Players call for global season

http://www.independent.ie/sport/rugby/sexton-and-mccaw-back-plans-for-global-rugby-season-29406872.html


Irish flyhalf Jonny Sexton and All Black great Richie McCaw have urged rugby leaders to move the June internationals and adopt an integrated global season to improve player welfare and safeguard the future of the game.

The pair threw their weight behind a proposal by the International Rugby Players' Association (IRPA) to make the changes for the 2016 season that would help all test playing nations to pick their best players.

The IRPA want to move the June test window back to the end of July, allowing the Southern Hemisphere-based players to finish the Super Rugby club season, while those in Europe would start their domestic campaigns later, possibly October.

McCaw said it was an opportunity to make a significant and beneficial change.

"If the game's leaders give this idea, or a variation of it, serious consideration it could be a game-changer for professional rugby," the 116 times capped flanker said in a statement.

"It would be fantastic to address this long standing season structure debate once and for all, the players and the game would be so much better for it."

Sexton, who started all three tests in the British and Irish Lions' recent test series win over Australia, agreed.

"We see this initiative as beneficial for the global game," the flyhalf said.

"From a player perspective, we urge our leaders to get in a room together, take a positive attitude and see what can be done."

The IRPA said existing windows for World Cups, Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and November tests would not change and that 'preliminary discussions have already started with some National Unions.'

UNIQUE POSITION

Calendar complaints have been a long-standing issue in rugby, coupled with the growing demands on players through increased physicality and number of matches.

Currently, European countries tour Southern Hemisphere sides in June with return matches held in November and December. The timing means teams always tour at the end of their ever growing seasons.

...........

What about the November tests. If the June series get pushed back what of the AIs? Will they become the Winter Internationals. Don't think SH teams will want to fly or play in a northern winter.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:What about the November tests. If the June series get pushed back what of the AIs? Will they become the Winter Internationals. Don't think SH teams will want to fly or play in a northern winter.

I'm guessing here but I'd say the November tests could be pushed back to january and the 6 nations played in april. Or maybe the novemebr internationals will be played in feb and the 6 nations starts straight after that. There are plenty of possibilities and no doubt plenty of loose ends need to be tied up.

Having them in late January would give a good break for the SH players. Putting back the 6n would avoid or make far less likely the farce of France Ireland being cancelled.

Seems a sensible move. I expect clubs to put up obstacles in the North to any potential changes. More so as a tactical move to gain concessions with regards to making players available.

profitius wrote:The IRPA said existing windows for World Cups, Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and November tests would not change and that 'preliminary discussions have already started with some National Unions.'

If the only thing that is going to change is the June Tests going back one month there is a real prospect of the NH Test players having no pre-season and the first rugby they're called to play in is the Autumn Internationals starting in November!

The Great Aukster wrote:

profitius wrote:The IRPA said existing windows for World Cups, Six Nations, the Rugby Championship and November tests would not change and that 'preliminary discussions have already started with some National Unions.'

If the only thing that is going to change is the June Tests going back one month there is a real prospect of the NH Test players having no pre-season and the first rugby they're called to play in is the Autumn Internationals starting in November!

Good point. The november tests have to change. As it is the players are only back playing a few weeks before they start.

I overlooked the part about the big tournaments not changing.

Isn't it more sensible for rugby in the NH to become a summer sport like it has with rugby league. If we had a season running from March to November to line up with the SH then wouldn't that make scheduling much easier.

Lets be fair our summers aren't that great but it would be a darn site better than a cold wet Friday night at Cardiff Blues for me. I would be much more content and FAR more likely to go if I could sip my cold pint on a warm evening while watching a game. Hell I may even buy a burger.

I would be all for it and I think it would do the NH teams, players and crowds the world of good. Having seen some of the games at the Arms Park this last winter it looked more like a World War 1 trench battle than a rugby pitch.

I just wonder how there will ever be a global season.

From my perspective there needs to be an international window that is the same for NH and SH, say August to December, all clubs and Provinces/franchise must release their players and the Rugby Championship, Six natuons inbound, outbound tours and RWC's must be accommodated in that time.

That is five months, 22 weeks roughly, it is enough time to prepare for twelve tests and travel.

That leaves 7 months or roughly 30 weeks for HC, Currie Cup, Amlin, Aviva etc. time for preparation, and tournaments.

But it will never happen.

Am I right in saying that the SH would get 3 months off (dec, Jan and Feb) where as the NH would only get Aug off?

Or do I have that completely wrong?

Depends how the global season is structured, but currently the Super XV start middle of feb, before that you have some warmup games, I thin they already start preseason training middle of January.

doctornickolas wrote:Isn't it more sensible for rugby in the NH to become a summer sport like it has with rugby league. If we had a season running from March to November to line up with the SH then wouldn't that make scheduling much easier.

