To be fair his Tweet did also say ‘or is it a game they were willing to lose so they could take a look at younger talent, also with one eye on the Prem?’, so he was presenting two different arguments for debate. No issue for me.

TBH, I think it’s fair to say that deliberately leaving out virtually all of our first team players was devaluing the competition, but as I’ve said repeatedly elsewhere, we just don’t have the squad to compete on two fronts ATM.

Let’s face it, all teams do this from time to time. Even those with far deeper squads. For example, the Exeter side in the last round of the Premiership was even more of a reserve team than the team we fielded against Ulster but it was accepted because everyone knew they were saving their players for the Lyon game.

In any case, none of the Pro14 teams can take the moral high ground when their first teams literally only ever play in big derby games or Europe. They’re disrespecting the Pro14 every single week.

considering lack of available game time for most of those players and the limitations we have on the squad plus the monetary issues from covid, concentrating on the prem isnt an issue for me, getting them game time and experience is a positive although I would have liked a couple of more fitter/experienced players mixed in with that squad to give it some sort of chance.

In any case, none of the Pro14 teams can take the moral high ground when their first teams literally only ever play in big derby games or Europe. They’re disrespecting the Pro14 every single week.

I'm not sure that's really true.  This season, the four Irish provinces finished in the top two spots of each Pro14 conference, and with the exception of Leinster losing to the Ospreys after they'd already guaranteed their final spot, only Connacht lost to non-Irish opposition.

Leinster, Munster and Ulster between them won 42 out of a possible 48 fixtures with 31 bonus points and a total points balance of +660.  Sure, they may put out weak teams for all but the big Irish derbies, but if the Welsh, Scottish and Italian opposition is so woefully poor that they're able to secure such utter dominance whilst fielding their U14 girls' teams then what else are they supposed to do?

The Pro14 would have to be worthy of respect before anyone could be accused of disrespecting it, and as things stand, the Irish provinces would be disrespecting their fans and their HC opponents if they did anything other than place their emphasis squarely on Europe.

Each to their own, none of his business, next!

Clickbait DOK!

OK DOK......

1. What happened to the policy of clubs having to play their strongest available 15 each week?
2. Was the Ulster game a good indicator of how team selection would go under a ring-fenced Premiership?

Why pay full stadium prices most weeks for reserve/experimental team games, worst still, have clubs 'agree' between themselves before each game which collection of their trophy players are being 'rested'.

A good reason, maybe, for giving up the ST to watch the contrived elite games on TV and save the money for the end of the season to watch live the meaningful play-offs and cup finals? Alternatively, use the money you save to watch Quins women's team or a local side like Esher or Richmond each week?