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Premiership club boss backs radical 'one host' Six Nations idea

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Exeter boss Rob Baxter has outlined that staging the upcoming Six Nations in one country to ensure that spectators could attend the matches could be far more preferable than the deflating prospect of the games going ahead behind closed doors – as happened in the 2021 championship. The half-dozen Six Nations unions took a massive financial hit by going ahead with the tournament last year as scheduled.

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No fans were present at the 15 games in a competition won by Wales and while the outlook greatly improved after that with the recent Autumn Nations Cup matches hosting capacity crowds at places such as Twickenham, Murrayfield, the Principality, Aviva Stadium and Stade de France, fresh pandemic restrictions have led to concerns that the upcoming 2022 Six Nations will be severely affected by crowd attendance and travel red tape. 

Crowd capacity at live sports events in France, Ireland, Scotland and Wales has been severely cut in recent weeks, with the latter two countries having to essentially close their doors completely to spectators at club matches (the limit is 500 in Scotland, 0 in Wales). It has sparked fears regarding the stadium capacities for Six Nations matches in February and March. 

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England’s Lewis Ludlam guests on RugbyPass Offload

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England’s Lewis Ludlam guests on RugbyPass Offload

There have already been reports that the WRU are checking out the possibility of staging its home matches in England as there have been no restrictions in that country regarding attendances at live sports events and it has now generated speculation that the Six Nations could potentially mirror the Rugby Championship and have the tournament hosted in a single country, namely England. 

The 2020 Tri-Nations was staged in Australia in front of spectators as was the majority of the 2021 Rugby Championship and the idea that England might potentially host all 15 games in the 2022 Six Nations received the support on Wednesday of Rob Baxter, the boss of the Exeter Chiefs who will likely be in the running to succeed Eddie Jones as England coach following the 2023 World Cup. 

In contrast to the restrictions affecting rugby in neighbouring countries, Exeter just last weekend played host to a record Sandy Park attendance and with stadiums in England set to remain open to full capacity and not be subjected to crowd restrictions, Baxter reckoned the idea that England could stage the entire Six Nations would be far better than the prospect of matches going ahead elsewhere behind closed doors or being postponed.  

“The broader view would be that it should be played across the countries because that is very much the rugby view but if they just want to cancel the tournament (or play it behind closed doors), it will mean that income across all the home unions will be severely disrupted and that will have a knock-on effect greater than the professional game… the repercussions will be greater than that. 

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“It isn’t for me to decide where a tournament should happen. It should be a broader discussion but I would think with the problem we have had with Covid recently, the unions are stretched on income and revenue already. With every sporting body, revenue is the biggest thing that has been damaged so anything that can keep revenue online has got to be preferable to binning things for a season. It has got to be. We have all got to find a way to keep going and keep revenue coming in, the same in any business you have got to explore those options.

“From a rugby perspective, the whole beauty of the Six Nations has been that change of environment, that change of potential weather conditions, that change in the whole situation is what has been fantastic about the Six Nations historically. It’s interesting, isn’t it? The game that comes to mind the most for various reasons, especially for me as an Englishman, is England going really well in the tournament and then being derailed at the last by going to play Scotland or Wales or Ireland.

“Those are the great challenges, that is what makes the Six Nations a great competition to win. You see French teams, one week they can beat anybody in the world in Paris and then the next week it doesn’t go quite so well in Cardiff. Those are the things that you see and that is the beauty of the tournament. That is from a rugby perspective which is what I am sure we all want to see happen. 

“That said, we can’t all sit here and pretend the world is in an ideal place at the moment and the reality is that if a tournament can go ahead with crowds that financially will help all the unions carry on and thrive and gain enough money to carry on their rugby programmes. 

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“You need to remember for the national bodies their responsibility for the game goes beyond professional sport, they go down right to grassroots rugby, so if playing the tournament provides a level of income that cancelling it or no crowds or however you want to look at it would break, then you look at the next-best scenario. If the next best scenario is to play it in one country but you can have sell-out crowds and you can raise some revenue and you can keep that income going through all the bodies, then that has got to be better than cancelling it.”

Before the Six Nations is due to start, the Champions Cup is supposed to complete its pool schedule but that is in jeopardy due to the red tape introduced pre-Christmas by the French government and resulted in the postponement of numerous round two games.  

Asked if the one-country host idea might be a way for the EPCR to complete its 2021/22 tournament, Baxter added: “Because of those travel regulations, because of the spread of the tournament, would it be possible? I don’t know. With the Six Nations, you could in theory create a bubble in one country and the tournament gets done in one block with no further travel. I don’t think you can see the (European) tournament out without that travel in between.”      

 

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Adrian 1 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

11 Go to comments
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Trevor 4 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

21 Go to comments
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Bull Shark 8 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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