Super Rugby break ditched in re-vamped global rugby calendar

Btw RF - guess how many Twickenham tests it would take NZRU to get $40million, if they secured 50:50 profit split??? Well, if the current itineraries are any indication, it would be somewhere in the vicinity of 8test matches spread over 35-40 years or so since such tests, would happen every 4-5yrs. Now, compare that to a BIL tour - the next tour to NZ will be 2053 but importantly, all SH unions will benefit and not just, NZRU when the BILs, tour AU and SA. Who knows - NZ may build a bigger stadium in the next 40yrs just to satisfy the RFU CEO's request for NZ, to build bigger stadia.

I don't see the big gripe TBH as since NH seasons finish in May or June wouldnt that give Int players atleast a month off before playing 3 games overseas then another month off before the new club season starts? Atleast this way guys will be fresh and actually be able to compete for 3 games against sides like Nz as recently come game 3 players already have a foot on the plane and the score recognises that.

Its great I thought teams like Georgia would be dead in the water after the 6 Nations Committe shut down the idea of expanding or adding promotion and Italy wouldn't think about playing them in a friendly as the debate would rage if they were to lose. So this gives Georgia and all Tier 2 sides exactly what they want and need and could actually provide the 6 Nations of proof of a need to expand as the Tier 2 sides are only going to grow from here. Also going to be great for P.I sides to host atleast England and France and more then likely guarentees of touring Nz and Oz at the least. Hopefully both can fit in a Pacific much (akin to Nz V Samoa 2015) in WC or other years.

FunBus What's missing in your argument is who up Nth, has made these deals - it was your Unions. It wasn't the clubs, or Pro12 or Premiership. What you also haven't grasped is what negotiations have actually occurred and the biggest change, is to the international test windows. Now if you ask the same question you asked above, you may very well understand now why the NH has agreed to such a deal - to improve the international window. You must surely realise that SH unions wanted to pursue a global season but this is the only deal, they realised, they were going to get. From an SH viewpoint, it was better than nothing because the current June/November window, was going nowhere, except ruining the chance for everyone to witness, true test matches where all combatants, engaged their full complement, of players.

RF But, that's exactly what was happening - weakened NH teams touring down-under were becoming a joke. Think back to England in the late '90s touring Aus and getting smashed 76-0 in the test. And yet, SA, AU and NZ were sending their best teams up Nth every November and still, the host nation retained all the income. You can see how many folks would want to go and watch a 2nd string NH team get smashed, down-under in June compared to, how many NH fans would go see their side play the best SB, WB and AB sides, up north. There was no comparison, at the games and, at the till. And just for your information, the negotiations between NH and SH unions also included, the future of BIL tours. It seems their was a quid-pro-quo arrangement finalised last week to ensure the BIL tours down-under would continue to SA, AU and NZ but, to get that, the SH unions had to forgo, pursuing better deals, from the Nov tours. So, the previous financial arrangements with the Nov tours remained unchanged and, the BILs tours would continue albeit, with total games per tour reduced from 10, down to 8matches. The forecast total income anticipated to be earned following the BIL tour to NZ, is in the region of $40million for the NZRU, after expenses are paid. Now, you may understand why there has been some to-ing and fro-ing by Tew, over these past 12-18mths. I have no doubts that the future of BIL tours down-under, were at the top of SH unions, negotiation list. And, these tours, have been agreed, to continue.

I get your point. What puzzles me, though, is why the NH have agreed to such a deal instead of just telling the SH to stick it where the sun don't shine.

The three match tours were set up in response to complaints from SANZAR that home crowds weren't interested in June Tests, as they thought Northern teams sent weakened sides. It made no sense for NZRU to hold that opinion, and then immediately insist on a window which guaranteed the opposition couldn't field a full-strength team. The only conclusion to draw is that the marketing argument was bogus. Most in the north had always felt that anyway but hadn't expected the NZRU to confirm it quite so blatantly.

Absolutely agree with this.....opportunities to advance lower tier rugby, around the globe.

Also I get the feeling that the 2 week July Tour after RWC's will be where everyone hosts tier 2 sides. Alleviating the grips Notherners have with the new changes, as its against lower side/s at home for 2 games after what should be a 1 month stand down from the end of season to these games and since its against lower side I get the feeling most will look to use these games to give their developing players a run to see if they have what it takes. Can't wait to see ABs play in Georgia and the P.I sides tour Nz again.

