From the FFR13 site. www.com1site.com/FFRXIII/actualites.php?a=256 Quote Northern Rail Cup The RFL has decided to invite the French clubs in the Northern Rail Cup , so the Cup for clubs not professionals . For this, the ten French clubs should be divided into two pools of five with the winners could ( this is not completely determined yet) play a finale that would qualify the winner of this event. Lezignan , in turn , directly qualified for the Cup could also argue that competition. Note that Welsh and Irish clubs also aligned on the start line '" Any more info out there about this and does anyone know who the Welsh and Irish teams are? Would English fans like this idea, or would you rather keep it for local sides? Cheers.

From the FFR13 site. www.com1site.com/FFRXIII/actualites.php?a=256 Quote Northern Rail Cup The RFL has decided to invite the French clubs in the Northern Rail Cup , so the Cup for clubs not professionals . For this, the ten French clubs should be divided into two pools of five with the winners could ( this is not completely determined yet) play a finale that would qualify the winner of this event. Lezignan , in turn , directly qualified for the Cup could also argue that competition. Note that Welsh and Irish clubs also aligned on the start line '" Any more info out there about this and does anyone know who the Welsh and Irish teams are? Would English fans like this idea, or would you rather keep it for local sides? Cheers.

Sounds good to me.

Quote eels fan="eels fan"From the FFR13 site. www.com1site.com/FFRXIII/actualites.php?a=256 Any more info out there about this and does anyone know who the Welsh and Irish teams are? Would English fans like this idea, or=#FF0000 would you rather keep it for local sides? Cheers.'" It isn't about ' keeping it for local sides ' , the French league is played in winter making the qualifying club then play through their off season , as for Welsh and Irish clubs , the Skorpions do play in the NRC , Are there any Irish clubs ? Not as simple as it seems , a bit like entering Queensland cup teams into the NRL

Quote eels fan="eels fan"From the FFR13 site. www.com1site.com/FFRXIII/actualites.php?a=256 Any more info out there about this and does anyone know who the Welsh and Irish teams are? Would English fans like this idea, or=#FF0000 would you rather keep it for local sides? Cheers.'" It isn't about ' keeping it for local sides ' , the French league is played in winter making the qualifying club then play through their off season , as for Welsh and Irish clubs , the Skorpions do play in the NRC , Are there any Irish clubs ? Not as simple as it seems , a bit like entering Queensland cup teams into the NRL

why don't we take a leaf of crickets book and invite national side into the NRC...like ECB has with the ODI comp they run that has scotland,ireland and holland (not sure if they are still in it?)

we could have france 'A',wales 'A',scotland 'A',ireland 'A'..the players in these teams have to play in those countries domestic comp....i'd imagine the french team to be of a decent standard...and it would help improve the other 'A' teams no end...


just an idea!

Need a new sponsor! Northern rail cup in France?

I can't imagine what Irish club is going to enter. Almost all the players are union players, some gaelic, some football playing, in the off season to try a different sport or keep fit. I can't see where they are going to get the players to play in the NRC.

I would imagine that the Scoropions will be the Welsh side, the only reason we weren't in the NRC or the challenge cup this year was time constraints. Surely it would make sense to put Toulouse into the NRC as they're already playing in the championship. The winners of Elite 1 or the Lord Derby Cup could also come in but they would be playing well into their off season. bringing in The Scorpions & Toulouse would also mean that every side playing in the championship/championship 1 would be involved in the Cup.

Wonder what SNCF,CIE and Arriva Trains have to say about it

Why would they be bothered where Northern Rail spends its money. Anyway Northern Rail is run by a subsidiary of Nederlandse Spoorwegen - the Dutch national railways operator.

Maybe the plan is to develop for the future, with Welsh Conference + Scorpions making up one pool, two pools of French teams. This would give a chance to more clubs, but realistically would just mean that TO and FCL join the NRC.

So really just a waste of time , especially if Toulouse end up in SL in 2012

I see your point, but wouldn't more fixtures with a little bit of rep footy in the knockout stages, the chance to play at another level and travel to play in front of some half decent crowds sway a few of these players to stick around and give RL a bit more thought?

Plus it's not like they'll be going up against fully pro sides each week, I could see a few of the French clubs having a good run and we have seen teams like Toulouse a few years ago beat a club like Widnes and even this year 3 or 4 French clubs had a decent run in the Challenge Cup.

What clubs are in the Irish and Welsh Leagues?

These are the Clubs in the upcoming French Elite for 2010/11.

1. Montpellier
2. Lézignan
3. Limoux
4. Carcassonne
5. Pia
6. St - Esteve - XIII Catalan
7. Avignon
8. Carpentras
9. Villeneuve
10.St -Gaudens - Toulouse


Also good to see Toulouse and St Gaudens get together in a partnership for the LER.

1st round would see 5 French clubs knocked out before the remaining ones advanced to play whomever they have drawn whether they are Welsh, Irish or English.

Could be a good thing for the lower divisions of RL.