League of Nations

[stus768]

Apparently the head of Infront is Sepp Blatter's son.

Nephew rather than son it says in the Times

 

[bushytop]

Nephew rather than son it says in the Times

Any kind of relative is not wanted in Rugby.

 

[mdaclarke]

My concern that is is all well and good for the Tier 1 teams but you only need one bad season and you are out and you loose all that revenue.

A big reward but a big risk. I can see why some unions are against it.

I could see a situation whereby the 10 tier 1 nations are protected and the Tier 2 nations are subject to promotion and relegation. A bit like (but not exactly the same as cricket with test status)

 

[Bruce_ma gooshvili]

I just saw the main reason why I think this competition will come into being. 35mins in to the championship decider in Wales and a big electronic advertising boarding announces "Peter's Pies".

Now I'm not knocking Peter, or his pies, but could you imagine similar advertising at a football European Championship? Unless Peter has incredibly deep pockets, he will only be contributing a fraction of the ad revenue that a global multinational would provide. This will be the push behind making the spring tournament continent wide and the year long tournament truly global via the two divisions.

 

[mdaclarke]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...ns-championship-catastrophic-relegation-fears

Promotion and Relegation is dead in the water.

I assume that if the 6N won't agree to relegation then the RC won't agree either.

Would one solution be that relegation only applies to the 2 Tier 2 nations? Thinking about it that won't work as it could end up with Georgia in the expanded RC, and the RC won;t accept that.

Another solution could be a league between the 10 tier 1 sides with a guarantee that they will each play 2 tier 2 sides a year.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Just scrap this Nations League business and bring in a euros/rest of world comp. And also get the 6 nations to professionalise the REC to allow them to bring in more money and improve.

The calendar set for 2020 onwards would have been great for T2 teams so it's a real shame that they've gone back on their word and just gone for a quick fix solution to line the pockets of the SH teams. If the 6N goes behind a paywall for the sake of one of WR 'money making, expanding the game globally' ideas then...well let's not think about that

 

[Derpus]

I feel like this is just a new iteration of a well trodden path. No one in the 6 nations will ever agree to relegation. Ever. End of story. The English aren't exactly known for their progressive risk taking. Quite the opposite.

It's laughable that 'one bad season could mean the loss of all that revenue' is the reason these people won't agree to the deal. Being relegated, under the current proposal, would involve losing to both Italy and (probably) Georgia in the same season. It's unheard of. But still their fear of a near impossible eventuality holds them back. Pathetic.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if CVC were handing around a few brown paper bags.

 

[Derpus]

Just scrap this Nations League business and bring in a euros/rest of world comp. And also get the 6 nations to professionalise the REC to allow them to bring in more money and improve.

The calendar set for 2020 onwards would have been great for T2 teams so it's a real shame that they've gone back on their word and just gone for a quick fix solution to line the pockets of the SH teams. If the 6N goes behind a paywall for the sake of one of WR 'money making, expanding the game globally' ideas then...well let's not think about that

You realize that this means the 6 nations is almost certain to be obtained by CVC and will immediately be stuck behind a pay wall?

 

[profitius]

You realize that this means the 6 nations is almost certain to be obtained by CVC and will immediately be stuck behind a pay wall?

Not necessarily. There will be resistance to putting the 6N behind a paywall. The unions themselves know that so they will be thinking carefully.


The worst case scenario for the 6N is the world league. Have the 6N taken off free TV for a small sum of money. No thanks.


The 6N might still attract more money and stay on free TV.

 

[Leinster Fan]

People have this bizzare idea it's a choice between the World League and CVC. It's not. We can and should reject them both.

Don't know if we will though.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

I feel like this is just a new iteration of a well trodden path. No one in the 6 nations will ever agree to relegation. Ever. End of story. The English aren't exactly known for their progressive risk taking. Quite the opposite.

It's laughable that 'one bad season could mean the loss of all that revenue' is the reason these people won't agree to the deal. Being relegated, under the current proposal, would involve losing to both Italy and (probably) Georgia in the same season. It's unheard of. But still their fear of a near impossible eventuality holds them back. Pathetic.

I wouldn't at all be surprised if CVC were handing around a few brown paper bags.

Italy have their say too, it probably requires a unanimous vote and the other unions reckon more money is to be made in Rome than Tblisi, which is obvious.

Regardless of that the unions that set up the tournament, as well as the tournament itself, outdate the IRB and want to maintain complete control of their guaranteed success which is steeped in history. World rugby are the pathetic ones here, they brought all these proposals knowing full well that the 6 nations was a closed shop, no idea how they thought it'd work but it doesn't take a rugby fanatic or the most acute businessman in the world to tell you it wouldn't.

