Scrum V Live & The Premiership Opportunity

When it comes to suspicion of change, nobody does it quite like the Welsh rugby public.

The murky reaction to the announcement that The Guinness Pro 14 would cease to be televised free of charge, another example of this perennial skepticism.

The cause for concern was not only the dent that yet another subscription would put in the bank balance of the average Dai, but the possible void in inspiration for Dai bach.

Such an outlook often hinders one’s ability to identify opportunities that present themselves in an evolving environment. As one door closes, another one opens and all that.

Opportunity is afoot, and believe it or not, the could be beneficiary is the oft’ maligned Principality Premiership.

Prior to being usurped by five brand spanking new regions in 2003, The Premiership was home to elite rugby in Wales. It’s inhabitants, Wales’ most esteemed rugby institutions.

Playing second fiddle, the Premiership’s tune has all too often found crescendo in off field disagreement between the union and the clubs - rather than than the drama on the turf of Sardis Road, The Arms Park, The Gnoll and other cathedrals of Welsh rugby.

The current hullabaloo centers on the decision of the WRU to cut the funding on offer to a Premiership that will be downsized from sixteen to twelve clubs. Regional reserve teams, will, in the union’s opinion, provide a preferential player pathway and thus represent better ROI for the elite game. One for another day.

Back to the opportunity. To night, BBC Scrum V Live will telecast Ebbw Vale v Aberavon from Eugene Cross Park. A leg up for a league that is looking to rebut the question marks that circle its relevance. 

The onus is on the Clubs to produce a product befitting of the prime time slot. A product that can utilise Scrum V’s coverage as a marketing tool, to shunt Club rugby back into the public domain. Big hits, quick ball, offloads and all that good stuff is important but shouldn’t be the be all and end all. Clubs must create an offering on and off the field that thrusts them to the fore of the community. Stoking the dormant tribalism that is critical to the vibrancy of the community game.

Should clubs need inspiration they would do well to draw it from Sydney’s Shute Shield competition. 

Last Saturday, in excess of 15,000 fans packed on to the banks of North Sydney Oval, to watch Sydney University take on reigning Premiers, Warringah, in the competitions big dance. To provide context, this was some three thousand more than rocked up to Allianz Stadium to shout for the Waratahs in a Super Rugby quarter final. 

The line ups for the two sides featured current Wallabies, an ex Wallaby, future Wallabies, men of the tools and chaps who spend their days drowning in spreadsheets. Two fingers up to those in Wales who say that the community game and development pathway need to be mutually exclusive.

Sydney’s premier club competition has itself benefited from the additional exposure that live TV coverage provides for the game. However, to maximise the benefit of enhanced awareness the characteristics of the underlying product need to be on point. Kudos here must go to those who have made ‘club footy’ an experience that people want to be part of. I’m talking raucous rivalries, a sense of community identity and a social buzz fueled by sausage sangas and cold cold cans of the frothy brown stuff. Responsibly consumed, of course. Glory be.

Clubs of The Principality Premiership, take note. This is an opportunity that has dropped inadvertently into your path. Do it properly, get it right, create something different, give people a reason to get through the gates. 

To the rugby public, if it matters, get amongst it