Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Fancy watching a Wallabies Test in shorts and zinc cream?
That may become the new reality for Australian rugby fans in the future under a proposed new global calendar that would result in the Wallabies – and other major Southern Hemisphere nations – playing Test matches during their summer months.
The radical calendar shake-up is high on the agenda at meetings this week in London involving most of the world’s most powerful rugby bosses, including Rugby Australia chief executive Phil Waugh.
World Rugby officials, heads of national unions, and executives from major club competitions will gather to discuss aligning rugby’s fragmented international calendar. Rugby Australia says they’re entering the talks with an “open mind”, and given the scale of change a so-called global season would mean for rugby in Australia and New Zealand, that’s already significant.
In effect, global alignment would see the world aligning to the Northern Hemisphere’s calendar, with the Rugby Championship brought forward six months and played at the same time as the Six Nations.
Currently, the Rugby Championship is played in August and September, but in a global season, the SANZAAR tournament – played between the Springboks, the All Blacks, Argentina, and Australia – would move to February and March.
Len Ikitau playing in the September sunshine in Townsville. How would February feel?Credit: Getty Images
In previous talks, the Six Nations indicated they could delay their start date (it was February 4 this year) one or two weeks, but playing TRC Tests in late February would still see the Wallabies and rivals playing international rugby in summer.
If it becomes reality, the Wallabies and All Blacks would have to return from leave and play a warm-up fixture or two in early February. Average summer temperatures in Australia in February range between 19 and 27 degrees, and are even higher in Brisbane.
Super Rugby Pacific would start later and potentially lengthen its season to finish in August or September. The July and November Test windows would remain unchanged.
So what are the motivations for such a seismic change? It depends on who you ask.
For starters, the discussion about a globally aligned season is not new. For at least a decade, rugby officials on both sides of the equator have discussed and modelled how such a calendar could work.
Given that it requires a drastic change in the south, it mostly stayed in the theoretical basket until post-COVID, when Argentina and South Africa exited Super Rugby. The Pumas players returned to playing in European competitions, and four South African teams joined the Celtic-based United Rugby Championship.
With both nations still playing in TRC, however, that means their Test players are now on duty for 12 months of the year, with SANZAAR’s competition being played when the URC, English Premiership, and French competition are on summer break. That means Test players must take in-season rest, which upsets millionaire club owners, particularly when they also have to release them for TRC under regulation 9.
The South Africa Rugby Union has recently been publicly lobbying for the global season plans to become reality. Boks coach Rassie Erasmus said last year: “I think it would be fantastic if we could all play the Rugby Championship in February, when the Six Nations is on.”
Australia’s Dylan Pietsch, top left, jumps for the ball during the match against the Springboks.Credit: AP
Argentina powerbroker Gus Pichot – an outspoken critic of rugby’s conservatism and resistance to change -is reportedly leading negotiations for SANZAAR.
With domestic pressures and an All Blacks-first mindset, New Zealand is widely known to be opposed to a global season, and while reports from South Africa that Australia is now “on board” are incorrect, RA is open to exploring the pros and cons.
In a statement, Waugh said: “Test rugby is in strong health around the world, including here in Australia, where the Wallabies last year set a new attendance record.
“A global calendar has been discussed for some time and, as ever, Rugby Australia will engage with an open mind and act in the best interests of our teams and players, fans and partners.”
Australia could be a swing vote if it comes to that. It’s unclear whether a global season change would require unanimous approval of the World Rugby Council or just 75 per cent agreement, but SA Rugby president Mark Alexander suggested last week it could be the latter.
“We may not achieve total agreement, but we can secure the majority consensus needed to move forward,” Alexander told SA Rugby Magazine. “That will require us to make hard decisions, where we must balance tradition with progress, national interests with global priorities and short-term pressures with long-term vision.”
Club bosses in the north are also supportive, so they don’t lose SANZAAR players for six weeks in August and September, under regulation 9. Currently, the URC and English Premiership largely pause during the six-week Six Nations window. French competitions continue, however.
Even after a warm-up game or two, starting TRC in February would undoubtedly be a big competitive disadvantage for the Wallabies and All Blacks, who would be coming off summer holidays after finishing their spring tours in November. The Boks and Pumas players would be in the middle of their seasons and battle-hardened.
The Wallabies go from one five-month block together currently to three separate blocks. Players have not been asked to provide their thoughts, informed sources say.
So, why is Rugby Australia open to such radical change?
As it stands, the Wallabies Tests in winter are mostly sold out and are, by some margin, the game’s biggest and most reliable cash cow. Moving Test rugby to the summer shoulder would be a major gamble.
Sources familiar with RA’s discussions on the topic say there are predictions of increased commercial revenues from a globally aligned Test calendar, and cleaner access to overseas stars would also be beneficial. There is also a belief among some at RA that the Wallabies could own the national sporting stage in February and March, when rival footy codes are only just waking up, and that, up against the twin behemoths of NRL and AFL, rugby in Australia should not be afraid of radical innovation.
But moving Test rugby to summer would also be one of the most significant changes in Australian rugby since the game went professional, and one northern-based nations don’t even have to come close to matching.
Rugby Australia says they’re just listening to the arguments at this point. Given the potential for a global season to create more problems for them than it theoretically fixes, they may be wise to start with their players and fans.
