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Also Strewthcobber, I think a positive thing about eventual inclusion of the USA and Canada in the Rugby Championship and/or Super Rugby would be that when Australia or Australian teams host them the games would be best played in the afternoon! From a broadcasting perspective that would be the...

TOCC, where in the US did you play? My understanding is that there's certain pockets of the country, particularly the North West, where rugby is strongest. From all I've read there's been a big increase in youth rugby participation. Something like a 14% annual growth rate for the last 5 years...

I agree with that Strewthcobber but I think there are potential competition structures that could be used in the short term to overcome some of these problems. Like a 2 tier Rugby Championship for example. Or as Quick Hands has suggested there could be some sort of alliance with the Pacific...

You don't think a professional competition would immediately lift the standard of America's domestic based players? They already have a core of players in top European teams. Samu Manoa is one of the best players in European rugby - up until 2011, when he was 25 he was playing club rugby in the...

Italy weren't vastly weakened. And Japan played terribly in the match and still beat them.

I never said they have. I was asked how I would define competitive with the Rugby Championship teams and I answered Argentina's level in the last 2-3 years. And for the record, Argentina's level in the last 2-3 years has certainly not been at an all time high for them. In 5 years, if given...

They've defeated Wales (minus their Lions) and Italy in the last 2 years. At full strength they're already competitive with the lower tier 1 nations. Next year they'll be in Super Rugby and they'll improve considerably as a result. The 2019 world cup is a massive goal. And after that they...

Argentina's level in the last 2-3 years. Occasionally hammered, more often than not a respectable loss and a win possible on a good day. Follow the trends. The first decade or so after professionalism the gap between tier 1 and tier 2 increased. This is reflected in average win margins at RWC...

I don't think it was all down to luck. http://www.espn.co.uk/super-rugby-2014/rugby/story/207351.html

I'm more optimistic. I think it could be less than that. 10 years. If the Japanese and Argentinian Super Rugby teams are a success then I think we'd see more Japanese/Asian teams and more Argentinian teams pretty quickly. Then the tournament structure can become more sensible. And I'd like...

In the existing calendar, yes. I was referring to a theoretical globally aligned February-November schedule where it would be possible to separate them. I know you don't believe this would ever happen, and you're probably right - so no need to repeat yourself on this point. To tie this back...

Elite European club rugby is played through all of these months.

No, my premise is that an aligned global season would be good for the global game because it would allow for proper elite club and international windows without overlap. While there is overlap it's always going to work against the developing nations in particular. I think that most major...

I don't think it works the same way in attack. Bigger players don't often get through smaller gaps with guile. They power through. My initial point in this discussion was that I wouldn't want to see rugby become more and more of a power game at the expense of skill. When I'm talking about the...

What does the season a sports played in have to do with attracting an overseas audience? Also, a lot of American rugby isn't played over winter. In much of Canada and the northern parts of the US the winter is too harsh for rugby. Plus, the NFL is played over winter and none of the groups...

As I said, bigger fitter faster. An analogy would be the world getting smaller due to technology etc. Physically or literally the space is the same, but we can cover it so much quicker and more effectively. Same with the space on an elite level rugby field. 3 players can cover the same space...

It's got little to do with game plans or styles (other than limiting the effectiveness of very boring, very negative tactics) and certainly nothing to do with trying to force the same style across the board. And more tries is not the motivation. But just keep arguing against things I haven't...

You're tackling straw Braveheart.

That's definitely a factor too. Along with increased size and better general conditioning it means more ground is covered per player. There's less of a fatigue factor and it becomes more difficult to break down defences and find space. Unless of course you power through them. But if the game...

The French clubs are the bigger obstacle IMO. They could influence their players, particularly those that represent tier 2 teams to make themselves unavailable for test rugby in September and October. I still think the season would work best if there was a separation of test rugby and top tier...