Redesign of the international calendar: the counter-proposal of French rugby

2020-06-13T02:19:02.691Z

Monday, in Dublin, French and English clubs will begin negotiations with World Rugby on the establishment of a new world calendar. To the proposal to align the North and the South, the boss of the Top 14 responds with improvements.

With AFP

"Evolutions, not a revolution." This is how Paul Goze, the president of the Rugby League, presents his counter-project. World Rugby and its federations want to upset the calendar, align the hemispheres. Start the season in January and leave only six months for club competitions (European championships and cups). Unacceptable for the boss of the Top 14, who says that his English counterpart shares his position. If he opens the door to a Club World Cup every four years from 2022 and offers a Six Nations Tournament picked up over six weeks, he does not intend to change the frequency of the tours. One in June in the South, one in November in the North.

READ ALSO: Rugby: the document that could upset the international calendar

"Our approach is a progressive proposition, while being relatively close to what it was doing and which meets the demands of the South without penalizing the North," summarizes Paul Goze interviewed by AFP. We wish to propose a calendar favorable to all rugby players, in a constructive spirit ”, affirming that the World Rugby project would be“ destructive of values for French professional rugby ”.

“ It is inspired by the current season. These are evolutions, not a revolution "

Paul Goze, president of the NRL

There is nothing revolutionary about the calendar project he will present Monday in Dublin. The championship will start in early September until October. "From there, we add a date in November for the national teams, for the Nations Cup since it is in November that the last three matches of the competition and the final would take place. So four weekends. Then we resume the championship or the European Cup. In February-March, comes the Six Nations Tournament, over six weeks instead of seven. We resume after the European Championship and Cups until the end of the season, roughly at the end of June. We do the Nations Cup matches in the South in July. It is inspired by the current season. These are developments, not a revolution. ”

Aware that he does not offer much, Paul Goze adds the Club World Cup. But only every four years (Bernard Laporte, president of the FFR, wanted it yearly, instead of the European Cup, Editor's note). “Basically, instead of the final stages of the European Cups. There would be five dates grouped together for the Club World Cup. With eight clubs from the North, eight from the South. The formula can be worked on, but what is important is the place it is given in this calendar. ”

" Reducing the season of sorrowful clubs over six months is not negotiable for us "

Paul Goze, president of the NRL

In the end, the Top 14 would keep 37 dates (instead of 38) per year. A loss attributed to the European Cup, the new format of which would drop from 9 to 8 days. “What is important is the length of the season, which lasts from September to June. For the partners, the spectators, the broadcasters ..., it has to be a soap that lasts ten months, not something reduced to frenzy over six months. There would be a loss of value and therefore a very significant financial loss, which is not negotiable for us. ”

Therefore, it is out of the question to start the season in January, as the international federation would like. “I would like to know what it brings. Nothing. Only difficulties and only problems. If we start in January, we play all summer, so with problems in terms of ticketing, television, partners and player health: our internationals would not play less with this disrupted calendar, their movements would however be more frequent in a hemisphere to the other. A shift in the calendars of Top 14 and Pro D2 would jeopardize the link between amateurs and professionals, who would then play over two different periods. We would also find ourselves facing major world sporting events. ”

Project against project, Monday in Dublin

And to conclude: “with our proposal, we check all the boxes requested by the nations of the South and World Rugby while remaining balanced for the North. There is no reason to make a season that satisfies some but sacrifices others. (…) In our project, nobody is left out. Everyone will have to make an effort but everyone's wishes are more or less respected. ” It remains to await the reception that World Rugby and the national federations will give to this counter-proposal on Monday in Dublin.