Rugby Union: Nottingham RFC

[Robbie]

Nottingham RFC play in the Championship, English Rugby's  2nd tier. .

This is the up to date Championship table.

 

[Robbie]

Nottingham RFC recently had their ground flooded and damaged during the recent adverse weather. The club have had to postpone their home matches at 'the bay' due to the flooding.

[liampie]

im not a big rugby fan although i thought it was interesting to see them connected with notts. whilst i think it was an excuse to blame them for our own results, they did rip our pitch up. i hope they manage to do okay with what has happened due to flooding.

[Chris]

@Robbie I am a bit ignorant to rugby, I don't find it very interesting - except for big games. Did they almost go up to the top level during COVID? A little while ago, my wife's family was discussing the Leicester Tigers. It was mentioned that they were close, I don't remember if it was said they made the playoffs or something.

I did show a brief interest when they were part of us, but I tend to be less interested in sports I struggle to get excited about.

[Robbie]

If anyone would like to know more about Nottingham RFC there is an article on Wiki with plenty of information.

The Club was founded in 1877 and the Clubs heyday was in the late 1980s when they boasted several international players in their ranks, most notably Gary Rees, Dusty Hate, Rob Andrew & Brian Moore, who as well as playing for England, became a British lion.

Nottingham used to get televised regularly on "Rugby Special at that time, being a top club.

The advent of professionalism affected Nottingham for a few years, but they have bounced back since then & have become a solid 2nd tier club.

I post the wiki link here.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nottingham_R.F.C.#:~:text=7 External links-,History,of the club until 2006.

 

 

[Piethagoram]

@Robbie I remember Dusty Hare... "Dusty Hate" 

[Piethagoram]

 

[Robbie]

 

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

I've been a rugby fan for quite a few years, supporting Wasps until their demise a couple of years ago.  The long and the short of it is that rugby isn't viable as a professional sport in this country.  The trouble is the Premiership is a largely discredited competition since the PRL facilitated the cheating of Saracens, and to a lesser extent Bath.  There was a salary cap which if enforced would have sustained the competition, but a blind eye was turned to Saracens who managed to be able to field a matchday squad of 23 internationals (including 8 British and Irish Lions) with more in the wider squad.  Everybody knew they were cheating but nothing was done.  Eventually they were deducted a massive number of points but because they wouldn't allow auditors in to check their books, so they were able to continue in the Championship and then an extra promotion spot was found to get them back into the Premiership after just one year.  The rest of the teams were overspending just to avoid being humiliated by Saracens.  In retrospect they would have been better off not competing with them and just sending out a second or youth team... but then you have issues of player safety.  As a result the Premiership has imploded with Wasps, Worcester and London Irish folding and the other owners having to guarantee, by committing their own funds, that their clubs will see the end of the season out.  I would watch Newcastle Falcons and Leicester at the end of the season as both are in real financial difficulty.  Exeter too depend entirely on their owner.  The RFU and PRL had expected the fans of Wasps, Worcester and Irish to transition to other clubs, the truth is nearly all haven't watched a British game since most giving up totally (like me) or following French sides who took on their players. This has put more pressure on the finances of the remaining clubs, who then look to the RFU to help out at the expense of the Championship clubs.

So, when you then look down to the Championship there is even less funding, and the RFU are happy to put all their resources in the England side and supporting the Premiership.  They have no plan for the Championship and don't have the talent in place to change that.  They have been talking about Premiership 2 for months, but nothing concrete is ever proposed.  The Championship clubs have been left hanging, the remnants of Wasps and London Irish don't know if they will be allowed to reform.  It's a mess and one I can't be bothered with any more (this information is from October / November time - I have no idea or interest in what has happened since). 

[Robbie]

@Ohh Tommy Johnson I agree with most of what you say.

I can remember when Rugby Union was basically an amateur sport and Rugby League professional. Rugby Union is in crisis and the Rugby authorities need to address this.Whether they will successfully is another matter.

I don't think that the sport can generate the income anywhere near what we see even in the football championship level.

As lovers of the game we can only watch on the sidelines & it's always the supporters who suffer. Hopefully a major Rugby Club will continue to have a future in the City.

The recent flood damage was a big blow but supporters and the Rugby community have rallied round to help.

Nottingham has a proud record of producing great International players. I'm optimistic  that the glory years will return to Nottingham RFC one day.

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

56 minutes ago, Robbie said:

@Ohh Tommy Johnson I agree with most of what you say.

...

I don't think that the sport can generate the income anywhere near what we see even in the football championship level.

....

I think this is the crux of the issue.  The Premiership seem to believe that they can rival the Premier League in terms of income and  that is simply deluded. They syphon off so much resource in an attempt to achieve parity with football that the whole game suffers from grass roots upwards. 

I hope Nottingham get sorted as a strong club in the East Midlands other than Leicester is important. I'm not sure whether Northampton really is an East Midlands club.

[Robbie]

@Ohh Tommy Johnson exactly, I think they're trying to do that with Cricket too, but that's for another Topic 

[JustLikeJuve]

Nottingham was thoroughly beaten by the Cornish Pirates. It was a missed chance for them.

[Robbie]

David Williams 2nd highest Try Scorer & Marcus Ramage fourth in the Championship this season to date. Well done both.

 

[Robbie]

Nottingham RFC play the British Army tonight, kick of 7:45 pm, in a friendly at the bay. Here is their line up for the game.

 

[Robbie]

The pitch is ready for this evening's match.

 

[Ohh Tommy Johnson]

Where do Nottingham play these days?  I saw them at Ireland Ave (Rob Andrew was playing for Nottingham in those days) and Meadow Lane, but I don't know what happened then as I moved away and ended up traipsing over to Wycombe and the Coventry to watch Wasps.  We used to have epic weekends in those days - Notts on Saturday afternoon, Panthers Saturday evening and then Wasps on the way home on Sunday!

[Robbie]

A convincing first half performance from Nottingham sees them well in the lead at half time.

 

[Robbie]

4 hours ago, Ohh Tommy Johnson said:

Where do Nottingham play these days?  I saw them at Ireland Ave (Rob Andrew was playing for Nottingham in those days) and Meadow Lane, but I don't know what happened then as I moved away and ended up traipsing over to Wycombe and the Coventry to watch Wasps.  We used to have epic weekends in those days - Notts on Saturday afternoon, Panthers Saturday evening and then Wasps on the way home on Sunday!

They play at "The Bay" sports ground just over the river from Meadow Lane next to Radcliffe Road 

[Robbie]

Full time at the Bay and a convincing win for Nottingham.

Nottingham 57 British Army 10.

 

[Robbie]

Match Report from last Friday evening's match.

Nottingham 57 British Army 10

 

[Robbie]

Nottingham play away to Amptill RUFC tomorrow.

 

[Robbie]

Amptill V Nottingham Rugby.

kick off 2 pm Nottingham Team today. 

 

[Robbie]

Great win for Nottingham Rugby.

[Robbie]

Nottingham Rugby's matchday squad for Friday's match against Leicester Tigers.