Rugby Championship set for significant revamp next year
The Rugby Championship is set for its first overhaul since Argentina was admitted into the competition eight years ago.
The New Zealand Herald has revealed that the competition will be re-formatted so that the All Blacks and Wallabies will play the Springboks and Argentina at home on a biennial basis, and vice versa.
The shift in scheduling brings an end to teams having to travel halfway across the globe to play two matches against opposing sides each year.
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Instead, the All Blacks, for example, will only play one of either South Africa or the Pumas at home once each season, while they will face the other side once abroad in the same year.
The Wallabies will do the same in a mirror image, with fixtures reversing the following year to ensure both the All Blacks and Australia host the side they play away from home next year in 2022.
The reasoning behind the alteration steams from a desire to bring a greater sense of occasion to fixtures for fans, as the Springboks and Pumas will only play in New Zealand or Australia every second year, and likewise for the All Blacks and Wallabies playing in South Africa and Argentina.
Bledisloe Cup fixtures between New Zealand and Australia will remain unchanged, as the trans-Tasman rivals will continue to face off twice annually on home-and-away basis, as will the Springboks and Pumas.
The move has also been engineered to give the Rugby Championship a ‘retro’ theme, whereby international sides can feel that they are on an old-fashioned tour.
Although it is unlikely, there remains a possibility that the All Blacks and Wallabies can travel with extended squads to play mid-week fixtures in South Africa and Argentina.
The same concept could also be utilised by the Springboks and Pumas when they travel to Australasia, and SANZAAR is hopeful that the changes will bring a more compelling edge to the Rugby Championship, something of which the competition has severely lacked in comparison to its Six Nations counterparts in Europe since expanding to a four-team tournament in 2012.
The added bonus of making the Rugby Championship a more difficult competition to win by reverting the number of annual matches to just four per side is also a prominent factor in the scheduling overhaul.
Since Argentina’s admission into the Southern Hemisphere’s premier international tournament, the All Blacks have claimed six of the eight titles.
The two times they didn’t win – in 2015 and 2019 – came in years that the competition was shortened due to the World Cup.
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In every other year where the tournament was held in its current format, whereby every teams plays each other both home and away, the All Blacks have dominated proceedings, often clinching the title with one or even two matches to spare.
A favourable scheduling system – which has remained consistent since 2012 – has seen them play the Wallabies, Springboks and Pumas in successive fixtures every year, possibly a significant factor behind their unprecedented success in the Rugby Championship.
Prior to their run of three straight home matches, the All Blacks have continually opened their campaigns in Australia before finishing the competition with back-to-back clashes in Argentina and South Africa.
Conversely, the Pumas have always had to play three consecutive matches on the road against the Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies in that order.
Those run of fixtures have been sandwiched by a campaign-opening home clash against South Africa and two further home matches against Australia and New Zealand.
An alteration in scheduling will offset travel burdens faced by all four sides in the Rugby Championship, a facet of the competition that players have struggled with given they then have to tour Europe a matter of weeks after the tournament’s conclusion.
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Comments on RugbyPass
In the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getitng to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
5 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
6 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
5 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
6 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
54 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
54 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
6 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
54 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
54 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
54 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
18 Go to comments