Lets be fair our summers aren't that great but it would be a darn site better than a cold wet Friday night at Cardiff Blues for me. I would be much more content and FAR more likely to go if I could sip my cold pint on a warm evening while watching a game. Hell I may even buy a burger.

I would be all for it and I think it would do the NH teams, players and crowds the world of good. Having seen some of the games at the Arms Park this last winter it looked more like a World War 1 trench battle than a rugby pitch.

Summer games are fine for the UK. What about southern France? And other parts of Europe. And North Africa? If a global season is wanted it has to be global.

doctornickolas wrote:Isn't it more sensible for rugby in the NH to become a summer sport like it has with rugby league. If we had a season running from March to November to line up with the SH then wouldn't that make scheduling much easier.

Lets be fair our summers aren't that great but it would be a darn site better than a cold wet Friday night at Cardiff Blues for me. I would be much more content and FAR more likely to go if I could sip my cold pint on a warm evening while watching a game. Hell I may even buy a burger.

I would be all for it and I think it would do the NH teams, players and crowds the world of good. Having seen some of the games at the Arms Park this last winter it looked more like a World War 1 trench battle than a rugby pitch.

Boxing day vs The Dragons was awful. Freezing cold, dreadful rugby. But there are some real issues with summer rugby. Sale for instance ground share with a RL team. I assume there would be other individual issues aswell.

Summer rugby would also mean less attendance, tv revenues etc as most people bugger off 3/4 week between mid july and mid august. Would kill pro club rugby in the NH as we know it.

Good. That's settled then. Summer rugby it is in the NH.  

The only good thing about February/ March is the Six Nations, same with January... you know the wait is nearly over. If it is pushed back to start in April/ May I don't know what will get me through those dark winter days.  

whocares wrote:Summer rugby would also mean less attendance, tv revenues etc as most people bugger off 3/4 week between mid july and mid august. Would kill pro club rugby in the NH as we know it.

I totally disagree with that. I know lots of people including myself who would be far more likely to attend. Yes there will be a couple of weeks where people are on holiday but it won't be all the same time. There are plenty of weeks where I don't bother because the weather is just so rubbish. I don't have a season ticket and am just a casual supporter and I definitely attent more at the start and end of the season when it is a much more pleasant experience.

I think we would probably have more evening games in the height of summer but surely March April May Sept Oct Nov are already part of the season anyway. We are just adding June July August.

Also we are not competing with the biggest sport in the UK, football, for a chunk of the season.

Rugby League had managed it succesfully so why not union.

i would leave the amateur club rugby as a winter sport because most of them won't have the facility to water the pitch in the summer and stop it becoming too hard, but the advantage of that is that we effectively have 12 months of rugby and the club game gets plenty of prominence in the Dec Jan and Feb periods which would include the traditional Boxing day and New Years day type fixtures.

It also allows the professional game to line up properly with the SH so we both have the same periods for internationals and Super15/HC. There can then be no complaints about "I'ts the end of our season we are all tired" .


It's a win win as far as I am concerned.

I still think its time for a pure international global competition, similar to the NFL with national teams drafting squads for the whole year who only play international rugby. It would save player burnout, country v club disputes, and give the majority of fans what they want, elite, international rugby.

To be a global season the SH and NH have to pair up. It doesn't necessarily mean Rugby in the NH has to become a summer sport.

But the NH would benefit massively from a re-structure that meant competitions didn't overlap.

We are always concerned at our players being withdrawn by their clubs when needed for international duty. If the season were better organised this would not be an issue.

THE NH has the same problem as SA has. Too many domestic competitions and not enough weeks in the year.

In SA you need 22 weeks for the Super XV
You used to need 16 weeks for the Currie Cup (before it was reduced)
Then you need 4 weeks for June test window, another 10 weeks for The Rugby Championship and another 4 weeks for November.

That excludes preparation time and R&R

So we either need to change the calendar to about 70 weeks In a year or find a solution to include some of the competitions as part of the others.

EG.

If the Super XV uses their conferences as closed systems and only derby matches are played as a round robin it can be used as the Currie Cup and the qualifier for Super Xv play offs which can take a number of different approaches, it could either lead to a Super 6 or 9, or just play offs.

That will mean we don't need a separate allocation of time for the Currie Cup and it would regain its importance on the rugby calendar and give players more time off and national coaches more time to prepare.

If you look at the seasons in both hemispheres there seems to be a crude overlap of club and test rugby in the NH. That is the biggest contributor of fatigue and injury I would argue. In the SH we largely pick and choose what our top players play. As BB says the new proposals incorporate the domestic competition into Super rugby reducing the workload. In the NH that is not the case.

