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#Post#: 103053--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Fearless Fred
Date: January 23, 2023, 4:11 am
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I think a major issue is the fractured season that we have, with
Premiership & Champions Cup games (along with 6N and AIs) all
weaving in and out of each other. IF (and it's a big if) the
power that be could separate the competitions out properly, I
could see how it could be done differently in 4 set blocks
during the year.
1. Play the Domestic competitions first (Premiership, Top14,
URC) all the way to their finals.
2. International break (either 6N or AIs depending on how the
calendar is structured).
3. Play the Champions & Challenge Cup (with seedings based off
the results of 1.) next. Play all the games in one geographical
area, so facilities can be earlier by the local Union(s) &
allocated to teams as needed. For instance, play it all in
England in Y1, in France in Y2, Wales/Scotland/Ireland/Italy in
Y3, SA in Y4. Play all rounds & the finals.
4. Play the other set of the Internationals (6N or AIs) that
weren't done in block 2.
There would need to be some tweaking, but I'm sure it could be
worked out.
#Post#: 103055--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: January 23, 2023, 4:26 am
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--- Quote from: Fearless Fred link ---
>
> I think a major issue is the fractured season that we have,
with Premiership & Champions Cup games (along with 6N and AIs)
all weaving in and out of each other. IF (and it's a big if) the
power that be could separate the competitions out properly, I
could see how it could be done differently in 4 set blocks
during the year.
>
> 1. Play the Domestic competitions first (Premiership, Top14,
URC) all the way to their finals.
> 2. International break (either 6N or AIs depending on how the
calendar is structured).
> 3. Play the Champions & Challenge Cup (with seedings based off
the results of 1.) next. Play all the games in one geographical
area, so facilities can be earlier by the local Union(s) &
allocated to teams as needed. For instance, play it all in
England in Y1, in France in Y2, Wales/Scotland/Ireland/Italy in
Y3, SA in Y4. Play all rounds & the finals.
> 4. Play the other set of the Internationals (6N or AIs) that
weren't done in block 2.
>
> There would need to be some tweaking, but I'm sure it could be
worked out.
>
--- End Quote ---
I don't see why separating out the competitions would help. It's
not rocket science keeping up with it. It works ok with
football.
The main issue is too many games leading to overlapping
competitions.
#Post#: 103060--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Fearless Fred
Date: January 23, 2023, 4:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
It means that the long distance travel (either for NH clubs
going to SA or SA teams coming ti Europe) is done in a single
blockm rather than piecemeal across the season. They can
properly acclimatize & not lose a couple of days training or
recovery stuck in airports or on planes shuttling back & forth.
#Post#: 103063--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: January 23, 2023, 5:20 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Fearless Fred link ---
>
> It means that the long distance travel (either for NH clubs
going to SA or SA teams coming ti Europe) is done in a single
blockm rather than piecemeal across the season. They can
properly acclimatize & not lose a couple of days training or
recovery stuck in airports or on planes shuttling back & forth.
>
--- End Quote ---
I don't give a toss about that. The solution is easy - junk the
Saffa teams.
#Post#: 103069--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Yareet
Date: January 23, 2023, 5:37 am
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: Fearless Fred link ---
>
> I think a major issue is the fractured season that we have,
with Premiership & Champions Cup games (along with 6N and AIs)
all weaving in and out of each other. IF (and it's a big if) the
power that be could separate the competitions out properly, I
could see how it could be done differently in 4 set blocks
during the year.
>
> 1. Play the Domestic competitions first (Premiership, Top14,
URC) all the way to their finals.
> 2. International break (either 6N or AIs depending on how the
calendar is structured).
> 3. Play the Champions & Challenge Cup (with seedings based off
the results of 1.) next. Play all the games in one geographical
area, so facilities can be earlier by the local Union(s) &
allocated to teams as needed. For instance, play it all in
England in Y1, in France in Y2, Wales/Scotland/Ireland/Italy in
Y3, SA in Y4. Play all rounds & the finals.
