World Calendar seems closer

[TigerBoy1880]

Rubbish idea.

I don’t care that JP14 says people who say Union is a winter sport and League is a summer sport is a poor excuse. In my view, Union is a winter (predominantly) sport.

I’m getting fed up of all the changes that get made or are spoken about getting changed. Can we just leave the game as it is for a bit?!

[Crofty]

I think aligning the reasonably well supported, occasionally commercially viable northern hemisphere calendar with the empty stadiums of SH rugby is a brilliant idea...

Looking forward to the winter months with nothing to do or look forward to at weekends.

If the SAANZAR nations want to align a global calendar so badly let them align with us!

Less glibly I wholeheartedly agree with what seems to be the popular view on here, Union has always been a autumn to spring sport and the diversity of conditions this entails is part of the game. If we get rid of the February mudbaths we may as well make it an indoor sport and where's the fun in that?

[JP14]

It is a poor excuse if you can't give a good reason for maintaining the current season as it is, other than it's what we have always done so we're sticking to it. Well by that reasoning we should've stayed amateur and only let people from a certain background and name play.

[johnthegriff]

The game could not have remained amateur and continued to make the demands on players time that it did. The idea that that rugby was only for those from a certain background is ludicrous, in this area schools whether Secondary Modern or Grammar were known as rugby playing or soccer playing a few both it had nothing to do with background or academic ability. Local clubs included Old Wyggs, Oadby, West Leicester, Vipers, South Leicester, West Leicester, Braunstone, Syston, Birstall (originally Moat Old Boys) Aylestonians, Aylestone St James, Westleigh and Stoneygate plus several others. We played against teams from Coventry, Nottingham, Northampton and Birmingham some had their own grounds others on a public park, most were a mixture of backgrounds although I suppose Stoneygate were on the whole a bit posher than most. Selection at county level could be influenced by the team or school you played for but that did not prevent police constables, school teachers and bricklayers making it into the England team although of course it was a bit quicker if you had played in a Varsity match. There was a lot wrong but essentially the game was for all classes and like soccer was played in the winter whilst summer was for cricket, tennis and pub gardens.

[Hot_Charlie]

I think aligning the reasonably well supported, occasionally commercially viable northern hemisphere calendar with the empty stadiums of SH rugby is a brilliant idea...

Looking forward to the winter months with nothing to do or look forward to at weekends.

If the SAANZAR nations want to align a global calendar so badly let them align with us!

Less glibly I wholeheartedly agree with what seems to be the popular view on here, Union has always been a autumn to spring sport and the diversity of conditions this entails is part of the game. If we get rid of the February mudbaths we may as well make it an indoor sport and where's the fun in that?

I think that’s a key point. It isn’t always a well supported game in the SH mainly as they don’t have the same professional club structure (oh, look at Wales and it’s alienated regional structure. Strange that). Why change generally well attended stadiums in France/England/Ireland to fit in with them?

[tjs10inOz]

If the SAANZAR nations want to align a global calendar so badly let them align with us!

Less glibly I wholeheartedly agree with what seems to be the popular view on here, Union has always been a autumn to spring sport and the diversity of conditions this entails is part of the game. If we get rid of the February mudbaths we may as well make it an indoor sport and where's the fun in that?

If SH aligned with the NH season you would end up with some games being played in 40°C+ heat over the SH summer.

[glenn]

If we moved to a summer schedule, would we gain more football fans .....?
Vs the potential lost fans and season ticket holders this "may" be where the club would gain?

[Tiglon]

What are the intended benefits of doing this? Avoiding clashes between international and club games? Or create an international calendar they think is more marketable?

[ay2oh]

No doubt that the northern hemisphere will be the ones to move to fit in with the mighty all blacks

[Hot_Charlie]

No doubt that the northern hemisphere will be the ones to move to fit in with the mighty all blacks

That’s pretty much it. In the summer there are far more things to clash with and the summer holidays (people going away for a fortnight might easily miss two home matches).

[loretta]

If the SAANZAR nations want to align a global calendar so badly let them align with us!

Less glibly I wholeheartedly agree with what seems to be the popular view on here, Union has always been a autumn to spring sport and the diversity of conditions this entails is part of the game. If we get rid of the February mudbaths we may as well make it an indoor sport and where's the fun in that?

If SH aligned with the NH season you would end up with some games being played in 40°C+ heat over the SH summer.

So the collateral damage would happen to those who are moaning for change? Good, that’s how it should be.

[Crofty]

If the SAANZAR nations want to align a global calendar so badly let them align with us!

Less glibly I wholeheartedly agree with what seems to be the popular view on here, Union has always been a autumn to spring sport and the diversity of conditions this entails is part of the game. If we get rid of the February mudbaths we may as well make it an indoor sport and where's the fun in that?

If SH aligned with the NH season you would end up with some games being played in 40°C+ heat over the SH summer.

So the collateral damage would happen to those who are moaning for change? Good, that’s how it should be.

Precisely!

To be fair I did say I was being glib...

[kk20gb30]

...an awful long way to go yet....

[mol2]

Why should we shift to suite the SH?

We play rugby in the winter and cricket in the summer.

[Tiglon]

I'm in favour of rugby remaining a winter sport. However, the argument that this should be the case simply because that's how it's always been is a bit weak.

Rugby is better off for having a strong southern hemisphere game, if we can find a way to compromise and help them then we should at least consider it. I'm not sure the world calendar and summer rugby in Europe is the solution, but something needs to change in the schedule to ensure that club rugby north of the equator remains strong too.