Breaking the spell
- 15 Feb 07, 09:58 AM
London - I can't quite decide how I feel this morning. Not about life in general, though that's got me unusually stumped too, but about whether it's a good thing there's no this weekend.
By this time, we're normally upping the ante and starting to salivate over the weekend's clashes.
The teams have been named, the coaches and captains are in the process of delivering their final news conferences and we, the fans, are easing into our familiar pre-match routine of talking a load of old cobblers at each other until 30 seconds before kick-off.
But now, I can't help feeling slightly bereft. I know we've only had two rounds of matches so far, but I'm into it.
It's like being at a party where you've been making very significant progress with a particularly attractive specimen, only for them to leave (through no fault of yours, you understand). The party is still going on around you, but it's not quite the same, the buzz has gone and your bubble has burst. When they turn up again later on, it's great, but there's no guaranteeing you'll be able to recreate the magic.
And that's sort of how the mid-tournament break feels. But being nearly grown up, I do understand that there are other issues involved, other than just my carnal need for self-gratification through international rugby.
The players could do with a rest, the clubs want a pay day, and the diehard club fans want to get some use out of their season ticket.
The has been well documented but suffice to say, the clubs want to play their big stars, to whom they pay big wages, and who attract big crowds. On the other side of the coin, the national teams want their best players fit and raring to go come Test time.
That's another argument going on somewhere else by people in suits.
But I can't help wondering, as a fan, whether it wouldn't be better to have the Six Nations in one hit. They do it in New Zealand, and look how good they are. In fact, while I'm about it, and purely from a sociability point of view, I'd like to scrap Sunday matches too, if only to make it more acceptable, should we wish, to turn the match into a bit more of an "occasion", if you know what I'm saying.
That's probably slightly too utopian for modern thinking. And it is actually quite nice to have something else to look forward to once the fog has cleared about Sunday lunchtime.
But a Six Nations without a break? Who's in? Or can you have too much of a good thing?
Wales 27-18 England
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I'd just cancel the whole thing to be honest. Then you wouldn't be disappointed about the let down that is the empty weekends in the middle.
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It makes perfect sense for the Six Nations to be played in one go. In fact, it would then get somewhere close to replicating the World Cup. Of course, that would leave the non-international players with their clubs, so why not play a knock-out cup compeition then, like that rather stupid Anglo-Welsh affair. It would require clubs to have bigger squads, which they could afford if the RFU picked up the wages of the internationals and those wages didn't count towards the salary cap.
It could also be played at the end of the season, but that would mean that the chance of getting France at home on a wet and cold Saturday in February would go, and you might end up playing them on a warm and sunny Saturday in April or May in Paris, which is not necessarily a good thing!
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The structure of the entire rugby season in the northern hemisphere needs to be reorganised as far as i can see. The players need to have a longer break in the summer to unwind and recover and then have a more balanced season organising the 6 Nations, Heineken Cup and each country's respective league equally.
Oh and scrap the EDF as it is not doing the players any good having more games when the majority of the teams do not take the competition seriously. Its funny that the southern hemisphere nations have a great structure where each tournament is played from start to finish and they have a long break in the summer and therefore have stronger more formidable international teams
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This attitude is one of the main reasons that Wales will never win the world cup and will never really be up there with the elite of world rugby. We STILL have that old fashioned, amatuer approach to the game as do the welsh sportsmen who play it.
So many "great" players have failed to live up to thier potential as they cannot do without thier "pint". It's really pathetic truth be told.
If any fellow contributors truly truly believe that getting absolutely hammered can be part of a professional sportsmans fitness regime then no wonder we will never achieve true world class status in rugby. You just don't get at all !!
Stick to your drinking pint after pint, stagger around making fools of yourselves, true sportsmen rugby or otherwise just laugh at you. It's pathetic.
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"a particularly attractive specimen"?
Just five tries in three low-quality games at the weekend.
Please, spare us the hype.
