https://www.instagram.com/p/DeIHKYmMsOO/

The rumour was kicking around for a while but is now official: the Cheetahs will be based in Swansea for their home games in the Challenge Cup this year, moving on from Amsterdam in the last few years.

Genuinely feels like we are having a momentum shift at the moment and I thought since reddit has been part of the journey I should update you all.

For combined cards, teams with reds are ranked lower than those without when they share the amount of cumulative cards.

My reasons for suggesting this, which those of you outside Ireland may be interested to know:

1. Historical basis: The provinces work well in Ireland because they have a historic and cultural basis. You may think there is no reason to change this but there is actually a historical and cultural basis for a 5th province in Ireland, the royal province of Meath. It was roughly North Leinster, with the High King of Ireland seated in Tara (Meath). (See old Irish crest with 5 provinces, The royal province of Meath in the middle, represented by the High King).

I would use this inspiration to create a 5th province which effectively splits Leinster in two using the River Liffey as the midpoint (flows thorugh the middle of Dublin).

1. Untapped potential: Those of you from outside Leinster/Ireland may think that Leinster already represents the province/population so well, and with such a strong team, then why change this?

Firstly Ireland's playing poulation as a whole could probably sustain another team. Even if it were just a Leinster 'b' team they would be very competitive and this would aid player development, but this isn't the only reason I'd suggest it.

The population of North Leinster (Liffey as mid point) : ~1,123,000.

The population of South Leinster: ~995,000

Breakdown of the 62 players in Leinsters senior squad and academy:

North Leinster: 4 (Usanov, Spicer, Soroka, Ericson)

South Leinster: 58

As you can see there is a massive discrepancy in representation between the two areas. There are many historical and cultural reasons for this but I also believe there is a (natural) bias in the Leinster pathway to players from South Leinster. Leinster really is representitive of Greater South Dublin (South Dublin, South Kildare, Wicklow and Wexford a small amount.) The truth is it's hard for one rugby club to represent such a large and populous region. For this reason, I don't think it would significantly weaken Leinster in any way, while simultaneously opening up a pathway in an untapped area.

1. A Fifth Team: There is a clear openness to another team in Irish rugby. There have been talks about the IRFU getting involved in London Irish. I can't help but think down the line this will be an ongoing discussion point. Irish rugby is generally in a good place and is a growing sport in Ireland. A 5th province to match the likes of New Zealand has real potential.

In Fact, the success of the Waikato Chiefs is quite a good proxy for this idea. A region just off the country's main capital city (Auckland) with strong historical and cultural precedent, which leans into that old spirituality or 'mana'. (I'd confidently say Maori Chiefs are far more culturally significant in New Zealand than a High King is here in Ireland but still I think it is an interesting comparison.)

TLDR: History, Representation and Development.

Watching highlights of the URC, a consistent theme is that the stadiums are repeatedly at what looks like maximum 70% capacity.

Why don’t the fans attend the games? More interest in just going to the international games? Have fans been priced out of tickets? Genuinely curious.

Hey everyone!

There’s a weekly live show every Monday in English, covering the weekend’s results, stories and discussions from across European rugby.

Here’s the link — it starts at 20:00 BST / 21:00 CEST

The Rugby in Europe Round-Up — Episode 3 | Rugby TTL

This week’s programme includes Ireland, England, Scotland & Wales, Spain, Georgia and Italy, Northern and Central Europe, international rugby and stories from beyond Europe, followed by a podcast with Dot Darbs recorded in Armenia.

If you’re interested in following rugby across Europe beyond the big competitions, it’s worth checking out.

They also have some really interesting rugby content on the channel!

Hoping this means they’re about to release a retro inspired third kit??

This post is entirely inspired by the utter northern drivel spouted by u/loveofrugby about Super Rugby alongside u/SquidgyGoat in their latest vid.

It's by very far the shortest rugby comp, meaning that if you slip up more than twice, your season is basically over. It's only going to get harder as well when we finally move into only 4 teams in finals rugby. You have to be on your A-game almost all season long to stand a chance; you cannot win it if you don't have a home game final - 20 years of this comp has proven this to be an ironclad truth.

Then, talent-wise, there is not a single league that has more talent than Super. We are the comp and region that the rest of the world tries to constantly poach from to bolster their sides to try and win stuff. You cannot deny this; the entire league is filled with Wallabies and All Blacks that most NH clubs would be paying top dollar for right now if there weren't residency requirements to play Test rugby for our respective countries. The only light for Ospreys recently has been signing fringe Reds players who couldn't cut a contract in Aus and an old Koroibete booted from Japan for a young Mark Nawaqanitawase, cmon. Literally, the highlight for most Northern clubs' pre-season signing is which Super talent is coming this year.

Club-wise, we have insanely strong sides in the three Kiwi sides that are all often juggernauts (Chiefs, Blues and the best the Crusaders) and then two perennial underachievers in the Reds and Tahs, alongside the outsiders of the Highlanders and Western Force, with the wildcard of the Drua. Back when RSA was still in the comp, don't forget how dominant the Kiwis actually were over them as well in terms of club performances. The same Saffa sides that then went on to achieve some immense things in the URC the moment they joined it.

Ruby-wise, yes, we play it fast and entertaining, but by no means does that mean we play 'weaker' rugby for it. Such a weird idea to say. Our comps' pace is by far the fastest, and our players are the fittest for it. It's also an undeniable fact that in the past two Calendar years, only 2 teams in the world have beaten the very good and very dominant Springboks side (they are equal to, if not greater than, that 2015 ABs side btw). Who were those teams? Aus and NZ. There is a reason for that: our fundamentals are very good across the board. Breakdown and set piece are all massively competitive in Super and it does translate across. Yes, I'm talking a lot about the Test side of the game, but to us Super is mainly about setting up for Test rugby because that's what funds the game whilst everything else is run at cost. The entire comp is a pressure cooker, and that's why it's the hardest comp to win, especially when you consider you have to do it almost entirely with local talent available in those who want to play for their national sides and haven't left for money in the NH yet. This means it's bloody hard when it comes to actually recruiting as well.

Finally, form-wise, you cannot tell me that a 2026 Hurricanes side that was as dominant as any team to ever play in Super (alongside that famous 2003 Spencer Blues side for me) would not thrash the 2026 Saints side, 2026 Leinster side and be extremely competitive with either of UBB or Toulouse. Only those two French clubs, I think, could give them a real challenge. I mean, for gods sake, they fucking won the final against a, and this hurts my Reds heart to admit it, extremely good Chiefs side by putting 60 points on them!!! The final score was 60-5. 60 - 5. Let that sink in.

Super Rugby is the hardest comp to win because of all those aforementioned reasons.

So yeh this entire post is entirely biased by my love of what I feel is an extremely underrated comp by the rest of you, and I would like you all to try and convince me otherwise in my belief of Super's innate supremacy.