Too many international Tests

[sigesige00]

Rugby Union has too many international Tests.
I do not understand why the Bledisloe Cup is still necessary.
The Rugby Championship and Six Nations Championship should be abolished; World League (every division has 8 teams) should be introduced instead.
Top tier: bottom team are relegated to the 2nd tier
2nd tier: winners are promoted to the 1st tier and bottom team are relegated to the 3rd tier....

Rugby Union is still too dominated by the tradition of the age of amateurism. Professionalised Rugby Union must be more club-oriented.

 

[saulan]

Professionalised Rugby Union must be more club-oriented.

The only nation that unanimously supports that is France. International rugby is the pinnacle to the rest of the nations. If anything, I think we need less club rugby and more internationals taking place. There aren't enough opportunities for smaller nations who are getting stronger like Georgia to test themselves against the tier one nations. You aren't going to get the traditional tournaments to disappear, there is just way too much investment from the unions and emotional investment from the fans into those rivalries.

 

[McTallshort]

Love it! sigesige00 for President as he does make more sense than Trump.

 

[Brigantine]

1: The 6N and TRC are too small. A global competition would be better.
2: The 6N and TRC are too big. More local club competitions would be better.

Zero acknowledgement of the NH/SH divide being as much about seasons/climate as it is about distance.

AIUI the 3rd Bledisloe match is "necessary" because it generates revenue.
Bottom line: Professional sport must be revenue-oriented. Maybe that means something different in Europe than it does in Oceania.

Are you also going to say the TOP14 and Aviva Premiership should be abolished, and the Champions+Challenge Cups should be extended to 28 rounds and split into 5 divisions of 8 teams each?

 

[ratsapprentice]

Pro-tip: Don't reply to Sige threads.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Pro-tip: Don't reply to Sige threads.

Ditto! Please guys, don't respond to his drivel!

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

I agree with the first 2 lines of Sige's post.

There are way too many internationals, most of which are meaningless in a sporting context and just revenue generators. OK its a professional game, but its still overdone. Its only a matter of time before our top players become like our cricketers and are internationals first who only make intermittent domestic appearances to tune up for tests.

On matters Southern Hemispherical, McCaw played 37 times against Oz, exactly 25% of his caps. There were also 26 against SA. Madness.

 

[Brigantine]

Maybe this is what the problem is: There are too many national sides from the UK. 3 of them should be abolished, and then the number of international tests would solve itself!

 

[TRF_heineken]

Maybe this is what the problem is: There are too many national sides from the UK. 3 of them should be abolished, and then the number of international tests would solve itself!

#Brexit

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

Should be a Celtic team with Ireland, Wales and Scotland like the Pacific island team IMO...........

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

Should be a Celtic team with Ireland, Wales and Scotland like the Pacific island team IMO...........

We're back to this ey? I'm not a ****ing Celt.

 

[McTallshort]

On a serious note both North and Roberts are not being realised by their clubs because of an extra game against Wales. Perhaps there are too many internationals

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

We're back to this ey? I'm not a ****ing Celt.

You're might not be but the Irish are mostly celts.......they are basically the same as the Scottish really.

 

[ianw16]

On a serious note both North and Roberts are not being realised by their clubs because of an extra game against Wales. Perhaps there are too many internationals

On the other hand, perhaps there are too many club games! However, given that the tail wags the dog in many countries north of the equator, then you are probably stuck with it.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

You're might not be but the Irish are mostly celts.......they are basically the same as the Scottish really.

We have a favourite club team in common so?!

 

[sigesige00]

The only nation that unanimously supports that is France. International rugby is the pinnacle to the rest of the nations. If anything, I think we need less club rugby and more internationals taking place. There aren't enough opportunities for smaller nations who are getting stronger like Georgia to test themselves against the tier one nations. You aren't going to get the traditional tournaments to disappear, there is just way too much investment from the unions and emotional investment from the fans into those rivalries.

What do you think about clubs of smaller nations (de facto national team) joining club competitions, like Jaguares and Sunwolves?
The problem is that there are not enough number of club teams in many countries...

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

We have a favourite club team in common so?!

Well if that is the case you can look after them when they vote for independence.

#LastFridayDidn'tHappen

 

[Larksea]

as far as I'm concerned everything is about international rugby, for me Super rugby and NPC rugby are basically test squad selection games.

tests should be important again and less focus should be on world cups.

I think we should have more test matches, and NZ should get two test teams, or A team, B team and Maori AB's (lol)
actually what I'd like to see is north vs. South in NZ take off again and be like state of origin.
just want to see more NZ players get exposure. A NZ B team could push the AB's more and be more likely to win than most other sides.

And I'd like to see the super rugby format cut down to allow a proper NPC

super rugby has lost its shine to me, the teams dont really represent the areas anymore, 5 or so years ago they did. Most players were from the catchment areas of the franchise and there was local identity around the teams. A lot of that has gone now. NPC used to be absolutely brilliant but now it is wedged in a small window, almost never has all blacks and not many watch it - not because its bad, its actually really good - but because people are just overloaded with Rugby.

p.s. yes this is mostly just me making stuff up without thinking about it.

 

[Brigantine]

The Junior All Blacks are not an age grade side, but the second national team

But looks like they haven't had any tests since 2009.

I'd be up for a regular NI vs SI fixture. Split the AB's into North Blacks and South Blacks for 2 years after every RWC.

Instead of TRC those years, have a SH-6N with either Japan or Fiji (promotion-relegation with Pacific 6N?), and then a North Blacks vs South Blacks Bledisloe SF to decide which of them represents NZ in the 3rd Bledisloe test. Still 7 weeks all up. We can host two June tours those years, in the AI's we can have 5 decent matches to watch and still afford 3 exhibition fixtures against Italy/Georgia/Romania/USA/Canada.

Then the year before a RWC we merge them into the *All* Blacks, and revert to H&A TRC and prepare for the RWC. The All Blacks will have some of that novelty value of the B&I Lions. (and as you say, there's room here for the Junior All Blacks to organize too)

I hear you re the NPC too... but I wouldn't expand it into the SR season - I'd extend it through the AI's. I get that people want to see international stars in the provincial sides... but you can't have everything.

There's a lot going on with SR re format changes and expansion and a sort of identity crisis. SANZAAR knows they've mis-stepped and I believe they'll find their way again in the next 2 seasons, I'm not writing it off yet. I hope they'll start a 2nd division to accommodate their expansion markets without diluting the skill level and competitiveness - and that would also give us an opportunity to raise the stakes in the NPC (and Currie Cup) and align the interests of the franchises with the provinces in their catchment. (i.e. SR promotion/relegation is partly decided by NPC performance)

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

as far as I'm concerned everything is about international rugby, for me Super rugby and NPC rugby are basically test squad selection games.

tests should be important again and less focus should be on world cups.

I think we should have more test matches, and NZ should get two test teams, or A team, B team and Maori AB's (lol)
actually what I'd like to see is north vs. South in NZ take off again and be like state of origin.
just want to see more NZ players get exposure. A NZ B team could push the AB's more and be more likely to win than most other sides.

And I'd like to see the super rugby format cut down to allow a proper NPC

super rugby has lost its shine to me, the teams dont really represent the areas anymore, 5 or so years ago they did. Most players were from the catchment areas of the franchise and there was local identity around the teams. A lot of that has gone now. NPC used to be absolutely brilliant but now it is wedged in a small window, almost never has all blacks and not many watch it - not because its bad, its actually really good - but because people are just overloaded with Rugby.

p.s. yes this is mostly just me making stuff up without thinking about it.

I don't think the idea of the global season is to set the All Blacks up to improve even more in comparison to every other team!