Global Season Closer?
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PRESS RELEASE
World Rugby announces historic agreement on long-term calendar harmony
Global calendar agreement sets out international schedule from 2020-32.
Latest News | World Rugby
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The good bits for me are:
- More tier one vs two matches.
- Scheduling the mid-year tour so that Super Rugby can run in one block, and
- Starting the EOY tour a week earlier which translates into a better break for players.
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@hydro11 Yeah, I think this sentence says it all:
With agreement reached on the season framework, discussions will continue among the relevant unions regarding the duration of the Six Nations and the British and Irish Lions, while the major domestic leagues will now be able to start planning start dates and schedules.It's a framework, that's all. And that framework has changed. Whatever happens domestically has to fit in the framework, but it's still up to national unions and competition organisers to decide when Premiership, Super Rugby, Top 14, Eur Champions Cup etc games will be played.
For Super Rugby, it means that the competition will not be interrupted in June. In NZ, for the Mitre 10 Cup, I assume it will mean that provincial teams have more time to prepare for the competition, including their Super Rugby players who are not in the AB squad. I see that as an important improvement.
Not sure what it means for the European competitions.
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Article in the Telegraph:
Revealed: How the global calendar shake-up will have a huge impact on the English domestic game
McCafferty revealed that the new international window in July, when the home unions tour the southern hemisphere, will enable the Premiership final, which is normally held in the last weekend in May, to move to the last weekend in June – with a two-week rest period guaranteed before England play their first tour match. Premiership Rugby, however, intends to retain its traditional start to its tournament in the first weekend of September and the new nine-month domestic season will ensure that the league will no longer overlap with either England’s November Test series or the Six Nations Championship. That will ensure that England’s top internationals will be able to feature more often for their club sides in the Premiership, although the number of games they will be allowed to play will not change from the limit of 32 as agreed between the Rugby Football Union and the clubs. -
@Stargazer It mentions Lions tours shortening from 10 weeks to 8 weeks. Interesting.
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@Stargazer said in Global Season Closer?:
@hydro11 Yeah, I think this sentence says it all:
With agreement reached on the season framework, discussions will continue among the relevant unions regarding the duration of the Six Nations and the British and Irish Lions, while the major domestic leagues will now be able to start planning start dates and schedules.It's a framework, that's all. And that framework has changed. Whatever happens domestically has to fit in the framework, but it's still up to national unions and competition organisers to decide when Premiership, Super Rugby, Top 14, Eur Champions Cup etc games will be played.
For Super Rugby, it means that the competition will not be interrupted in June. In NZ, for the Mitre 10 Cup, I assume it will mean that provincial teams have more time to prepare for the competition, including their Super Rugby players who are not in the AB squad. I see that as an important improvement.
Not sure what it means for the European competitions.
Fair point about Mitre Ten Cup. The competition will be improved by having a bigger break between Super Rugby.
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@antipodean said in Global Season Closer?:
The good bits for me are:
- More tier one vs two matches.
- Scheduling the mid-year tour so that Super Rugby can run in one block, and
- Starting the EOY tour a week earlier which translates into a better break for players.
I wonder how NZR is going to manage that with the Mitre10 Cup Finals. They included several Mitre 10 Cup players in the EOYT squad last year, because of injuries, immediately following the finals. They might have to start & finish the Mitre 10 Cup a week earlier, or reduce the number of games or change the entire format.
Edited to add:
Example: Scott Barrett wasn't allowed to play the final in 2016. If they don't change anything, it would mean that a player in the same situation will not even be available for the Mitre 10 Cup semi-finals. -
@Stargazer said in Global Season Closer?:
@antipodean said in Global Season Closer?:
The good bits for me are:
- More tier one vs two matches.
- Scheduling the mid-year tour so that Super Rugby can run in one block, and
- Starting the EOY tour a week earlier which translates into a better break for players.
I wonder how NZR is going to manage that with the Mitre10 Cup Finals. They included several Mitre 10 Cup players in the EOYT squad last year, because of injuries, immediately following the finals. They might have to start & finish the Mitre 10 Cup a week earlier, or reduce the number of games or change the entire format.
Edited to add:
Example: Scott Barrett wasn't allowed to play the final in 2016. If they don't change anything, it would mean that a player in the same situation will not even be available for the Mitre 10 Cup semi-finals.If they pursue with Bleidsloe III that usually occurs 1-2 weeks before the EOYT anyway. But by moving it back a week they perhaps give the Maori/JABs an opportunity to have a 2-3 match tour, whereas you are looking at a pretty brutal 2 week tour straight after the final (assuming they are playing teams within the window).
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Quite like the increased tier 1 vs tier 2 commitment - not only because I'd like to see more varied games, but mathematically it decreases our commitment to play teams like England given they were unwilling to revenue share. If on the average EOYT we have to play 2 of the Home Unions + France plus a tier 2 team (Canada, USA, Georgia, Italy, Japan, Georgia?).
The Home Unions only get the ABs about twice every 5 years by that count which should leave plenty of negotiating room for out of window negotiations.
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I hope this means the third Bledisloe Cup test gets ditched. It's so boring, to win the cup back the challenger should have to beat the holder home and away. Three tests series should be reserved for tours, so the opposition changes, not Australia every year.
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@KiwiMurph said in Global Season Closer?:
@Stargazer It mentions Lions tours shortening from 10 weeks to 8 weeks. Interesting.
10 weeks? There are only 6 consecutive Saturdays.
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@Crucial said in Global Season Closer?:
@KiwiMurph said in Global Season Closer?:
@Stargazer It mentions Lions tours shortening from 10 weeks to 8 weeks. Interesting.
10 weeks? There are only 6 consecutive Saturdays.
I think that was games and not weeks.
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On the face of it, looks like SANZAAR has got the better part of the deal - shifting June tours into July.
It will mean different things to different unions in the Six Nations.
There was a lot of discussion around the holding of the European final and that it should be the finale of the European season. McCafferty seems to be getting his oar in early by saying the Premiership will finish last.
Besides that, the PRO12 plans to shorten its regular league season anyway, reducing from 22 to 18 weeks with a two conference structure from 2018/19. This will take games out of the international windows. The season will now start in late September following the decision for new season end to be in last week of July.
The European Cup pool stages will be run en bloc during December and January. The English and French clubs want the Six Nations compressed to six weeks instead of seven to suit their revised season.
A new British & Irish development cup competition could emerge during the 6N test window replacing the dead duck Anglo-Welsh cup. This would feature the academy players from the 24 senior teams in the two leagues. The current B&I Cup would disappear or be reduced to lower club level.
The aim was supposedly to reduce player fatigue and number of matches.
Still not sure if that will be the outcome.
