What The Rugby Championship needs to do to rival the Six Nations

If we’re not changing rules we’re changing competitions.

Firstly it needs to exist every year.

They should play it every year if they really want to copy the 6N

I’ve no skin in this one. Largely feel that including Fiji and/or Japan in an annual regional competition is good for the game. But honestly, who is asking for the rugby championship to change?

To me, it’s a bit of fun to debate whose competition is better but it’s meaningless as the differences are significant.

6N is a neat little tournament, but club footy clearly dominants up north.

It’s a different story in the South. This idea is terrible as a result. In the perfect world the 6N comp would be a merging of the two formats.

While TRC has been leading by example though, especially last year when it went down to the wire and victory was taken away from Argentina (and New Zealand) in the last game, there has certainly been some stagnation from when it was truly strong in the first decade. The second and third decade has largely been ruined by NZs dominance, and as a result the regularity of the fixtures year in year out had been thought of as stale.

SANZAAR have already fixed that problem with the introduction of Rivalry tours, and extrapolation of TRC into a 3/4 match series concept, and the break up of constant two test series (of course the author likely forgets that their is only a “return” fixture against one of your three opponents). What will also help is the nations, as we saw last year, having a similar level of competitiveness that 6N has developed, as while the four nations have dominated the world for the length of pro era (and probably amatuer), they have not always done so at the same time, competed to those levels at the same time. Really that has just been down to one team, and that team has now come back to the group.

I would still like some innovations from SANZAAR along the touring lines, moving from 2 tests to three, perhaps every other year or over the space of two years, but added more teams will just ruin the competitiveness that has made the 6N so great.

This certainly has merit but I think the travel and time differences will always mean the crowds will never rival what occurs in the 6N. Not a reason not to do it though and I think the increased countries would add a lot to the game.

The tribalism of the 6N is very difficult to replicate. Adding Japan and Fiji will dilute that. And until both teams represent genuine threats to the other teams it wont generate real cross border interest, let alone an international audience. I think the RC needs to build the tribalism by bringing the four teams to the same country each round. Play once or twice in each location. It will build connection to all the teams and have a festival feel. Start in SA, go to Argentina, then NZ and finish in Aussie Maybe with a week off before NZ so teams can acclimatise.

We don’t want a six team format. If it ain’t broke, don’t “fix” it.

6 teams, largely closely matched, on each others doorsteps with large supporter bases on average is always going make for a good tournament.

I say scrap the RC, focus on the nations cup and go back to traditional tours. Tours to NZ, tours to the NH, hosting teams on tours to SA.

The only games of the RC that I look forward to are the games against NZ anyway.

Including Japan and Fiji sounds like a good idea, but it will just be the RC with two additional teams.

Personally I prefer the RC because the rugby is of such a better quality. But yes - it will never have the atmosphere of a tournament where all the fixtures are easy to travel to. Sadly I can’t just jump on a plane and travel for 2 days to get to SA or Argentina for a weekend.

I like that idea, although I’d dispute the claim that Japan have progressed markedly from their 2019 highs.

In terms of results, from 2021 (post-COVID) they have played 44 games and won just 15 (34% win rate), with these wins coming against Portugal, Uruguay, Tonga, Chile, Samoa, Canada, USA, Wales and Georgia. In this period they have won zero games against Tier 1 opposition (apart from Wales, which is considered Tier 1 on a technicality), despite many opportunities against these top teams.

In terms of the playing pool, in the 2023 RWC they were the third country with the most foreing born and raised players in the squad (after Samoa and Tonga), with only 50% of the squad being born in Japan, and 33% being raised elsewhere. Their squads are still loaded with pacific islanders, australians, south africans and new zealanders, so it is hard to argue that they have been succesful in providing pathways for japanese players. In their last fixture (a match against Georgia in late 2025) they had 7 foreign players in the starting XV. Hardly something to get excited about.

I believe they are a good prospect to keep developing based on economic elements, but rugby-wise I don’t think they have earned that spot yet despite the eternal promise and constant drum beating from the “stakeholders”.

All teams this year were very inconsistent teams and are still “finding“ themselves somewhat. This, along with the growth of weaker teams, especially Italy, added to the unpredictability.

Tactically, the French, Finn Russ, and England (when they’re in the mood), can play with a lot of freedom and unpredictability, something that NZ & Wallabies were lacking.

For the entertainment value, having teams that play differently makes a big difference.

Hopefully with Robertson gone with NZ, they’ll play with more freedom.

It’s a shame the Wallabies don’t play like the French, because they’ve got a back 3 that play like that. They just need someone who can put in those smart kicks that the French 10 & 15 can do.

I think it is timely to include Fiji and Japan. If the idea is to achieve a global sport then those doors must be opened.

It was the greatest Six Nations in the competition’s 26-year history. It might go down as the greatest rugby union tournament of any iteration, be that a World Cup, Rugby Championship, Tri-Nations or Heineken Cup. That is a very very bold statement. It was just phenomenal yes, but comparing it to even the 2023 World Cup is absurd.

The rugby championship, and before then tri-nations has chopped and changed formats so many times, it’s been as many as 3 games against everyone, and as little as 1 game each, often in World Cup years. Even now the “mini-tour” innovation is a new one to help minimise the travel in the tournament, while still ensuring everyone gets enough home games to sell to fans.

The 6 Nations is uniquely blessed for such a tight geography and set of timezones, and there’s very little the Southern Hemisphere can do to combat this.

The expansion of the tournament to include Argentina has been an unmitigated success, the most recent tournament was their highest attended edition ever, and it has helped solidify Argentina as a rugby powerhouse. Japan offers a unique financial market to tap into, far beyond anything NZ, South Africa, or even Australia could offer, and Fiji offer the most logical conclusion to ensure an even 6 team tournament so games are always happening for every viewing public.

Hard to disagree with anything said but the other problem that doesn’t go away is the time zone difference, and that introduces a challenge that isn’t easily addressed, as Super Rugby discovered. So it’s probably worth trying but there are no guarantees that the format will fly, at least not on a similar trajectory to the 6N.

I like it.

It would be lovely if the bigger teams get to go to Fiji. they have had almost all their fixtures away.

Yeah some sensible changes. It's never going to rival the 6N in terms of engagement, jeopardy and just pure animosity. There is great rugby rivalry between your nations but there isn't the same shared history of bloodshed and skulduggery.

It'd be cool to see the Boks and ABs go at each other over 3 tests. That would really stoke things up.

At the detriment to Fiji and Japan you could keep it to the 4 teams, each team plays a three match series against one of the other sides (rotating annually) then a final is played between the winners of both series.

That way, every three years you'd get a three match series between the Boks and ABs and most years you'd have a Boks vs ABs final. It would also stoke up rivalries with Aus and Argentina and cut down on travel. That sounds like an entertaining format to me with more emphasis on rivalries and a spectacle final… and a 3rd v 4th playoff of course