South Africa in 6N?

[drc_007]

I know this has been discussed before but I see our friend Brendan Venter has been stirring the pot again.

https://www.alloutrugby.com/lets-dump-sanzaar-venter/

"While the short-term solution for South Africa is to remain part of Super Rugby because there is a broadcast deal in place until 2020, I would urge SA Rugby to explore the option of joining a northern hemisphere competition at some point."

In terms of time zones it would make sense, and SA would be more competitive then Italy. He also makes it clear he does not want SA to fund development of rugby in other countries.

"SA Rugby possesses the resources and must make use of their clout going forward. I don’t agree with the notion that we should be helping to build rugby in Argentina and Japan through a structure which we largely fund. I don’t believe it’s our problem to solve and from my point of view enough has already been done in order to develop rugby in those regions."

[Noddy555]

Most Definitely not, No, never. South Africa is a Southern Hemisphere country and should never be welcomed into the six nations which should remain solidly a European competition. I would sooner that the six nations become a 7 nation competition with Georgia as the seventh nation.

[drc_007]

However the decision will be made by the TV companies who hold the purse strings. For them and the European viewer numbers, SA being in the same time zone is more important that the hemisphere they play in.

[Iain]

Most Definitely not, No, never. South Africa is a Southern Hemisphere country and should never be welcomed into the six nations which should remain solidly a European competition. I would sooner that the six nations become a 7 nation competition with Georgia as the seventh nation.

That would be Georgia, the nation situated in Western Europe.

[trendylfj]

For once in my like I totally agree with the sentiment of Noddy. SA should not be allowed to join the northern hemisphere competition under any circumstances. It would destroy the southern hemisphere competition as well.

What I would like to see is a northern competition which has promotion and demotion - I know this will not happen in my lifetime. 2 leagues of 6 or 3 leagues of 5 would give us a competition with even more bite than the current 6 nations and also give hope to teams like Georgia (ranked 3 places higher than Italy), Romania (ranked 2 places lower than Italy) and Spain (4 places lower than Italy).

[biffer]

For once in my like I totally agree with the sentiment of Noddy. SA should not be allowed to join the northern hemisphere competition under any circumstances. It would destroy the southern hemisphere competition as well.

What I would like to see is a northern competition which has promotion and demotion - I know this will not happen in my lifetime. 2 leagues of 6 or 3 leagues of 5 would give us a competition with even more bite than the current 6 nations and also give hope to teams like Georgia (ranked 3 places higher than Italy), Romania (ranked 2 places lower than Italy) and Spain (4 places lower than Italy).

The rankings are a little misleading to be fair. If Georgia, Spain or Romania were playing in the six nations, their ranking would be lower as they would take regular and consistent stuffings and have no wins over each other, germany or belgium to get points from.

[mol2]

An expanded 6N with SA & Georgia might be interesting - two leagues and play offs?

I fear the Irish, Scots and Welsh might not be so keen - they were far from thrilled when England wanted to to do their own TV deal and threatened to have England expelled! The arrival of SA would mean tearing up old agreements and a redistribution of TV money which may not sit well.

Is the 6N set in stone - historically it was the 4N until joined by France and then Italy?

The apparent willingness to ditch Italy might have dwindled when the got the wooden spoon, I suspect some were a bit worried after they beat South Africa in the Autumn Internationals so their motives might not have been quite as clear as some might think.

[drc_007]

Got an email from an Aussie friend on the subject.

They would drop SA and Argentina and look to start a new competition with Asian countries.

No-one stays up to watch matches in SA and there are no away fans, because of the travel to SA and Argentina it can be several weeks to a month between home matches. Fans are moving to other sports where they can watch a game regularly.

[Noddy555]

I think it's time the Southern hemisphere had it's own 6 nations tournament to include Samoa and either Fiji or Tonga in an expanded form. The fact that South Africa is in the same time zone as the Western European nations is an irrelevance,
and Iain is this another wind up or are you just displaying your ignorance of basic geography. Perhaps I'll get my many Georgian friends to pay you a visit and they will show you on the map where Georgia is?

[h's dad]

Got an email from an Aussie friend on the subject.

They would drop SA and Argentina and look to start a new competition with Asian countries.

That would be great for Australia as they like to play teams they can beat, although it would probably erode the quality of their rugby.

It would be great for world rugby as it would bring on several nations with regular fixtures against what is currently still a top tier team.

[Iain]

Of course Noddy's got Georgian friends. Why did I ever doubt he did.

Yes. Georgia is in Western Asia. Look at a map.

[Noddy555]

Iain you have just brilliantly displayed your ignorance yet again, Georgia is in Eastern Europe. Asian doesn't begin until you get to Kazakhstan in the North and Syria further south Geographical Europe as well as including Turkey also includes Armenia, Georgia and Even Azerbajan. Whats the matter did you take Geography at school or did you flunk it. Yes Yes I know you are going to come back with the fact that Kazakhstan play in the World cup football European leagues, but that is by special dispensation only. They also play in the Asia cup.

[Iain]

Noddy insists Georgia is in Europe. So much so that he's getting bizarrely aggressive in his post to defend his assertion.

Meanwhile the UN classes it as being in Asia.

I mean who am I supposed to believe now?

[strawclearer]

Noddy insists Georgia is in Europe. So much so that he's getting bizarrely aggressive in his post to defend his assertion.

Meanwhile the UN classes it as being in Asia.

I mean who am I supposed to believe now?

Hopeless - you're both wrong - Georgia is a state in the southeastern United States!

[ellis9]

Google is a fantastic tool

Located in the continent of Asia, Georgia covers 69,700 square kilometers of land, making it the 122nd largest nation in terms of land area.
Georgia became an independent state in 1991, after gaining its sovereignty from Russia. The population of Georgia is 4,570,934 (2012) and the nation has a density of 66 people per square kilometer.

http://www.worldatlas.com/as/ge/where-is-georgia.html