Reasons galore for Glaws to back Jonny and Toulon

Gloucester – and perhaps many of their fans – will have their eyes on the South of France this weekend … and it won’t be because many of them are heading for their holidays on the Med. Complicated qualification regulations mean the final of the Amlin Challenge Cup between Cardiff Blues and Jonny Wilkinson’s Toulon will decide whether Glaws play in next season’s Heineken Cup.

Nobody with Kingsholm connections needs to be told that if Toulon win, Glaws are in Europe’s major international club competition, but if the Blues come out on top, it’s the Amlin again for Bryan Redpath and his lads.
Redpath has already said that he would love ex-Cherry and White Philippe Saint-Andre to do his old club a favour, but of course the popular Frenchman won’t have that idea at the forefront of his mind – he’ll want to win for many other reasons.

Meanwhile, it’s felt that many Glaws fans are waiting for the result before deciding whether to buy season tickets for 2010-11.
Money is as tight at Kingsholm as it is everywhere else, and it’s not likely to get any better in the immediate future.

All the signs in club rugby in this country suggest that the game could well be heading for a similar situation to the one which exists in football, with a handful of big clubs who are financed from outside the game dominating all competitions.
The professional game has all but killed off club rugby as it was in Scotland, it’s under threat in Wales and will get worse there when the current crop of outstanding Welsh players leave the game, and it could happen in England, too.

Glaws are, of course, partly bank-rolled from outside and will need that situation to continue if they are to compete, but selling as many season tickets as possible if of vital importance.

It means money in the bank, guaranteed, at a time when nobody can be sure what sort of season is head and what sort of crowds the team will attract.

Despite a couple of poor seasons, Glaws remain one of England’s big clubs and one of the country’s best-supported clubs.

Qualifying for the Heineken Cup can only help them remain there.

Come on Toulon.