Rugby Calandar beyond 2010

[Aussie D]

As I sit here in one of the worst periods of the year (no rugby for a number of weeks) watching my baby girl sleep I was thinking how the rugby calandar could be fixed next time the tv rights deal comes around (it will be negotiated next year if my understanding is correct). In the improbable event that SA and/or NZ pooh-pooh JO'N's plan of an extra round of S14 matches as it will affect the running of their century-or-so-old national competitions I was thinking of alternatives that could add value for money for the deal and provide a springboard to higher honours. I came to the conclusion (and it isn't just because I disagree with 14 super rugby teams) that the S14 needs to revert to a S12 again (drop one Saffer and one NZ team - 4 teams / country) with a second tier competition involving teams from Oz, NZ, PI, Asia (Argentina is too far awayto be financially viable unfortunately). The comp would have 4 Oz teams, 5 NZ, 3 PI, 1 HK and at least 2 Jap teams (if not 3 then invite Korea and Singapore to apply - for the sole reason of the wealth in those countries) and could be run either as a 15 week play-everyone-once comp or a 2 conference 14 round home-and-away comp. For the Oz teams we can initially have Qld Country (based either in Townesville or on the Gold Coast) as a dedicated Reds feeder, NSW Country (based at Gosford - not because I live on the CC but its proximity to Sydney & Newcastle) to feed into the 'tahs, Victoria as a feeder to the Brumbies and Sth Oz as a feeder for the Force. Some of you may have picked up that I said initially, as I would hope that as the teams become financially stable that we could have a national comp in Oz each year with the top 4 going into the S12 the next year and the rest playing in this new comp.

Also, I would like to see an 8-year schedule of inbound NH tours where they play 3 tests plus 5 non-tests in the SANZAPIA countries each year. Ifthey insist on keeping the 3N as is, then I would hope that they continue to block games together in one country at a time and have only one visit O/S per country each year with internal SANZAR tours.

A bit long winded, I know, but any thoughts?

 

[RugbyReg]

In bound tours would be ace.

I also wouldn't mind seeing some sort of 7s circuit.

Plus I loved the ARC.

 

[naza]

Less Test rugby. Tri-Nations games lack specialness now.

Bring back the ARC !! Fund it by cutting John O'Neill's salary.

 

[Scotty]

Aussie D, not a bad idea, but I think it goes against a few fundamentals in marketing and finance. IE having to set up an entire new comp and new teams away from current facilities would cost a lot of money, and having two competitions rather than one larger one would spread the marketing dollar too thin, and would confuse the general public that we are trying to entice to become rugby fans. The best part of the idea is obviously growing the game outside the traditional areas - but I think this is something that can also be done in an expanded S15, by having teams play their home games in other locations in Oz (in fact I will be surprised if this doesn't happen). The locations you suggest would be perfect for home away from home games for the Reds, Tahs, Force etc.

My preferred model is still having a transtasman comp replace the S14 with say 12 teams (5 oz, 7 kiwi), and having a Heineken cup type comp run concurrently each year with the top teams from the trans tasman comp, the currie cup and japan. The transtasman comp could also expand to include PI team or two at some stage, while the 'Heineken cup' could eventually add teams from North and South America.