New rugby calendar after RWC 2019

thomond2006

Probably worth its own thread?

Changes at a glance

Summer tours to occur in three of every four years
Premiership and Pro12 to start later and finish later, at end of June
Super Rugby in southern hemisphere to finish at similar time
Six Nations, World Cup and British and Irish Lions unaffected

http://www.bbc.com/sport/rugby-union/37354427

So according to the BBC there won't be much change. The Pro12 starting later is probably a positive for coverage in Ireland as the GAA season will be finished. Scrapping the summer tour after the RWC is definitely a positive, that is international rugby overkill. I would have liked to see the Six Nations start a few weeks later to allow for better weather.

irishbucsfan

We already only have summer tours 3 of every 4 years (they don't happen in World Cup years)... So they actually mean 2 of every 4 if they're scrapping the tours the year after the World Cup, and also one of those 2 is the tours that occur during the Lions. So there'll be one year of proper touring and it will occur on the year between the Lions and the World Cup.

A shame they couldn't work out a full global calendar, I suppose the home nations couldn't be brought around to the idea of moving the 6 Nations to make it feasible. This outcome only really reduces the burden on players by scrapping test matches which is far from ideal I'd say.

bilston

Not too radical.

So essentially the rugby season in the NH will run from October to June rather than September to May from 2019.

swiwi_

The Pro 12 countries are the losers in the NH out of this. Anything that strengthens or makes stronger the position of the French & English clubs is bad news.

The 6N makes lots of money in February so no-one dared move it. I'd venture it would still make as much money if it was in March.

I assume that is the last we will hear of a global calendar...it just ain't going to happen.

irishbucsfan

There are suggestions from some journalists that this will now result in European rugby consolidating to put the games in larger chunks together (IE rather than the 2 - 2 - 2 scheduling format we'll see more games together).

former total

Bit of an anti-climax really.

Slightly fewer international games once every 4 years, otherwise net change is minimal.

Sweeping change was never likely.

LeinsterDub

Are the SH dropping a Summer tour / Autumn tour from our point of view or is it just the NH ?

bilston

LeinsterDub wrote: »

Are the SH dropping a Summer tour / Autumn tour from our point of view or is it just the NH ?

Other than WC years (which is already the case anyway) I don't think so.

Clegg

The Times says that the shift to a later start is being done so the Northern Hemisphere leagues align better with when Super Rugby finishes. The end goal is apparently to stage a world club championship at the end of the season.

LeinsterDub

Clegg wrote: »

The Times says that the shift to a later start is being done so the Northern Hemisphere leagues align better with when Super Rugby finishes. The end goal is apparently to stage a world club championship at the end of the season.

World club zzz sorry I drifted off there.

molloyjh

Not running summer tours the season of a RWC only makes sense so I'm glad to see that they've done away with those. As IBF pointed out though it does mean that there will only be 2 summer tours every 4 years. And 1 of those years will be a Lions year. So we'll only get 1 full strength summer tour every 4 years.

Shifting the end of the domestic season into June could be problematic in that it will then clash with the big soccer tournaments. The Euros in particular could pull crowds away from the knock-outs that are otherwise pretty much free in May. It'll be interesting to see how that impacts the Pro12 especially given that it is only just starting to try and grow the final into an event. Will it be able to embed itself enough over the next few years to be able to cope with the hit it may take?

Digifriendly

September looks as if it will be a blank month rugby wise which is a bit of a disappointment. June is exam month for those still at school and I can't see why 6N cannot be played a month later. Also with longer NH season will summer tours to SH now be July? If so this will lessen interest in them as many rugby viewers will be on holiday.

Podge_irl

"Meanwhile, sources have indicated that emerging nations such as Japan and USA will benefit from an increase in matches against tier-one teams."

So fewer international matches in total, but more against tier 2 teams? Not sure how they managed to swing that.


The 6N was never going to move - it is by far rugby's most successful annual tournament by any metric. I'd get over it moving, but I absolutely love it where it is.

Winters

End-Year 2016 - NH tours

Mid-Year 2017 - Lions Tour and SH tours
End-Year 2017 - NH Tours

Mid-Year 2018 - SH Tours
End-Year 2018 - NH Tours

Mid-Year 2019 - No SH tours pre RWC
End-Year 2019 - No NH tours due to RWC

Mid-Year 2020 - No SH tour post RWC
End-Year 2020 - NH tours?

Mid-Year 2021 - Lions Tour and SH tours
End-Year 2021 - NH tours

Mid-Year 2022 - SH tours
End-Year 2022 - NH tours

Mid-Year 2023 - No SH tours pre RWC
End-Year 2023 - No NH tours due to RWC

On the face of it the reduction of international games will only benefit player welfare if the domestic leagues keep the same number of teams/games.

I have no appetite whatsoever in a global club competition.

swiwi_

Podge_irl wrote: »

The 6N was never going to move - it is by far rugby's most successful annual tournament by any metric. I'd get over it moving, but I absolutely love it where it is.

I don't see why the 6N starting 1 month later reduces its value. There seems to be this idea, to which you seem to subscribe Podge, that the 6N would lose a lot of its appeal if it was no longer starting in the wintry months of February.

On the other hand, the best chance for Ireland to retain its best players in Ireland is for international rugby to remain strong. And a global season would have helped that.

The only countries who don't really need a global season are England and France, they have no risk that their best players leave for England or France...

Ireland can also say we don't care about the SH, but if more top SANZAR players migrate to England & France...well, the Pro 12 will become even more cannon fodder for the pool stages of the European Cup etc. Which means less money for Ireland, which means more players being lured to England or France, which probably means less competitive Irish team, which means less international rugby appeal, which means more players heading to England & France. Ok, I stop there...

Podge_irl

swiwi_ wrote: »

I don't see why the 6N starting 1 month later reduces its value. There seems to be this idea, to which you seem to subscribe Podge, that the 6N would lose a lot of its appeal if it was no longer starting in the wintry months of February.

My concern for it moving is not the value of the 6N, it's my personal sanity in trying to get through what is otherwise a useless time of year without it

Digifriendly

Only downside to 6N in March/April might be clash with Easter weekend but apart from that I can't see why it can't be moved.

swiwi_

Podge_irl wrote: »

My concern for it moving is not the value of the 6N, it's my personal sanity in trying to get through what is otherwise a useless time of year without it

A more compelling reason for keeping the 6N in February have I yet to read...

You can have a thanks

Quintis

Podge_irl wrote: »

My concern for it moving is not the value of the 6N, it's my personal sanity in trying to get through what is otherwise a useless time of year without it

That's their point exactly, nothing else really to compete against, greater coverage, greater viewership, more money!

irishbucsfan

Quintis wrote: »

That's their point exactly, nothing else really to compete against, greater coverage, greater viewership, more money!

The last point is the most important. It's all about the money for the unions even if moving it would be better for other competitions, which is funny because they'd love everyone to believe that only the private clubs are driven primarily by money.

molloyjh

irishbucsfan wrote: »

The last point is the most important. It's all about the money for the unions even if moving it would be better for other competitions, which is funny because they'd love everyone to believe that only the private clubs are driven primarily by money.

Pretty sure it isn't that simple. More money to invest in the game at all levels across the entire country is a tad different to more money to buy SH players....

Also, why am I doing this?