attracts decent crowds even when the team are doing badly – as they have done on a regular basis in recent years. The irony is that the bid has come at a time when it finally looks as though might be turning the corner, and it would be harsh indeed if the current coaches got the bullet after the hard work they’ve put in.
Dylan Hartley’s sixweek ban, timed to allow him back for the Six Nations, was predicted by cynical fans across the Premiership. Had the panel been made up of patriotic Englishmen, they might have had a point, but the two Welshmen and the Italian who delivered the verdict would surely have been more motivated to keep him out of the tournament!
No, it was done by the rules, and when you read the judgment it sort of makes sense. Five weeks was the recommended sanction, but they added a fortnight on for Hartley’s previous naughtiness, and then deducted a week for his guilty plea. Can anyone explain why pleading guilty gets a reduction in the length of the ban, as it makes no sense to me?
Have you ever had one of those moments when you wish you could take back the words you’ve just spoken? Ian Ritchie, the RFU’s head honcho, must be wishing he had chosen his better when he said: “Concussion is definitely a big challenge. We have to address it head on.”