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There have only been 27 Grand Slam tours of the UK and Ireland since the first in 1905-06, the Wallabies, All Blacks and Springboks each embarking on nine of the tours in their respective histories.
But capturing a Slam by beating England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales on the one tour hasn’t been easy; of those 27 attempts, only nine have been successful: the Springboks in 1912-13, 1931-32, 1951-52, and 1960-61, the All Blacks in 1978, 2005, 2006, and 2010, and the Wallabies’ sole Slam in 1984.
Yet in the eight Rugby World Cups since 1987, the All Blacks have won three, the Wallabies and Springboks two each, leaving England as the sole northern hemisphere World Champions. England won in 2003.
The one sure way to improve northern hemisphere rugby is to compete against the big four from the south more often. There’s no better way than setting aside the November-December windows to do just that as the perfect preparation for the annual Six Nations tournament in February-March.
The 2017 quadruple Slam tours and beyond would look like this.
November 6
Wallabies v Wales at Millennium
All Blacks v England at Twickenham
Springboks v France at Stade de France
Argentina v Scotland at Murrayfield
Ireland and Italy play a selection of Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, USA, Canada, and Japan sponsored in full by World Rugby from the bottomless pit of cash banked from Rugby World Cups.
November 13
Wallabies v Scotland at Murrayfield
All Blacks v Ireland at Aviva
Springboks v Wales at Millennium
Argentina v England at Twickenham
France and Italy against the Pacific Island teams, Japan, USA, or Canada as above.
November 20
Wallabies v France at Stade de France
All Blacks v Wales at Millennium
Springboks v Scotland at Murrayfield
Argentina v Ireland at Aviva
England and Italy as above.
November 27
Wallabies v Ireland at Aviva
All Blacks v Scotland at Murrayfield
Springboks v England at Twickenham
Argentina v France at Millennium
.
Wales and Italy as above.
December 4
Wallabies v England at Twickenham
All Blacks v France at Stade de France
Springboks v Ireland at Aviva
Argentina v Wales at Millennium
Scotland and Italy as above.
I have dropped Italy to lesser internationals until they learn how to play rugby properly and legally, and stop being a law unto themselves.
It’s a nonsense that Italy is in the Six Nations. They have won only 12 of their 85 games since being promoted in 2000, scoring 1239 points, but giving up 2792 for a record deficit of 1553.
Those stats speak for themselves.
But the main schedule featuring the Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks, and Pumas over a five-week period will be a broadcaster’s delight.
Stagger the kickoffs and four quality internationals could be seen live right around the world, let alone the full house signs up outside the grounds.
That’s what rugby is all about, only World Rugby are too blinkered to see a golden opportunity going begging.
Just do it.