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I think its needed from recuperation pioints of view.
With so many injuries happening as well it provides injured players teh chance to recover which is important to the tournament as a spectacle.
Similarly it provides fringe players the chance to push for a starting XV position with club form. If a player gets injured and a fringe player has to take his place you want them to have played some rugby in the previous month.
Oh and the English league isnt teh only one, the Magners league is happening as well. hensons game for teh Ospreys against Connaught on saturday (also featuring shane williams, cockbain, jonathon taylor etc) should prove very interesting from a form/selection point of view.
Its annoying not to have a match but I'm for tha break.
Hate the Sunday games though (when its Wales, don't mind when its the other teams as it gives me something to watch on Sunday, which is, I suppose, the point)
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The Guinness Premiership isn't the only league action this weekend - there are also a number of Magners Celtic League games.
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I can understand the wish for the 6 nations to be played in one go, but 5 test matches in a short time will place too much strain on the players. The week break gives everyone a chance to rest and re-energise ready for the second set of fixtures.
If you play it all in one go, it could turn into survival of the fittest as opposed to who is the best rugby team that wins it. And i also think most people would prefer to see the best players playing at their peak, rather than watching the replacements or watching players who aren't as fit as they could be.
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I agree it's tough to have a break just when the momentum starts to build, but the way I see it is this: It prolongs the excitement, enables 6N junkies like me to catch up on the highlights, reports, gossip and banter and protects players. Imagine when England goes to Wales on March 17th to win the grand slam only to have Jonny, Robinson and Lund crocked after playing too many games in quick succession! That would be too much to bear. Bring on Dublin!
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What about the Magners League with Welsh, Irish and Scottish teams all involved?
Honestly its all self self self with you English!!!
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Spot on! It could provide a solution to the club/country row. It's ridiculous that clubs have to play important games while their players are on international duty. (And while we're at it, why not reduce the ever-growing number of autumn internationals, which are only played for the TV revenue?) Andrew's idea of putting on the anglo-welsh thing, whatever it's called, to keep the other players match fit, also makes a lot of sense. (It wouldn't require bigger squads, Andrew - the top clubs have had to do that already) But we don't get much sense out of the amateurs who run the RFU of course.
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Rob
It would solve so many of the issues, as well as help players / coaches. Saying that they say Julian White was shattered after the AIs and that was 4 games only.
My view is the season should run
League - 6 games
HC - 3 games
AIs - 3 games
League - 5 games
Break - 2 weeks
HC - 3 games
League - 6 games
HC - QF/SF/F - 3 games
League - 5 games (straight league)
6N - 5 games
Max 39 games over a 39 week period.
Those top players are mor likely to be in the HC, so will get a rest inbetween finals and 6N.
Clubs keep their players for more continuous periods and the national coaches, yes even Scotland, get the players on block. Then if they go on tour, it will continue the progress made in the 6N....
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As an Irish fan, I'm quite happy to have a break this weekend. I was in Croker on Sunday and am really looking forward to staying well away from rugby for the next 10 days or whatevers left.....good time to find a good shrink to get over the 78th minute blues
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should be in 1 go. in NZ we have S14, then internationals, then NPC (or ANZC or whatever it is now), and then November tours. Each competition is clearly defined and players build for each one.
To play for your contry 1 week, back to club the next, risk injury and maybe not be in the national team the week after can't be good.
Also for the young players who take their places in the club team. It must be hard to give your all for your club knowing that you'll be back on the bench the next week.
Plus it's not fair on the national teams to stop and start. France are building nice momentum, only to be stopped, and I'm sure Wales and Ireland would like a chance to redeem themselves while their losses still hurt. 2 weeks time it won't matter so much and they'll all be back to square 1.
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What about the fans who travel home and away???
Logistically taking time off work to attend the away trips and not to mention the berating from 'err indoors' is NOT easy.
And financially, it's a back breaker. At least spread it over a couple of pay days! Hotels/tickets/travel/'refreshments' dont come cheap.
