World Rugby Under 20 Championship

[BPM]

True, but to make it work you've got at least two teams (Spain + probably Romania) who are more than likely going to get smashed. Who benefits from that and who wants to pay to watch it?

 

[BPM]

Some to look to tye near future to.
Shame most are in back row as competition is strong there.
As said somewhere we need to get Kopku boys on our side.
Lad from Sale looks class ,plus young Saints hooker.
Always a struggled in backs for me Bracken great going one way a bit meh the other ,but he's young.
Oh for a glorious 12th lol.

I can see Kerr and Friday getting fast tracked at Quins. They've both got promise and play in positions where we (and England) don't have any depth.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Always take age group stuff with a huge pinch of salt, but well done the kids.

Heart warming to see an English front 5 on a seek and destroy mission. Nurture them carefully.

 

[Geordie]

Fasogabon should get a bit of Time with Gloucester this season..and Fordjour with Sale.

Kpoku...ah it just seems inevitable he'll play for France. A supersized Itoje...France will be licking their lips at him joining them..

Carnduff looks made for the top flight and has intelligence aswell.

Not sure how many of the backs will come through..Redshaw, Kerr look good...

 

[LeinsterMan (NotTigsMan)]

playing for Gloucester is the same as playing in the top 14 in terms England chances right?

 

[Jimbo]

playing for Gloucester is the same as playing in the top 14 in terms England chances right?

As confirmed by Mercer.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

It might need some calendar changes, but howabout a quadrennial event like a mini world cup played in Autumn.
10 teams, 6 plus 4 qualifiers.
This would give every team 2 home matches, then semis and play offs in a single country.
If played in post RWC year, then lots of 6N teams would be starting transition, so good event

Problem with A teams is the lack of coverage required to make it a financial success.

I don't think we need the 6nations every year if it's blocking potential growth. Could easily get rid of it in a Lions (I'd get rid of the Lions first but that wont happen) year for an 8 or 12 team Euros. Still going to get 5 games if you run it similar to the 20s championship but less stress on players as they'll get at least one game in the groups fully rotated.

There's at least three European countries with potential outside the 6n and you'd expect further growth from there if there was another flagship event for the game.

Gives places like Ireland, Scotland, Portugal without the infrastructure to host a world cup chances to host a tournament and you could send it to places like Spain and the Netherlands to get eyes on the sport too.

 

[BPM]

I quite like that idea

 

[big ginger 8]

Shows how good our 20s have been recently that this year was a let down but still came 4th and came second by a point in the 6N.

Scrum was obviously a massive issue and it's definitely a weaker Leinster specific crop but there's a number of guys I expect to see playing in a decade with some of them looking to excel.

Munster will be delighted with Gleeson and O'Connor in particular but O'Connell and Sheehan look good to. While Gavin looks like a future star for Connacht.

 

[higgik]

I quite like that idea

Agreed, but also the old farts would never agree.
The problem with rugby worldwide, it is run by amateurs who are not understanding the long term business model of growing the game.
Keeping a closed shop maybe financially good at the moment, but it is becoming obvious that the money is getting tighter and new markets need exploring.

 

[BPM]

I don't think it's just about 'old farts' being out of touch. From a sporting POV, the gulf between Tier 1 and Tier 2 European nations is big. Maybe not for Georgia, but I don't think any of the others have the infrastructure or actual interest level in the game to progress from where they are now. In a similar way to Italy, Spain is hugely dominated by football and to even get to the level the Italians are at now has taken them 20+ years with the buy-in from those at the top of the game.

The best way forward in the short term is to give the Tier 2 teams guaranteed fixtures with the right level of challenge. That's why I'd be more inclined for England or Ireland A to take on Spain than have them face the seniors and get smashed. I'd still fancy the A sides to win, but it would at least be more competitive.

Either that or agree that it's a development fixture for the Tier 1 sides and have a gentleman's agreement that it's U23 only or something? In England's case, it could replace the Barbarians fixture which rules out any players contesting the Premiership final. That's usually uncapped, but it could be a capped fixture with those 4 clubs missing giving the handicap.

 

[Geordie]

As confirmed by Mercer.

He seems to devide opinions even amongst fans though. I'd love to know the actual reason he's not selected...what part of his game is not rated.

 

[Jimbo]

He seems to devide opinions even amongst fans though. I'd love to know the actual reason he's not selected...what part of his game is not rated.

He does indeed, if you want more energy during the latter stages of a game in a similar role played to Earl he could do that off the bench, I think a lot of the negativity is things taken out of context rather than actually intended the way it's been made out to be.

 

[Croket66]

Introducing Giorgi Khaindrava