I think summer rugby would have a serious impact on amateur club rugby in the UK - if it stays as a winter sport then OK but I think sooner or later it would have to fall in line with the pros and I wonder how many clubs would be sustainable - will there be enough people around to coach, open the clubhouse, do first aid cover and all the other things, will we be able to keep the young players coming to club during their summer holidays, can clubs afford the extra costs of maintenance of a pitch during a warm summer, etc. Also a good earner for many clubs is the bar income from showing games on TV.
I think a reset of the international windows may be a good idea as would a reduction in the overall number of games played (e.g. drop the B & I Cup) but rugby is a winter sport and should stay that way.
Regarding comparisons to RL - the move to summer was almost entirely at the behest of Sky who wanted a summer sport for TV purposes and AFAIK hasn't actually increased attendances or the popularity of the game outside of the northern strongholds.

First up I'm really glad that the players are making a stand, or at least starting to. I hope they are supported by the unions and other tournament organisers in sorting this out.

Secondly I think it's a bad idea to completely seperate international rugby periods and club rugby periods. Having lower key tournaments running during internationals provides a useful stepping stone between academies/age grade rugby and the top tier.

For me no solution will be perfect - it's just about finding a compromise that doesn't overwork the top players, and doesn't overly punish clubs for playing through international windows. If tournaments can be amalgamated and played on consecutive weekends then so much the better.

How can the amateur and pro games operate different seasons?

Pro squads wouldn't have the safety net of being able to call up feeder club players for injury crises and so would need to have the insurance of even larger squads. Those larger squads wouldn't be getting any match rugby to stay fit. Neither would first team starters be able to get any rehabilitation rugby coming back from injuries.

Then there are those clubs who play rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer, and what about the schools linked with clubs and use their facilities.

The only way the NH could facilitate a global season would be to take December off rather than July. Irrespective of messing with the traditions of a rugby lifetime - how many players on here would be prepared to say to their families that the summer holidays are cancelled!

I know it can't happen for now anyway but I would love to get rid of either the November or June internationals. The provinces barely ever get to send out a first 15 in the Rabo and its stopping the league from growing.

Its also taking away the occasion of playing against a SH team. It used to be so exciting getting to play against Aus, SA or NZ but now I don't even look forward to the games anymore.

You've only played us 7 times in the last decade of which three were in 2004, how can you not look forward to it?

I hope this happens.

Biltong wrote:You've only played us 7 times in the last decade of which three were in 2004, how can you not look forward to it?

We play against SH teams every year now though. The occasion is gone for me. I was more looking forward to our tour to America this year than the tour to NZ last year because we got to see how USA and Canada rugby are developing. I would love for us to tour Japan and the PIs.

I can't think of any sport where club and country commitments are balanced well so why continue this idea that players can perform on two fronts.
Maybe they could run a heineken cup of some description and super 15 in one run for half the season then run the international calender for the other half of the season. Let the clubs continue without the international players in domestic leagues. To try to keep going as it is jumping from one competition to another and trying to run some simultaneously is just ridiculous.

Biltong wrote:You've only played us 7 times in the last decade of which three were in 2004, how can you not look forward to it?

None of them have really been great games to watch, to be fair. I'm fairly indifferent about the national side in general at the minute but maybe Schmidt can make changes to how we play that will get me interested again.

A global season is necessary for international rugby to continue developing- the current system means overseas based players face ridiculous schedules if picked for their national sides. That said, I would rather have less test matches than a global season but at least a global season will mean the international calendar is more balanced.

It's telling that various professional players Unions have all come out in favour of it.

doddieman wrote:I can't think of any sport where club and country commitments are balanced well so why continue this idea that players can perform on two fronts.
Maybe they could run a heineken cup of some description and super 15 in one run for half the season then run the international calender for the other half of the season. Let the clubs continue without the international players in domestic leagues. To try to keep going as it is jumping from one competition to another and trying to run some simultaneously is just ridiculous.

I'd rather end international rugby rather than that.

doddieman wrote:I can't think of any sport where club and country commitments are balanced well so why continue this idea that players can perform on two fronts.
Maybe they could run a heineken cup of some description and super 15 in one run for half the season then run the international calender for the other half of the season. Let the clubs continue without the international players in domestic leagues. To try to keep going as it is jumping from one competition to another and trying to run some simultaneously is just ridiculous.

Agree with you, I said earlier in the thread you need only to have an international window from Aug-Nov.

The rest of the time can be for Club rugby.

Notch wrote:A global season is necessary for international rugby to continue developing- the current system means overseas based players face ridiculous schedules if picked for their national sides. That said, I would rather have less test matches than a global season but at least a global season will mean the international calendar is more balanced.

It's telling that various professional players Unions have all come out in favour of it.

It's telling that those players attracted by the French Euro don't want their International aspirations affected by the overly long extended French season.