I dont think the 6Nations Committtee should continue to bend over to the wishes of the television bigwigs. The 6Nations is the world's premier annual rugby tournament - please keep at least a few of the old traditions.
The pressures from the Guinness Premiership, Magners league and European competitions is appreciated but keep 6 Nations sacred.
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Its time Europe sorted out its season. They should split the tournaments up.
Start the season in August with the leagues then run into Feb/March with the Heineken Cup and domestic cups and then have the 6 nations at the end of the season in April/May.
The club players will get a good long break in the Summer and the international coaches will get consistency and sole access to the players through the 6 nations and Summer tours.
The only place for conflict will be the Autumn internationals where they should stick to 3 weekends and not 4 as there was this time and compensate the clubs if they take players from them.
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I think that the 6 nations should be hald at the end of the season in one go. Each team plays a match every weekend.
Any news on the supposed compromises within the club v country row?
My suggestion is this. Divide the Premiership into 2 leagues of 8 teams. This takes the top level up to 16 teams and does not penalise the like of Penzance et al who are building new stadia and expanding, so the bigger teams in division one are included. The "premiership" money is split in same way as if you had one league with 16 teams in it. These two leagues have promotion and relegation but relegation from the "lower" premiership is every two years and invloves a play off between the top of divsion 1 and the bottom of the premiership.
The premiership finals are scrapped. If you win the league you win the league no second chances.
European games are played in 2/3 week sets. 2 lots of 3 weeks for the league games and a 2 week slot for the q/f and semis. The final is played at the end of the season (april)
Club Knockout competition takes place during the six nations or not at all.
By my calculations this saves 9 weeks of the season. 5 weeks are used for the 6 nations and 3 weeks for the autumn internationals. 1 week break between the end of the season and the start of the 6 nations.
For the players, they are on centralised contracts from the RFU. Players are contracted out to clubs on this method and can play a maximum of 16 club games a season. The club pays a small "loan fee" to RFU to do this. However the RFU holds full liability for these players.
A bit conveluted but I think I get my point across. Any thoughts?
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Cheers Brick-Wall - my mistake. The English and Magners Leagues are both in action this weekend, not just the Guinness Premiership as I originally wrote and you properly pointed out.
I've tweaked it in the piece and confessed here, so the article retains its flow. Hope you don't think I'm trying to brush my error under the carpet.
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Sounds good to me and it would, at long last, be fair to all the countries at the same time, but I guess the players would feel particularly knackered after 5 internationals in 5 weeks. A plus side is that it would focus national sides to think more of squad than just starting 15, which would be better preparation for a RWC.
I feel for the clubs but they sometimes 'forget' their income will benefit from a successful 6N. It's the international games that make their players the stars that pull in the crowds.
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Without a break, how can you tell if other players are coming back to form? The likes of Sheridan who could put in a stormer this weekend for Sale wouldn't get a look-in without an opportunity to prove himself. It give us, the fans, chance for a breathe, to take stock and build up to the next BIG game.
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What about the fans who travel home and away???
Logistically taking time off work to attend the away trips and not to mention the berating from 'err indoors' is NOT easy.
And financially, it's a back breaker. At least spread it over a couple of pay days! Hotels/tickets/travel/'refreshments' dont come cheap.
I dont think the 6Nations Committtee should continue to bend over to the wishes of the television bigwigs. The 6Nations is the world's premier annual rugby tournament - please keep at least a few of the old traditions.
The pressures from the Guinness Premiership, Magners league and European competitions is appreciated but keep 6 Nations sacred.
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The break must be retained to protect the players.
The key to success in an international tournament is consistency of selection. This is because, in the Northern Hemisphere, international teams get precious little time together meaning that significant team changes can only be destructive. You only need to look at Ireland without O'Driscoll and Stringer.
