First-leg win: Cornish Pirates
Newcastle received a mini-boost on Monday after sole promotion hopefuls Bristol lost their play-off first leg 45-24 against Cornish Pirates in Penzance.
The come-from-behind victory at Mennaye Field leaves Bristol with a mountain to climb when they attempt to overturn a 21-point deficit this Sunday.
Newcastle were widely expected to be relegated from the Aviva Premiership after finishing bottom of the pile, one point behind closest rivals Wasps.
But with Bristol being the lone side able to gain promotion into the top flight for 2012/13 due to license applications and limited facilities at other clubs' stadiums in England's second tier, there was hope for the Falcons that the Championship outfits would do them a favour in the knockouts.
The two-legged RFU Championship Final is scheduled to take place on May 23 and 30.
Comments
lawynd says...
@GCP_JONES - well, the Cornish are Celts at heart, right? ;)
@kenttaff - your post(troll)ing history precedes you every time you write something about English rugby; don't cry about it when it inevitably come back and bites you in the arse. And no, I'm not related to Magog in either a biblical or geographical sense, nor am I a comic book super-villain. I'm also not 'agog' in any way, either. Thanks for asking, though!
Posted 13:04 09th May 2012
GCP_JONES says...
They should apply to join the Pro12, they would be a welcome addition.
Posted 16:24 08th May 2012
kenttaff says...
@lawynd
yes thats because ive lived in england for the last 7 years. i didnt say welsh club rugby was spot on did i, i was commenting on a thread related to english club rugby. are you a gog by any chance?
Posted 15:13 08th May 2012
lawynd says...
@kenttaff - yes, because Welsh rugby (national team aside) is so much better off, isn't it? I guess you're not as knowledgeable a supporter as jontheref either!
Posted 13:38 08th May 2012
Centre12 says...
@Bones7
I think that is a great idea actually!!!!!!!!!
Posted 12:46 08th May 2012
lardon says...
@Bones7.. The Devon Pirates?
The cornish are very passionate about the Pirates and the fans wouldnt take kindly about a move to Devon. Besides Penzance to Exeter is well over 100 miles for fans to travel.
Posted 12:16 08th May 2012
lardon says...
All this has done is expose more incompetance on the part of the RFU and PLR. I dont see this as another argument for ring fencing the premiership, As an Exeter Chiefs fan I personally am against ring fencing. I believe Exeter are the perfect comeback to anybody who believes ring fencing is the solution. Four years ago nobody believed Exeter would be contending for a Premiership playoff spot and its only a matter of time before the Pirates finally get their stadium built and get into the Premiership themselves. They arent the only club in the Championship that in a few years could be capable of Premiership rugby.
I believe The Premiership is the most competitive league in the world because of the threat of relegation. Every place is competed for and every win and loss could mean something differnt, this makes each individual game more enjoyable to the supporters. Look at the RaboPro 12, teams often field weaker sides in order to rest players for the Heineken Cup and as their is no threat of relegation a bad run in the league isnt a worry for the club.
In my personal view the RFU and PLR should be more proactive in either supporting championship club to develop their facilities and relaxing the required criteria for premiership rugby. Rather than ring fencing the Premiership.
Posted 11:50 08th May 2012
Bones7 says...
What a terrible system. Pirates and Exeter should create a Southwest San Siro and play there on alternating weeks like Inter Milan and AC Milan, it would be less ridiculous than this system where you can be trounced every week in the premiership and stay up because your stadium looks nice
Posted 11:15 08th May 2012
Back_Row_Move says...
I thought London Welsh met the criteria for Premiership status?
The RFU really need to pull their fingers out, or employ a highly paid group of lawyers and gentlemen friends to tell them that!
Posted 09:44 08th May 2012
kenttaff says...
farcical english rugy extends to the championship as well then. how demotivating for championship teams
Posted 09:05 08th May 2012
leinsterblue says...
really calls out the stupidity of play-offs...unless, of course, you are a TV exec, in which case they are perfectly fine...look at the Rabo - Leinster finished 16 points ahead of Glasgow, yet have to play them at the weekend and then Munster/Ospreys just to ensure that we actually do win the league...the AIL scrapped the play-offs this year and it was a really fantastic end to the season...
Posted 08:35 08th May 2012
jontheref says...
Who ever wins should have 12 months to sort themselves out.
We had the farcical situation in Wales, where a team won div 1, but could not go up, even though teams within the premiere league, did not have the facilities they did!
Will they rteally attract that many visitors anyway?
RFU get your thumbs out!
Posted 23:47 07th May 2012
lawynd says...
I think it's wrong for Premier Rugby to ring-fence the competition in the way they have done; they've removed relegation and promotion in all but name, essentially. From the ludicrous expectation that teams have a stadium ready to go that meets their criteria before being promoted, instead of giving a time-frame to make improvements, to the way that payments are structured in favour of longer-term Premiership teams instead of towards newcomers and smaller teams (or at least shared equally), it's quite clear that Premier Rugby and it's constituent members believe this is a playground for only 13 or 14 teams (I'm excluding Exeter, because I bet they've gotten right up the noses of the establishment...and I'm glad!).
Posted 20:22 07th May 2012
NHsaints says...
It sucks for the pirates because they're always there or thereabouts in terms of getting promoted and yet they can't because of the rules...seems a shame when a team like wasps who are in the premiership attract similar crowds to games...
Posted 19:30 07th May 2012
stumpy says...
Well if the Pirates do win, it'll hopefully encourage them to make those changes, and make another strong English rugby club which would only be good for the game.
Posted 17:52 07th May 2012
redcoat2806 says...
My gut feeling is that Newcastle would put up much more of a fight in the premiership than Bristol. A 21 point turn is lot to overcome
Posted 16:22 07th May 2012
kybone says...
Well i posted earlier that i was certain Bristol would win the play-offs! Now im certain thay won't! lol. It'd be a great shame if a team such as the Cornish Pirates were to win and then be denied promotion.
Posted 14:48 07th May 2012
olearyc5 says...
What is the point of having championship playoffs if only one team can be promoted. What's the point of having the championship?
Posted 14:45 07th May 2012