AroundTheAnkles
Banned
The divisions are not the problem. It is the number of games played each year. When you were in Lyon you might have checked out some U16 or U19 rugby. Regardless of division, the boys in France are playing 30 plus games per year. I wouldn’t change the traditional associations at all. However, perhaps extend the season to allow the top 2 or 3 schools in each association nationally plus 1 or 2 Barbarians teams to capture good players at weak schools playoff for an All Australians championship. In reality, changing school rugby is deck chairs and titanic stuff, if the pro game is broke and the value of tv rights can’t be increased. There is probably one or more world class Australian XV worth of players offshore appearing for other countries and clubs and unavailable to Super rugby or the Wallabies.Sigh. I know, I know, it's a losing battle. But I was at Lyon to watch the Wallabies play their worst game ever against Wales, and I left believing more strongly than ever that the structure of our game needs work. Take a look at schoolboy rugby in, say, Auckland and you'll see that the school 1st XVs are split into three divisions, with scope to move between them. So the best play the best, there's room for aspiration to higher divisions, and the schools that want to play more or less socially can do that and have fun and love the game. New Zealand does OK at Rugby, and takes pride in its traditions, but it doesn't tell it schools only to play against the same people it played against 130 years ago. Because that would be dumb.
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