In the Magners and Premiership, squads are regularly rotated to rest key players because a. the squad players are familiar with patterns and colleagues and b. the impact of a single defeat is not as catestrophic as it could be in smaller leagues such as 6 nations or EDF.
The break is needed to allow players more recovery time on minor injuries that could become more serious if not rested. (e.g. would Mike Tindall be playing against Ireland? would JW or Chris Cussiter last the tournament? would Brian O'Driscoll be playing aganst England?)
I applaud the PRL clubs who have done the decent thing and rested England players this weekend.
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steve, did you honestly watch ireland france cos if that was a low key game then i suggest you learn a bit about rugby.that was nail biting stuff out there,and the quality was there for all to see(although the same can't be said of the england game)
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I'm all for playing it one go, but conversly to the argument surrounding Sundays, I'd like all the games played on a Sunday.
I still play for my local club and come Six Nations (or the autumn internationals for that matter) I am always gutted when an England game is scheduled for 3pm Saturday. of course my game is normally cancelled due to lack of numbers, as most of us would rather be cheering England on with a pint in hand, but I'd much rather have the opportunity to do both! And they talk of promoting grass roots rugby!
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#19
Agree to an extent but having a tighter period would encourage the clubs to develop players that would be capable of stepping in.
Just look at how NZ have developed the best team in the world, possibly the 2nd best team in the world at the same time.
over reliance on key players can leave any team exposed. London Irish stagnated under the use of the boot of Barry Everret, look how they have developed by bringing different player through with a style that can ve varied.
The abundance of Southern Hemisphere players in the key Nr 10 spot in the GP is highlighted in the RFU report just released. That has a direct knock on effect to the quality available to the national coach.
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obviously the other leagues are in action, but some of you seem to be missing the point! you forget that Ireland have central contracts and therefore choose when their star internationals can and can't play, and Wales certainly seem to have a lot more say on their players, whether they have central contracts or not I'm not sure, but you only have to look at the 成人快手 article to see that 7 of the Wales squad have been granted time off by the country.
So surely the gap in the middle is of more benefit to those countries who have central contracts, and less so to England, who can but plead with clubs to have them rested, but ultimately have no control.
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Sorry, didn't finish my comment on #22. A bit confused by Andrew's comment on "somewhere close to replicating the world cup" - Yeah apart from playing over 8 weeks, all in the same country, playing your B team against a minimum of 2 minnow nations and the knockout stages at the end, it would be exactly the same.
On the subject of format though, is there an argument for freshening the whole thing up - 2 groups of three (seeded on previous year ranking) playing home and away, sf followed by final at a pre agreed venue.
Maximum of six games. With annual revenue guaranteed rather than biannual.
Wouldn't be the same though would it.
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Seems to be a lot of people advocating that the break is needed to give players a rest. What rest are the English players getting by playing for their clubs this weekend?
With regard to spereading the tournament over several pay days anyone who is able to get tickets for all 5 games can sureley afford to go to the home and away games anyway.
IMO the 6N should be played non stop over 5 weeks.
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I have often wondered why the 6 Nations is done in two halfs but thinking about it it does give the players a little more time to recover and it gives those players coming back from injury who if played too early would damage themselves more time to recover fully before coming back to the game - possibly it even allows some players who are injured or suspended to play when they wouldnt otherwise be able to say for example Gareth Thomas had had an 8 week ban at the start of the 6 nations instead of the ban he got- if the tournament was played without a break he wouldnt be back for any of the tournament whereas with a break he can at least be back for the final game. Then again as a fan I find it incredibly boring to go back and watch the club games with all the hype about the 6 nations - I love watching my club in action but when compared to the international game its just not the same. There you have neither good or bad and absolutely no help to anyone in deciding whether or not to play the tournament for 8 successive weekends instead of taking 1 off in the middle.
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I think that we should have a 6 natiuons break as it allows players to recuperate.Im Irish and if we were playing england this weekend brian o driscoll and peter stringer might not play so for me its a good thing.
