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Six Nations hold talks about delaying start of 2021 championship - reports
With the delayed 2020 Six Nations finally completed last Saturday, it has now emerged that talks have already taken place about delaying the February start of the 2021 championship until next autumn in the hope that matches won’t have to take place behind closed doors.
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The remaining four matches of the 2020 Six Nations were played without any spectators in attendance in Dublin, Llanelli, Rome and Paris over the past two Saturdays and organisers have already discussed whether it would be best not to begin the 2021 championship as planned on February 6.
A country such as Wales, who have home matches against Ireland and England, stands to lose upwards of £13.5million if those games go ahead with no-one in attendance.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Welsh Rugby Union CEO Steve Phillips revealed plans are afoot for a potential delay. “We have posed the question, ‘should we move the Six Nations?’ Everyone has shown great agility in changing things.
“They did move the Olympics by a year, which is quite a thing to do, so why would you not look at it? Going from 100 per cent, as we have always known it, to zero would mean we miss out on £13.5m pounds. That does become uncomfortable,” he said, hoping that the UK Government will eventually come to the assistance of the financially stricken sport in the coming weeks.
The Six Nations could be moved from spring to autumn 2021 amid coronavirus uncertainty | @WillGKelleher https://t.co/fHSDy1mwNS
— Mail Sport (@MailSport) November 6, 2020
“We’re optimistic Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will react to that over the next few weeks,” he continued before admitting pushing the championship later into 2021 could cause scheduling issues. “The difficulty is where you move it to. Moving it from starting in February to March, how do you know the climate will have changed and you can have crowds?
“If you push it too far you get the problem of season congestion, the knock-on on clubs. Given the size of the prize for the collective, you have to look at it whether you can deliver it is the next question.
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“What you probably want to avoid is displacing it into the autumn window where we play southern hemisphere opposition. That isn’t great either. There is a wider social piece here. I had a surreal experience of going to the Stade de France the other week.
“It really brings home how much the game needs a crowd. The financials are obvious, but it’s a very different environment particularly in international rugby. It is just wrong not to have crowds.”
With Amazon Prime becoming the main broadcaster for the upcoming Autumn Nations Cup, it’s also believed that the Six Nations will likely move from free-to-air TV from 2022 as the cash-strapped unions seek out the support of the subscription broadcasters.
“There is an inevitability to it,” continued Phillips in the Daily Mail. “Everyone is now trying to fill revenue holes. I fully accept not everyone is going to like it but it’s a decision that will be made as the Six Nations together. Would we consider Sky, BT, Amazon for that? Absolutely.”
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— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 5, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Hi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
3 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
3 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn 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 getting 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.
6 Go to comments