Mis-matches make a mockery of the European Cups
HAVING written last week about the excitement of the European Cup competitions, I’m wondering if we may have been misled.
What appeared to be some good results for some of our teams against quality opposition was actually not the case, as they were playing their second or third string players.
It seems that many of the travelling overseas sides took the chance to ‘rest’ many of their top players back home and sent a ‘mixed mash’ of sides that had little or no chance of winning, although gaining experience.
Although it seems that the French in particular had read the minds of its government who this week have stopped all but essential travel to France from the UK, now we, too, have a lockdown for those who travel from here when they return.
Effectively this shows that the French Top 14 clubs have placed a higher priority on their own club competitions than truly competing in the European Cups.
Having seen the decimation of the teams competing in the United Rugby Championship with squads locked down for days and some clubs punished for being unable to field a team as a result, is it any wonder that anyone with any sense would weigh up the risks and send a development side rather than their senior squad?
Unfortunately, those clubs caught by the ever changing ‘tit for tat’ government travel restriction regulations have had to either take the hit of a 28-points loss under EPCR rules, or field weaker teams.
As a result, many of the games were not really true competitions between equals but a match of convenience, whereby the clubs could honour their commitments while not facing the loss of their best players for their own domestic league games.
In some ways this would be justice for teams like Scarlets who (through no fault of their own) were punished by the intransigence of EPCR failing to allow a rescheduling of the game against Bristol after being caught by a change of travel rules.
With France insisting there should be no travel from England unless vital, EPCR will find they are rescheduling many games and may have to postpone or even abandon this year’s Cups.