Thought I'd revive this soc. with 2 non-6N discussions:
1) Friday's Magners game between the Ospreys and Ulster was postponed because the Ospreys claimed they couldn't field enough front row players. Do we think this should be allowed? My initial reaction is that they should draft props from Neath and Swansea? Is that not what the region system is for?
I'm not just Osprey-bashing here, but this is (albeit coincidentally) another in a long line of issues the Ospreys have got into this season. As a Munster fan, if we postponed a game because we had no players, I'd be rather peeved. Surely Ospreys have a duty to honour the fixture, there are enough good semi-pro teams in the region to draw from. I remember last year Worcester had the same problem and we signed a couple of props from Moseley who saw us through the injury crisis.
I'm not necessarily suggesting there is anything sinister going on here, I just think that postponing a game for this reason, on a 6N weekend of all times, is just bad form.
2) In the Super 14 recently, there was a scoreline of Cheifs 72-65 Lions. Is a basketball scoreline like this bad for the game?
Those that saw it will know that the pace of the game was just too much for the defences to handle. Are the rules now weighted too far to the attacking side?