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Yep the opinion that the modern scrum has become a blight on the game is definitely just some fringe view propagated for click bait. :rolleyes: And those of us that think this are definitely just secretly hoping rugby moves to uncontested scrums. It's all part of this big conspiracy to turn...

Yep, I just fear the implications of there being an increased amount of weeks where international rugby would clash with European club competitions. Essentially you'd have international rugby clash with the first 2 months of the European season. For it to truly work I think the European clubs...

I don't really care if the NH changes their season or not. I just think it would be the best thing for the global game. What I want to see is rugby grow around the world. I want to see world cups where there's 10, 12, 15 potential winners. I want popular professional rugby clubs or franchises to...

Great rebuttal. I'm not the only one with this opinion: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2015/jan/13/rugby-union-uncontested-scrums-ospreys-northampton So thats myself, the Guardian's rugby correspondent Robert Kitson and a distinguished former Lion that can see the painfully...

The international game compliments the club game and any club boss would know this. It's like a free promotional vehicle for them. What you want is a calendar that gives both their place without one harming the other. International rugby is the jewel in the crown. But sometimes less can be...

This trend of humans getting bigger has existed for hundreds of years BH. But when it comes to rugby athletes it's accelerated since professionalism. Problem is the size of the field isn't growing with the players. Eventually either you change the game to reduce the size of players, or you...

QH, I'm not against a big international window like that, but see the big barrier being European club rugby. They'd have to change their schedule for it to work. Otherwise any European based player involved in the Rugby Championship would be unavailable for their club team for 3 months or so...

Well you can see the rule, it's written down in black and white. Regulations 8.7 and 8.12 in the World Rugby handbook.

Again, I know. My point is that if I was a tight 5 player I'd explore legal options. Worth a challenge I reckon. It's just the vibe of it! I don't see it as an unfortunate loophole. I think it's great. And there's no way Tim Nanai-Williams primary motivation is to play at the Olympics. It's...

Plenty of small players used to make it at the elite level. Hardly any do now. If the players continue getting bigger, faster and stronger there'll come a time where the field gets so crowded that you need to reduce the number of players per side. Would happen in a couple of generations at...

QH, 40 years ago many people would have said the same thing about a world cup and professionalism! Things can change, even if some need to be dragged kicking and screaming. Just to get this back on topic, while I think an aligned season would be the best thing for the global game, from an...

Because it's the same sport! Whether it's 7's or 15's it's still rugby. And it's just silly that only backs are allowed to change their eligibility. Why do you think it would be so bad? If a former Wallaby that hadn't played a test for 4 or 5 years were to turn out for Samoa, Fiji or Canada...

They already start the Top 14 in August (to strong attendances I might add). And as I've said before, you could have the European national teams tour the Southern Hemisphere in July and thus have a break in the European domestic leagues during that month.

Then make it across the board. But it should be the same for both 7's and 15's IMO. Stand down period of X amount of time, then you can switch if you're eligible for another country. But only one time. I think the main block against switching is the Home Unions. Imagine how much stronger a...

And most of them would still prefer to watch games where they can see where the ball is. You'll never attract people who didn't grow up playing the sport with the sort of matches you talk about. The sooner power is removed from the types that see the 6 Nations as a nice distraction between...

No major competition!? It competes with all the major football leagues of Europe! Play it in October and it's the same, just in better weather. Also, Super League attendances rose from the mid 90's (when the summer season was introduced) to the late 2000's. They've fallen a bit in the last...

No, it's got nothing to do with the retention of Australian players. Sorry the discussion moved on. I think the greatest benefit of aligning the seasons would be growth of the game globally. Especially at test level.

It's not an actual summer season though is it. The season would be played in Spring, Summer and Autumn, rather than Autumn, Winter and Spring. By avoiding most of winter you avoid competing with football for a couple of month, and if you've ever lived in Europe you'd know football dwarves any of...

Don't buy this at all. Rugby League moved to a summer season in the UK and it's worked out fine. Plus, you could have the European teams tour in July, so you'd skip the middle month of summer. Top 14 teams already play in August. The quality of the rugby in Europe in June and August would be a...

Nothing, but the trend is that players are getting bigger and bigger and all of a sudden it could become a game where smaller players, who are often very exciting to watch, have no place. If it's not becoming that way already. Speed up the game a little or reduce the stoppages or length of...