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Rugby Championship: a Good Deal or an Ordeal for the teams?

8th November, 2011
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8th November, 2011
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Ace it up fellas, “The Rugby Championship”. That’s the meaningless title given by SANZAR to replace the 16 year-old Tri-Nations of South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand with a new tournament including Argentina, kicking off next year.

The concept is great, with one reservation: the title is pathetic.

The Rugby Championship isn’t indicative of what the tournament is all about. It’s very title suggests it’s more important than the Six-Nations, and even rivals the Rugby World Cup.

Which, of course, is a load of bollocks.

The Four-Nations says it all, accurate to the last decimal point. But no, SANZAR had to be different.

The reservation?

Travel.

In the Six Nations, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy are the equivalent of travelling to the next “suburb” they are so close.

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Perfection.

But The Rugby Championship is travelling between continents: time consuming, and very physically debilitating.

* It takes 19 hours flying time from Sydney to Buenos Aires.
* Another 12 hours 18 minutes from Sydney to Cape Town.
* The shortest trip is 7 hours 43 minutes from Cape Town to Buenos Aires (excluding the flight across the ditch)

Just remember how many injuries the Wallabies suffered during the RWC. And that was played virtually next door with next to no travel.

But Kurtley Beale, Drew Mitchell, Rocky Elsom, Dan Vickerman, Paul McCabe, and Sekope Kepu will all the miss the two-match spring tour to Twickenham and the Millennium Stadium by the Wallabies in November and December.

Which begs the question: how much carnage will there be to the four sides during The Rugby Championship, after the toughest provincial rugby tournament on the planet – Super Rugby – and the four-Test winter home series in June against Scotland and three against Wales?

On that account, Argentina will be well-placed by not playing Super Rugby.

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That’s countered by the vast majority of the Argentinean squad who will be playing in Europe under contract during The Rugby Championship.

At long last the IRB has found some long lost teeth, and have ordered European clubs to release their Pumas for the TRC lasting eight weeks.

The draw, with so many grounds to be confirmed:

* August 18 – Wallabies-All Blacks in Sydney, and Boks-Argentina in South Africa.
* August 25 – All Blacks-Wallabies at Eden Park, and Argentina-Boks in Argentina.
* September 1 – Travel bye.
* September 8 – Wallabies-Boks in Perth, and All Blacks-Argentina in Wellington.
* September 15 – Wallabies-Argentina at Skilled Stadium on the Gold Coast, and All Blacks-Boks in Dunedin.
* September 22 – Travel bye.
* September 29 – Boks-Wallabies in South Africa, and Argentina-All Blacks in Argentina.
* And October 6 – Argentina-Wallabies in Argentina, and Boks-All Blacks in South Africa.

A magnificent amount of international rugby in store in 2012.

Hopefully the players will survive the ordeal. It’s a huge physical ask.

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