Excitement factor league table

With the numerous Lions threads on this board, I began to think about how the anticipation and excitement of a Lions tour compares to that of both a full England test, 6 Nations, Summer tour or AI and a big club game, say HC knockout game for my club (admittedly a long time ago). As much as I love the Lions, I think in sheer excitement and state of nervousness, for me it would be:

1. England test (against top 8 opposition)
2. Big club game
3. Lions test

I was just wondering how others felt and if there are any national trends.

Not much of a league. More a podium.

1. NZ vs South Africa
2. NZ vs Australia
3. NZ vs England or France
4. NZ vs Lions
5. NZ vs Ireland, Wales, Argentina, Scotland
6. NZ vs Pacific Island team
7. Provincial game where Crusaders are involved
8. 6N grudge tests: England vs Wales, England vs Ireland, England vs France, England vs Scotland, Wales vs Ireland, Wales vs Scotland, Scotland vs Italy.

Nothing beats test rugby. Teams I get most excited about are the teams that have the greatest chance of beating NZ. Provincial and club rugby are great and can be enthralling contests and well supported and great events... but test rugby pees all over them.

Interesting, why is a test against England or France higher than against the Lions. I would suspect that the win ratio of the Lions against NZ is higher than that of either England's or France's (stat expert required), so by your formula, more exciting.

Lions happens only every 4 years. Barbarians happen even less and they've beaten the ABs proportionately more but those games are pure bilge nowadays. Plus a Lions victory is way back in time compared to a England or France victory.

Truth be told I havent been excited about the Lions since the 1997 tour to South Africa.

I really enjoyed the 1989 Australia tour, though more for the off field drama than the matches, I loved the way the Welsh caused mayhem in Australia and when the Aussies whinged we blamed the English, and the Scottish and Irish agreed with us! Of course they REALLY got their own back when Wales went there on tour 2 years later.

Still:

1) 6 Nations
2) watching Japan play
3) Other development rugby, Russia etc
4) Lions (yawn)
5) Tri nations (big yawn)

The two massive games for me are England v Aus and England v France.

Then it's NZ and SA followed by the rest of the 6 Nations games.

I enjoy big Heino games and Aviva clashes and quite enjoy the Top14. Super Rugby and Tri Nations are ok. Rabo is pretty boring.

Lions is a bit meh these days. Baa Baas is even worse.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Not much of a league. More a podium.

1. NZ vs South Africa
2. NZ vs Australia
3. NZ vs England or France
4. NZ vs Lions
5. NZ vs Ireland, Wales, Argentina, Scotland
6. NZ vs Pacific Island team
7. Provincial game where Crusaders are involved
8. 6N grudge tests: England vs Wales, England vs Ireland, England vs France, England vs Scotland, Wales vs Ireland, Wales vs Scotland, Scotland vs Italy.

Nothing beats test rugby. Teams I get most excited about are the teams that have the greatest chance of beating NZ. Provincial and club rugby are great and can be enthralling contests and well supported and great events... but test rugby pees all over them.

is that still your view on crusaders games? this year i think youll be pretending to be a football fan from what i seen of them thus far!

I could say it depends on how many South Africans are playing on the day, but that would seem unfair to some teams.

Yes, I see your point. The excitement in the Lions for me is in the squad selection.

For tension in the week before a game:

1) Leicester in a major final
2) England in a World Cup final
3) England before a GS decider
4) Leicester in a major knock out match
5) Leicester v Northampton
6) England in RWC vs Tier 1 Nation
7) Lions in a series decider match
8) England in 6Ns
9) England in AIs
10) England on Tour
11) Lions before 1st Test
.........
999) Leicester in an LV pool game.

Biltong wrote:I could say it depends on how many South Africans are playing on the day, but that would seem unfair to some teams.

Glad you support England then Bil

gregortree wrote:

Biltong wrote:I could say it depends on how many South Africans are playing on the day, but that would seem unfair to some teams.

Glad you support England then Bil

i could mate. Didn't say I do.

All Blacks versus Lions P38.W29.D3.L.6 sorry i`m the Stats nerd
For me it was local sides playing touring sides ABs 1953/63.Wallabies 1958
and Boks 1960 live.could`nt afford the prices now.

GloriousEmpire wrote:

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Not much of a league. More a podium.