And why should NZ move their Super rugby matches that is and was already compromised due to the farcical test windows? This is the whole reason why NZ has insisted on a global season, so it doesn't and did not impact on the Super competition. Seems to me to be just another case of people wanting any chance they can to have a go at NZRU. Let the NH finish their seasons but make NZ stop theirs completely. What a joke.

Lol to all the Northern babies on here. Its your guys bloody own fault yous want to run club rugby for 30 odd weeks plus internationals, don't blame our unions for your clubs over working YOUR players!!! We manage our season to ensure OUR players have upto 12 weeks off between the last international and first super rugby match of each years!!

2014 was down to New Zealand's perverse decision to prioritize Super Rugby over Test rugby. The English Premiership Final was on 31st May. The June Tests always start in the second week of June, which gives a sufficient gap. The second Saturday that year was the 14th, which would have given players from Saracens & Saints plenty of time to turn out. However, NZ belatedly decided to nominate the weekend of the 31st May/1st June as the first weekend, so they wanted the first Test to be played on the 7th June instead. This gave the English finalists no chance to be ready to play under World Rugby's jet lag protocol. World Rugby said New Zealand were entitled to ask for those dates under the rules but couldn't understand why they would do so, when the whole point of the window was to ensure touring teams could field their strongest teams. It turned out that NZ didn't want to move the Super Rugby fixtures to accommodate the later Test date.

IIRC the RFU and FFR both wanted to move to a July window back then but were blocked by the rest of the 6N committee, and so the first Test was played on 7 June, while the EPL final was on 31 May. Allowing for a couple of days of recovery and a further six or seven days needed for acclimatization on the far side of the globe, there was no way the Saints and Sarries players could participate meaningfully until the middle of the second week of the tour. It's plain stupid, and the same will now happen with the Lions. If you want these tours to really mean something, the players have to be able to R&R between a domestic peak and a new international peak at the end of a long season.

I think this is a good deal for everyone, still a bit of a compromise but still a good deal plus it should result in stronger NH sides touring down south.

I don't understand how OB can be right, Nicholas. The Aviva final is always the last Saturday in May and the first June test is two weeks later. The only time this didn't happen was NZ. I could be wrong, but I can't think of another example when the first test was played on the first Saturday in June, since the new agreement on June tests.

Don't worry, you're spot on OB!

The only tours where players arrived late were French ones. That's not correct PA. In 2014 England toured New Zealand and the Sarries and Northampton players (fourteen of them) were not on the plane because they were contesting the EPL playoff final - they only arrived in time for the second Test after missing Eden Park. That ruined the tour as a development exercise. The Lions tour this summer will also be disrupted by late arrivals after Pro 12 and EPL finals. They occur on 27 May, first Lions match on 3 June - so they will miss the first week's prep and hence selection... Apart from the timings, there's the very real issue of players arriving for a big tour having already been required to peak for one or even two recent finals (in Saracens case back in 2014). Mentally very draining.

That's not quite how it happened, OB. The agreement was always that the June tests would start the second weekend in June (so for example the first test in the England Oz series was 11 June with the Aviva final two Saturday's before). In 2014 the 31st May was a Saturday. Everyone in England assumed, as tests are always on Saturday in the June series, that the first test in NZ would be Saturday 14 June, so the Aviva final was scheduled, as always, for the last Saturday in May. The NZ Union, for reasons that could only have been to make life awkward for England, decided the first test would be 7 June and wouldn't budge. Their excuse was that as the previous Sunday was the 1st June, the next weekend was the second weekend of June. It was very cynical. On the wider issue, I agree with Poth Ale. I don't know what has possessed the northern unions to agree to the July switch and rollover on not having June tests in a RWC year. In 2015/2016 England played 12 months of non stop rugby while the SH had a 3 month break. This now seems institutionalised. In addition the move to July cuts hugely into what little break they have in a normal season. It seems that for the SH, 'compromise' means having all their demands met with an apology for not doing it sooner.

Maybe in the UK but the TOP 14 final is in early June. This affects French test players though I'm not sure how this affects players selected for the home countries

Nah sorry, but you're not addressing the first issue which is why this revamp of the June window, has more affect upon the NH teams than the SH teams. All I have tried to say is that the revamp was all to do with international windows but, all I'm seeing, is its impact upon the NH club competition. Do you guys think that we don't have any competition down-under, that is not a test match??