 

[mdaclarke]

i would love a 10 team closed shop world league made up of the RC and 6N. Would be amazing

 

[bushytop]

Unpopular opinion alert!

As much as I love and respect the 6N... it really is the best annual sporting event in the world for me, the foundation that the 6N is built on is the game. Now forget about the proposed money... and forget about any association with the Blatter family for damn sure(!) but imho for the good of the game, ALL countries deserve a possible pathway to the big table... and the only way that will ever happen is with promotion/relegation.

I would hate it if Wales were ever relegated out of the 6N... and I'm well aware of the devastating effect it would have on the WRU etc. but the game will never evolve into a truly national sport unless the closed shops are opened for business. Maybe I'm biased (because rugby is in my opinion the greatest sport there is) but I think it is the only other sport that would ever have a chance to be as global as football (I'm aware this would take a llloooooonnnngggg old time though).

I don't want rugby to have anything to do with Blatter nor his ilk... but I do think that some of the Nations League suggestions have more than a little merit. Primarily the fact that teams like Georgia, the Pacific Islands, Japan, America and any other countries looking to get serious about this great sport a chance to progress because as it currently stands, every country outside tier one have already reached their ceiling... and the potential fan bases of those countries will go looking elsewhere as it is not a level playing field.

 

[mdaclarke]

Maybe they need to have a strong tier 2 competition first before they have relegation.

I would suggest the following teams.

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. Somoa
5. Fiji
6. Tonga
7. Namibia
8. Uruguay
9. Romania
10. Georgia.

Have a closed shop for both Division 1 and 2 for 10 years and then look at seeing if the Division 2 competition is strong enough to allow promotion and relegation.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

The tier 2 question is extremely difficult.

The international game is the shop window and where the money is. But I'd rather see a bottom up approach where the emphasis is on building the domestic game. Italy and Argentina have shown that it's not really possible to sustain top level competition without solid foundations. In my book that's what growing the game means, not giving a bunch of French based Georgians regular wallopings at HQ or the Principality.

Others will argue that a successful national team is needed to develop the wider game in a previously non rugby country. But in reality where has this actually happened?

 

[Welshdragon2000]

Maybe they need to have a strong tier 2 competition first before they have relegation.

I would suggest the following teams.

1. USA
2. Canada
3. Japan
4. Somoa
5. Fiji
6. Tonga
7. Namibia
8. Uruguay
9. Romania
10. Georgia.

Have a closed shop for both Division 1 and 2 for 10 years and then look at seeing if the Division 2 competition is strong enough to allow promotion and relegation.

Why do you want a closed shop so bad? What good will that do T2 teams? I can only presume you want the remaining tests to be played between T1 and T2 teams?

 

[bushytop]

The tier 2 question is extremely difficult.

The international game is the shop window and where the money is. But I'd rather see a bottom up approach where the emphasis is on building the domestic game. Italy and Argentina have shown that it's not really possible to sustain top level competition without solid foundations. In my book that's what growing the game means, not giving a bunch of French based Georgians regular wallopings at HQ or the Principality.

Others will argue that a successful national team is needed to develop the wider game in a previously non rugby country. But in reality where has this actually happened?

I know where your coming from but, the Georgians would have to beat Italy in a play off first before they would even get promoted... and then even if that did happen, the odds are they would collect the wooden spoon and be playing Italy again in a play off to stay up. So it's not as if Georgia would be party to annual beatings but they would have the 'chance' to get a year (or more) with the big boys if they got their ducks in a row.

In all honesty, things would 'probably' stay as per usual , at least for the first decade or so... but at least the opportunity would be there. It would also give the motivation to countries like Germany and Spain to invest (hopefully from the bottom up) as the pathway would be as open to them as anyone.

 

[Welshdragon2000]

https://tier2rugby.blogspot.com/2019/03/world-rugbys-proposed-nations.html?m=1

 

[mdaclarke]

Why do you want a closed shop so bad? What good will that do T2 teams? I can only presume you want the remaining tests to be played between T1 and T2 teams?

Because none of the 6 nations teams are ever in a million years going to agree to promotion or relegation unless there is an established, sustainable and competitive 2nd tier competition that fans and TV viewers will want to see. Therefore have 2 closed shops for 10 years. Use some of the TV money to fund tier 2 teams and make them stronger. Then after 10 years you may have a strong enough tier 2 competition that the 6 nations teams would be prepared to risk falling into.

Without this promotion and relegation will never ever happen

 

[smartcooky]

England's not interested (they won't accept anything that involves promotion/relegation) so the whole idea is dead in the water

Maybe I should send my proposal to world rugby!