Good lord. You read Andy "Poison Dwarf" Howell and take it seriously? That was a farcical propaganda article by a staunch anti-regions journalist. And in this case, it happened to be the thickest most moronic one there is. Surely you could see that? A press conference sells 0 tickets. They could have sent Sam Warburton and Alun-Wyn Jones there and no more would have been sold as press conferences don't sell tickets. That article was a blatant piece of propaganda and there was no actual merit in the point, yet you fell for it. Unbelievable. The derbies have been great occasions and have seen some the best Welsh crowds of the season.
Yes, I usually hate Andy Howell as well. However regardless of how you look at things, the press conference to promote the festive derbies was a complete hash. It is what happened, regardless of whether Howell used it to grind his axe. As I said, the good crowds at the derbies over the Christmas period happened despite the regions' marketing, not because of it. It's an example of how ineffective and amateurish the regions have been at promoting themselves, and for the rest of the year the crowds don't automatically show up.
The only promotional exercise I can think of which grabbed my attention was the excellent pricing of the Ospreys family season tickets recently. After all, the Millenium Stadium double header was more a brain child of the WRU, and was/is promoted by them.
Steve Tandy was appointed just as the squad was being dismantled. His appointment was a cost cutting measure along with the main squad. It's not an Ospreys policy to give ex players the role. Holley was an interim so as not to rush the following appointment. Cardiff Blues have a Turk in Phil Davies in charge, and the Dragons have Neath's Lyn Jones. Also Dai Young being given the job too early doesn't mean it was a Blues policy, and his backroom staff wasn't Cardiff dominated for the most part. Darren Edwards never played for the Dragons and got the role after coaching Harlequins backs for a couple seasons, again that was just a promotion from within due to cost issues rather than a policy of appointing ex players of the region.
As I said, the only team that has a policy of that is the Scarlets who have Easterby, Mark Jones, Garan Evans all currently there and previously Nigel Davies, Phil Davies and Gareth Jenkins. The other regions appointments were for other reasons.
There is also a stark hypocrisy to your point. Criticising the appointments of the likes of Darren Edwards when these recent appointments were due to the regions being squeezed financially. Applauding the WRU for trying to starve the regions and then criticising the cheap coaching appointments that result from it is a bit dull to be honest. Have you been reading a lot of Andy Howell lately?
Maybe not all necessarily 'jobs for the boys' then, but still terrible choices, and most genuine supporters called it from the off. It's not just because they were under financial pressure either, it's because they've picked these ex players, or young coaches who have very, very little experience in coaching to oversee the pinnacle of our domestic game. How long has it taken the Blues to get Dale McIntosh involved, a coach who's been doing the business in the Prem for quite a while. Look at the difference he's made at the Blues, their defence is completely transformed. Good on the Blues for finally getting him involved, but it was still a few years late, and something I've been calling for for quite a while. There are options out there.
It's not like the regions invested in top quality coaches while they were in positions to do so. I suppose the Ospreys tried by recruiting Scott Johnson and Andrew Hore (no idea why Hore, a fitness coach with Wales, was given the role he was though), but that didn't work out. The Dragons have finally seen sense and recruited well in their coaching structure, even if that money could have gone on a player or two, and the difference has been stark between last season and this season.
The "Galacticos" (a term created by the Western Mail ****wits by the way), the Ospreys had good success in the RaboPro12 throughout that period. But for the main tournament in Europe, they did have some notable results but had some bad luck with some notably horrific pool draws and getting robbed in Biarritz. The Heineken Cup is not a very tough tournament to win, a lot has to fall in place to do so. Munster and Leinster had several years of failure before getting the trophy. Stade Francais and Biarritz both had very good sides for periods but the trophy passed them by. Leicester over a consistent period the best side in England for years yet haven't won it for 12 years. Clermont are scintillating at their best yet have never won.
If you really think the Ospreys lack of success in Europe was all down to being in tough draws, robbed in Biarritz and bad luck, then you need to wake up. They had the players, but they didn't have the coaching in place, simple as that. Lyn Jones is doing well at the Dragons, but he and his colleagues weren't up to the task at the time of getting the best out of that star-studded team. They rarely played as a unit, and as such they failed. Yes they deserved to win that game against Biarritz, but that's how things go sometimes. The best teams (the ones who have won the HC) raise above that, and make damned sure the game is won so that any duff refereeing decision don't cost them the game. Best not to bring up Munster or Saracens in the knock-out stages....
No Welsh side has a chance of even getting out of the group now. Mostly thanks to the regions being starved and losing all their top players. Which, sadly, is what you seem to be in favour of. Welsh domestic rugby turning even ****ter. In this case it's not just blaming all woe on the WRU, in this case the WRU are responsible for the vast majority of the current mess.
I am still unsure throwing more money at the regions would solve anything. They have been uncompetitive in the HC for the past few seasons, even before the great exodus began. Sure, losing these players isn't helping matters in the slightest, but there is more to the regions' demise than losing these players, and it's been evident for quite some time.
And on the final point, the regions will all get more money in the Premiership from the BT Sport deal, and in turn be in a better place to sign and keep better players. Another thing which you are against of course. For the regions it's a choice of either join the Premiership and survive or lose to the WRU and just die as any sort of competitive entity for good.
BT are offering them £16m, they currently get £15.3m (£9m from TV rights of the Pro12 and HC, and £6.3m from the WRU). Wow, an extra £175k per region, they'll be able to compete with everyone!
Of course I don't want to see it happen. Why would I want to see Ireland, Scotland and Italy left in the lurch? It simply isn't an option for me.
Edit. Ok, I get your point regarding guaranteed revenue because at the moment the revenue coming in from Europe is uncertain. However this is a problem which is facing everyone, it's not something the WRU can magically fix. It still shouldn't give the right for the regions to jump ship of the Pro12, after all where would Welsh rugby be without the Magners/Pro12?