1. NZ vs South Africa
2. NZ vs Australia
3. NZ vs England or France
4. NZ vs Lions
5. NZ vs Ireland, Wales, Argentina, Scotland
6. NZ vs Pacific Island team
7. Provincial game where Crusaders are involved
8. 6N grudge tests: England vs Wales, England vs Ireland, England vs France, England vs Scotland, Wales vs Ireland, Wales vs Scotland, Scotland vs Italy.

Nothing beats test rugby. Teams I get most excited about are the teams that have the greatest chance of beating NZ. Provincial and club rugby are great and can be enthralling contests and well supported and great events... but test rugby pees all over them.

is that still your view on crusaders games? this year i think youll be pretending to be a football fan from what i seen of them thus far!

Early days yet. I wasn't surprised by the result though to be honest.

I enjoy watching the 6N but the OP was asking about excitement levels and as a neutral I remain calm for the 6N matches. The excitement levels obviously go up when it's your own team. I watch the football in Madrid and have a season pass for Atletico but I will never pretend to be a football fan. It's just an excuse to be with friends and get drunk afterwards. If the Crusaders finish last, I'll still support them. Moving Dagg back to fullback might help.

yes he was exposed on the wing in defense but the auckland team have so much pace and size they look like what wales desperate aspire to be at the moment. they could take new zealand rugby to the next level if they get some of the sillier side of there nature coached out. it looks like they have the all black coaching team with them now. is that a permanent fixture do you know?

Seems a good Lions tour is determined by whether they win or not. The 71 and 74 Lions were deemed great yet all others here dour yet there was still great rugby played. 2009 was a great series as well. Seems the concept of grouping the 4 countries is a flawed one by its nature when it should be.

Lions test.
England v France. Le Crunch!!
England v anyone else.
Wasps final (we won the last 10 we played though ). Sadly not likely to feature in another anytime soon.
Ealing v Richmond.

Lions isnt that big a deal to me, better than the summer tours but not something that carries the same emotional attachment to me as some other games.

I have wafted back toward the international game recently after being ardently pro club for a long while.

Nothing will ever beat the thrill of Zebre vs Connacht though.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:
I have wafted back toward the international game recently after being ardently pro club for a long while.

Do you only follow international rugby when England are winning?

GunsGerms wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:
I have wafted back toward the international game recently after being ardently pro club for a long while.

Do you only follow international rugby when England are winning?

No, just when Tigers arent

I find that increasingly the level of excitement depends on finding some good reason to root for a team. That can happen at any time. With teams I don't support, it tends to happen within a game - I found myself shouting for Wales against France in the RWC, for instance, and then for France against the ABs, simply because they were both unexpectedly competitive.

With England or Quins, or the Lions, I generally find a reason to get excited earlier than with teams I don't follow as closely. But, for instance, it was only when England were still level with Wales late in last year's 6N game that I really got excited. In the run up to last year's AP final I was resigned to Quins losing - until it was predicted that the pitch temperature would get up to 30 degrees and I twigged that training in Abu Dhabi might be better preparation than training in Leicestershire. That got me really excited.

With the Lions, the level of excitement for me will depend on how well the team seems to be gelling. It's harder and harder to do in the professional era because the teams have so little time together. It doesn't help that the last two tours have been lost in the first two tests - the excitement of going into a deciding third test would be very high.

"it was only when England were still level with Wales late in last year's 6N game that I really got excited."

I couldn't eat or sleep for a week before it

RubyGuby wrote:"it was only when England were still level with Wales late in last year's 6N game that I really got excited."

I couldn't eat or sleep for a week before it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyC8qT0fbzU

Your secret is out


As comical as this is it does sum up just how much enjoyment people can get from the 6 nations grudge matches.



Also this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLon6grUrqQ

RubyGuby wrote:"it was only when England were still level with Wales late in last year's 6N game that I really got excited."

I couldn't eat or sleep for a week before it

Well, quite. England were coming off the back of a dire RWC and had scraped two wins against Scotland and Italy with a very inexperienced team. Wales had been within a whisker of the final and were on track for a Slam. Going into the match, it didn't seem realistic to hope for much more than a performance that England could learn from. It was when it became clear that England were matching Wales that it got exciting. Right up until the point that they were - unfairly in my book - denied the equalising try.