Why does their have to be a break in the 6ns?

Says it all really. Why is their a break after the first 2 games?

Why can't the tournament play all the way through?

Is it to give the players a break,time out? or is their another reason?


Surely in this day and age the players should be able to play week in week out, should they not.

Discuss.

Mainly trwdition as 5Ns was played with two weeks between every round, so took 9 weeks.

Then financial, as more money can be sucked from sponsors and fans can spread cost.

Then finally player welfare. Internationals are much more intense and attritional. Injury rates tend to be pretty high, and tired bodies get injured quicker.

majestic

I don't see a sense in it, Tiger is right but todays game isn't the same as when the schedule deciders drafted it.

IF player welfare was so key so many players wouldn't be playing in the off weekends, plus recovery and rehab/prehab has also developed over the years.

The tournament needs to do somethig to stay relavent, the SH equivilent is electric to watch, the first 3/4 rounds of this tournament is always a dull affair, and early weather can dictate the whole tournament!

I'd prefer to move it into a March start for 5 weeks, or wait until the club season is over and play it then.

The Rugby Championship also has two week breaks. Clubs won't usually play players in the down weekend unless they have not been or been a sub. I imagine the coaches want their fringe players to get gametime back at their clubs as well.

The time of the 6Ns won't move because it suits tv with no other major sports taking place at this time other than league games in English premierships. Starting it in March would have it competing with Champions League and run-in of English Premiership.

Personally I like it just after Christmas which is rather a depressing time of the year.

It's the most lucrative rugby tournament in the world, so I wouldnt meddle with it unless you want even less money for your country.

LondonTiger wrote:Mainly trwdition as 5Ns was played with two weeks between every round, so took 9 weeks.

Then financial, as more money can be sucked from sponsors and fans can spread cost.

Then finally player welfare. Internationals are much more intense and attritional. Injury rates tend to be pretty high, and tired bodies get injured quicker.

Sort of right... The 5 Nations was played every 2 weeks, but wasn't a tradition, it goes back to the fact that when the tournament started it was an amateur sport and players had a day job to do as well. They only attended camp the Thr before the game and was back in work straight after. Many players of the day only got paid expenses for the games (should have been all, but lets not go down the boot money route), and it was seen as a big financial loss for them if they had a game every week. Hence the break, as it allowed them to work. Of course that pattern continued into the professional era and beyond.

Why the gap in today, is more down to the organisation (or lack of it) between the domestic leagues and the international windows. It has been asked by many coaches for years to reorganise the fixtures so that we had tournament windows, but I don't think there is a real drive to achieve it. Hence, we get the gaps...

But back to the OP, there is no real reason why the 6 Nations couldn't continue each week, apart from the money men wanting to spread it out.

why the 5Ns was played week on/week off is indeed down the the amateur player. however it did set up a tradition.

The current 6Ns is more condensed than the 5Ns was - and playing it over 5 consecutive weeks during the season would be crazy. But as the previous poster said - moving it to the end of the season would see it competing with other sports for attention from the media. without this attention the money spent by TV companies, sponsors etc will go down.

So whilst player welfare is a contributory factor - i agree in the end it comes down to money.

LondonTiger wrote:why the 5Ns was played week on/week off is indeed down the the amateur player. however it did set up a tradition.

The current 6Ns is more condensed than the 5Ns was - and playing it over 5 consecutive weeks during the season would be crazy. But as the previous poster said - moving it to the end of the season would see it competing with other sports for attention from the media. without this attention the money spent by TV companies, sponsors etc will go down.

So whilst player welfare is a contributory factor - i agree in the end it comes down to money.

... agreed ...

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