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Its nothing to do with Players schedules, Central contracts, Club v Country etc etc.. its to do with TV scheduling.
This weekend the Beeb has 3 live FA cup ties which it will broadcast.
The Beeb as primary broadcaster don't want to have 3 live Football matches and 3 live Rugby Union matches all on the same weekend.
Therefore something has to give... It's really that simple!
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#22
thats fine but they are obviously not going to rest the scottish players are they.
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I think they should all be played on consecutive weekends and all on a Saturday.
At the very least it'll prepare us for when the World Cup comes around and we have to play games every 5 or 6 days.
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What about playing it over 6 weekends with a full schedule of matches in the first and last 2 weekend and the games staggered in the middle weekends. This year would see, for example, France V Wales and Scotland v Italy this weekend, while Ireland would play England the weekend after. followed by the ladt 2 set of matches.
In this way each team has a week off to recuperate.
Agree about playing at the end of the season, though, I'd love to have matches here in Rome on a balmy Aoril evening.
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What about playing it over 6 weekends with a full schedule of matches in the first and last 2 weekend and the games staggered in the middle weekends. This year would see, for example, France V Wales and Scotland v Italy this weekend, while Ireland would play England the weekend after. followed by the ladt 2 set of matches.
In this way each team has a week off to recuperate.
Agree about playing at the end of the season, though, I'd love to have matches here in Rome on a balmy Aoril evening.
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Vince(23)
Steve(5) is obviously from the "Southern Hemisphere", where it's forbidden to say a good thing about "Northern Hemisphere" rugby.
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Personally think they should condense the tournament into 6 consecutive weekends, with the 3rd round of matches split over 2 weeks. That way the players get a mid-tournament breather and we all have a game to watch every weekend.
While we're on the subject of wholesale season re-structure, what about going the SH route and fitting the HC in the 9 weeks prior to AI's then kick off domestic seasons in December?
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Three choices.
1. Have the 6 Nations at the beginning of the season.
2. Have it in the middle, as now, but with no other games during the tournament, unless some clubs can field '2nd fifteens' against each other. (Unlikely!).
3. Have the tournament at the end of the season but allow two weeks after the season finishes before starting. This would let players have some rest before the games.
Whatever happens all games should be played every week, no breaks.
Oh, and what about 'central contracts'.......?
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I believe that the tournaments should be split up so you don't have any other tournament happening in the middle of another. It demeans both tournaments when this happens (both the league (GP or Magners) and the 6n in this case).
I also believe one of the main reasons for having this week off from the 6n is if the games were all played back to back the "smaller" nations would be at a disadvantage as they don't have the same strength in depth and this week allows them more time to recover. Imagine the difference were England to play Ireland without BoD for instance (as would happen if we played them this weekend).
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Observation in today's press.
Newcastle have not selected JW because he is not fit. Nothing to do with resting for England.
Still need the week?
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You suggest having the 6 Nations in one hit and comment "They do it in New Zealand, and look how good they are.". It's worth pointing out that although the Tri-Nations runs over 9 consecutive weekends there are 3 teams. Consequently, on any given weekend 2 teams are playing and 1 is resting. In 2006 New Zealand played a maximum of 3 consecutive weekends before getting a weeks rest over the 9 week tournament. A genuine equivalent in the 6 Nations would not be a 5 week tournament, but rather the same 7 weeks but with only 2 games each weekend for the first 6.
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Lest we forget:
1) the old 5 Nations used to be played on alternate weekends and, with the odd number of teams, every country had a bye weekend.
2) the Tri-Nations IS played right through on consecutive weekends BUT again there is an odd number of teams so one team GETS A REST each week.
The 6 Nations is the showpiece of the NH game, do we not risk devaluing it by compressing it into such a tight time window?
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I'm shocked that so many people would be willing to give up 100 years of rugby history just to solve a few problems. Do you want the Lions tour scraped as well?
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT MOVING THE 6 NATIONS
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