Changing the Rugby season..

Blindside87

Has changing the rugby season for the AIL and Junior leagues to the summer ever be considered? I know there would be issues (clashing with the GAA) but it would make the sport more attractive playing in half decent weather and not in -5 degree weather in January. Discuss.

RMD

I'd rather play in 1-2 degree wet conditions than in 20 degree sun on rock hard pitches.

WeeBushy

Seeing as every other competition of importance is run during the winter in the NH I think it would be too messy to move just the AIL so that it is out of kilter with the rest.

It would also potentially devalue it even more imo.
Contracted players that are in the off season would either be unavailable to play as it is their off season, or they would never get a break. This would further reduce the amount of game time contracted players play, reducing the standard further.
It would be the off season for every other competition and fans would not have the same interest in the AIL. As you said, it would be competing on its own against summer sports.
As above, playing on a hard pitch f*cking hurts.
On a more human level, there are a lot of young people in the AIL. Playing it during the summer would mean they have to chose between the usual summer holidays abroad with friends and their rugby season. It would destroy college clubs such as UCD, Trinity, UCC etc. If they are not players with intentions of a professional contract a lot could drop off.
It would also ruin Junior rugby, which would also have to be moved. J1 competitions need to be run at the same time as the 1st XV, J2 need to be run at the same time as J1 and all the way down. I could see J5, J4, J3 and possibly J2 rugby falling completely apart as a result.

Digifriendly

A number of rugby players also play cricket and a number of rugby spectators also watch cricket.

mikedragon32

I played rugby league for one summer season, they're welcome to it! Great fun, but the pitch is very unforgiving...

MonsterMob

Digifriendly wrote: »

A number of rugby players also play cricket and a number of rugby spectators also watch cricket.

far more play and watch gaa too.

BTL

At some point you've got to think that sevens would start getting some notice once the olympic medals are awarded for it. That'll probably occupy the summer to avoid clashing with the XV's game. (And probably make League even more of a minority sport, much like what has happened in Russia already)

Beery Eyed

I've been talking about this for the last few months actually, so I'm glad to see I'm not alone in thinking this would be (potentially) a positive move.

Firstly, for those saying that it's too hot and pitches are too hard, I feel this is a little bit soft if you don't mind me saying. Having played club rugby in South Africa and Oz there is no denying that you just adjust to it after a few games and it ultimately toughens you up as a player. Also, the speed that the game can be played at with a dry ball & hard pitch makes players fitter and sharper so that's definitely a positive.

Overall, I think a move of the AIL to a more Summer oriented season would be positive for individual player skill and the league. I think the quality of rugby would be higher and would bring in more supporters (which would be coming from an extremely low base at the moment). It's also a lot easier to attract people down to watch a match on a sunny weekend with bbq, beers & a bit of craic going on around the club, rather than offering a soaked & windy terrace watching 10 man rugby & 50 odd scrums (not having a go at the players or the league but this is generally what the conditions lead to).

Also, I disagree with the point that it wouldn't attract contraced players. Top level, and even provincial squad players, are very rarely if ever involved anyway so there would be no loss there from the current setup. However, for those players that are involved with provincial rugby, but are on the fringes and get very little game time during the season, I think it would provide a great shop window while top coaches, etc aren't tied up with their own team duties and can see how these guys perform.

When I was in Oz most of the top guys would come back to their club for that competiton once they finished up with the super rugby season and it was great to see. Also, there were always a few lesser known guys who would really put their hand up & it showed that they could potentially step up a level if given the chance. I'm not sure if this still happens with the new setup of super rugby though.

It is tricky to know what the best setup would be, but I would say that the current club setup needs to be addressed & this could be something worth looking at. If i'ts just not workable then fair enough, but I think it could potentially have some merit.

WeeBushy

Another point (albeit quite a stupid one, that shouldn't have much merit):

I absolutely love going down to watch Leinster on a Friday night and then going to play a match of my own the next day with Nacewa's latest 40 meter try fresh in my memory, or play a game on Saturday morning and then watching the Leinster match in the pub after with my team. Moving to the summer would take that away, and that social aspect of rugby is one of my favourites to do with the sport tbh.

CatFromHue

WeeBushy wrote: »

I absolutely love going down to watch Leinster on a Friday night and then going to play a match of my own the next day with Nacewa's latest 40 meter try fresh in my memory, or play a game on Saturday morning and then watching the Leinster match in the pub after with my team. Moving to the summer would take that away, and that social aspect of rugby is one of my favourites to do with the sport tbh.

I think thats a great point!

rugbug86

I've played rugby for 6 years now. I've also played 7's the past few summers and I would honestly prefer to play in the muck than on the rock hard pitches.

In winter if the pitches are too hard they're deemed unplayable. There is nothing appealling about hitting concrete.

I was playing down in Kinsale 7 weeks ago and I STILL have a bruise from where I hit the ground.

And remember that Oz/SA/NZ are in their WINTER now so don't have the massively high temperatures either.

Rugby is a winter sport. Tag rugby is a summer sport.

Digifriendly

MonsterMob wrote: »

far more play and watch gaa too.

I fully recognise this as it had been referred to in the OP so I didn't mention it. This would be a major problem IMO if rugby became a summer sport especially in GAA/Rugby heartlands e.g. Munster.

daveharnett

rugbug86 wrote: »

Rugby is a winter sport. Tag rugby is a summer sport.

Indeed - AIL teams would be fighting with the tag organizers for pitch time!

Beery Eyed

rugbug86 wrote: »

And remember that Oz/SA/NZ are in their WINTER now so don't have the massively high temperatures either.

How hot do we think it gets in this country during the summer?? We only really get a handful of weeks peaking above 20 degrees. Only NZ and Canberra really get severe winter weather. There is very little that is winter like about the pitches during June in Durban, Brisbane etc. Granted it's not extremely high temperatures but it's fairly similar to our summer weather.

If there was a full match programme on over the last few weeks it would have been fairly soft conditions mostly.

JustinDee

daveharnett wrote: »

Indeed - AIL teams would be fighting with the tag organizers for pitch time!

Host clubs decide when to run a tag programme. They time it so pitch re-gen is factored in for following season.