> 4. Play the other set of the Internationals (6N or AIs) that
weren't done in block 2.
>
> There would need to be some tweaking, but I'm sure it could be
worked out.
>
--- End Quote ---
One main issue: you've lost the Summer tests - there are
currently three blocks of internationals. Not sure the SH teams
would be happy with coming up here but NH teams not
reciprocating.
As Mr Bottle points out, restructuring the global calendar is a
hiding to very little until the Top and Prem shrink.
#Post#: 103082--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Fearless Fred
Date: January 23, 2023, 8:06 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Ah, yeah. I'd forgotten the summer tours. I'm sure there's a way
for them to fit in. I was trying to come up with fixes to a few
issues.
Assuming you have the Champions/Challenge cup in a format like
you have at the moment, you need 9 weeks to complete the whole
thing. If we have the same number of (World Rugby release window
compliant) Internationals as now, that's another 11 weeks
(depending on whether or not there are rest weeks in the 6
Nations). A 12 team Premiership takes 24 weeks to complete (I'm
guessing the expansion to 13/14 has been shelved since the
demise of Worcester & Wasps). That's 44 weeks in total, leaving
time for players to have a month off and a month of pre-season
without any overlap of fixtures. It would mean dropping the Prem
Cup (or having mid-week games involving the younger/squad
players, but that is fine by me.
I just think that playing the competitions in larger blocks
rather than as split up as they are now helps to build the
momentum and (from a marketing point for the game) the
narrative. Okay, silo-ing out the competitions completely might
be going a bit too far, but I think that having the domestic and
the EPCR comps one after the other is better than what we
currently have.
Our season started on the 10th of Sept. If we had played
Premiership from 10th Sept. What I'm suggesting would be
something like this:
10th Sept, Premiership starts. Play 8 rounds, taking us to 29th
October.
Break for the 3 AIs in the World Rugby window , up to 20th
November. (Any union wanting to play additional internationals
can do so but clubs aren't under an obligation to release
players unless part of a specific agreement like the PRL/RFU
one).
26th November the Premiership resumes. Play through to 25th Feb
to complete the normal season. Finishing positions here
determine the seeding for the Champions Cup.
You can now play the 6 Nations in its entirety. I'll include a
week off before and a week break in the middle for player
welfare reasons. That means the 6 Nations would finish April
15th in the spring sunshine. Add in a weeks break here again for
player welfare.
Starting the Champions Cup on 29th of April would make the final
take place on June the 24th. Another week break to allow the
national sides to assemble, and the Summer Internationals to
start either 8th or 15th of July. A three game tour would them
finish on the 22nd or 29th July.
#Post#: 103083--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Brown Bottle
Date: January 23, 2023, 8:17 am
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FF, I'm not sure why you're making it so complicated. You're the
only person I've heard complain about the break up of the season
with different competitions.
Drop the Prem Cup and have a 10 team prem might do it but we
need a proper EC Cup, not the pretend one we've currently got. I
can't be bothered to do the maths because none of that is likely
to happen.
#Post#: 103086--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: JammyGit
Date: January 23, 2023, 8:26 am
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Relegating the Premiership to largely the winter months and
giving the primo part of the season to a tournament largely
dominated by teams from other countries with more money /
franchises with more concentrated talent?
It would be absolute rubbish for fans and would dramatically
reverse the hard-fought gains over the past 15 years.
#Post#: 103090--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: T-Bone
Date: January 23, 2023, 8:38 am
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You also have to factor in the other domestic competitions. The
top 14 needs longer to complete than the premiership.
#Post#: 103092--------------------------------------------------
Re: Qualifying for the knockouts....anyone know?
DIR By: Yareet
Date: January 23, 2023, 8:49 am
---------------------------------------------------------
Tours until the end of July and the season starts on September
10th? Only gives internationals 6 weeks of rest; not the 10
weeks they’re supposed to have.
Basically, in their current forms all of the competitions
(domestic, “Europe”, AIs, 6N and summer tours) are too big to
allow sufficient rest for players - regardless of how the season
is cut up.
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