Friday Night Lights - a history
The Six Nations is probably the biggest annual international sporting competition in the world.
I’ve already explained in great detail how it’s better than the Super Bowl, how Northern Hemisphere rugby is vastly superior to its southern counterpart and how the rich variety of supporters the competition brings forth adds to its charms.
It’s historic AF, as the kids say, tracing its history all the way back to 1883, though Eddie Butler’s montage voiceovers weren’t quite as good back then. Still, that doesn’t mean history can’t be made, and in 2009 a new project was embarked upon by the organisers of the tournament, with great encouragement from the French rugby union. For the first time in its history, a Six Nations game would be held on a Friday night , a daring record surely up there with Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon, or the first time I managed to fold a fitted bed sheet without swearing.
French rugby has a long and proud tradition domestically of Friday night contests serving as something of an entrée to the weekend, but internationally the decision to hold a game at the Stade de France outside of the usual Saturday/Sunday window was met with great anger. Supporters bemoaned the lack of consideration for travelling fans, and decried the fact that the influx of cash into the game had given broadcasters carte blanche to dictate the tournament to their whims. Players were equally put out, with Wales captain Ryan Jones and flanker Martyn Williams pointing out that a 9pm kick off presented challenges in terms of time management and tiredness.
Even French coach Marc Lievremont wasn’t happy, being of the opinion that anything other than 3pm Saturday afternoon kick offs were sacrilege as far as he was concerned. Ever the contrarian, Wales coach Warren Gatland thought the whole thing was “a fantastic idea”, claiming that a later kick off gave coaches much more time to prepare for a match.
To the match itself then, and, despite a late surge of pressure from Wales, the home side came away victorious 21-16, crushing Welsh dreams of back-to-back Grand Slams in the process. Wales beat Italy in the following round to regain some composure, but then lost to Ireland at home in Cardiff in a nail-biting encounter which saw Ireland clinch their first Grand Slam since 1948. France for their part had evidently been benefitting from that Friday feeling, as in the following round they were thumped by England on a much more traditional Sunday afternoon.
Despite the loss, Wales clearly enjoyed the experience as they decided to take a leaf out of Rebecca Black’s book and get down on Fridays as it were. For the next seven years, Cardiff played host to a Friday night game, with Wales winning three of those matches. The tradition was clearly established, but that’s not to say it was without its detractors. The evident popularity of Friday night fixtures meant that they had become an irremovable part of the tournament, like the national anthems or mocking Jeremy Guscott’s choice of scarf, but the burden was not being shared equally .
Despite the supposed French love of Friday night games, they have yet to repeat their experiment in Paris (though have featured at Cardiff three times). Scotland have cited concerns over attendances, Ireland have pointed out the difficulties of international travel and the area surrounding England’s Twickenham stadium can be an impenetrable fortress at the best of times without throwing beered-up commuters into the mix. England’s opening match of the 2015 World Cup was held on a Friday, but the endeavour has yet to be repeated.
With Fridays now permanently pencilled in on rugby fans’ calendars, a new record is about to be set in 2018. For the first time ever, this year’s tournament will see a Friday night game that doesn’t feature Wales, with France hosting Italy at the Orange Velodrome in Marseille. Reports that Warren Gatland is planning to attend the game anyway and then go on a drunken search for a kebab shop at 3am are sadly unconfirmed.
Saturday afternoons will always appease the traditionalists, with the bright lights, pumping music and lasers of many Friday night games turning the Principality into an overblown facsimile of PRYZM on one too many occasions. But with viewing figures necessitating a continuation of the current scheduling, it’s certainly looking like Friday night fixtures are here to stay.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments