There may have been more dramatic seasons than 2019-20, but it’s not likely.
The curtain was brought down in March 2020 as the full effects of Covid-19 took their toll. In short order all the familiar forms of the game came to a shuddering halt. Nobody knows when the lockdown will be unlocked, we can only hope it comes promptly for the start of next season.
There was so much drama to enjoy along the way. International teams preparing for the next World Cup in New Zealand added large numbers of test matches to the autumn calendar. The aborted Six Nations provided its ration of thrills.
Pre-Season
The major event of the summer took place in June-July in California. A big new enterprise saw the top five-ranked nations pitted against each other at the Olympic Training Centre in Chula Vista. This was as close to World Cup-standard rugby as you can find. It provided one huge upset, France claiming their second win running over New Zealand (25-16); but the Black Ferns had the last word, beating the Red Roses 28-13 to ensure they remained top dog in world rankings.
Twickenham staged a first when the Barbarians brought two sides to play England, one male, one female. This was much the biggest challenge the women Baa-baas had faced – their previous opponents had been the British Army, Munster and the USA – so it was no surprise that they succumbed 40-14 to a side anxious to impress its management; new contracts were due!
The Barbarians are obviously a going concern; players from all over the world deem it the greatest honour to receive an invitation. A cool 946 caps were paraded that day. The smiles said everything.
Another suggested innovation, a Women’s Lions team, is less likely to take wing. Much as everyone would love to see it launched, it runs up against huge logistical and financial problems. Who would they play? Who would come and watch? How would the enterprise be underwritten? Only New Zealand is a sure-fire destination. It has the depth of playing talent and the support of the viewing public to make a series of test matches a going concern. But they have their hands full organizing a World Cup. So 2021-22 might be the first chance to realise the idea.
Autumn Internationals
Twelve test matches were announced for the month of November 2019, a new record, and a great stimulus for Fifteens rugby as it sought to re-establish itself against the rising success of Sevens. It brought the year’s total to 74.
In October Scotland had undertaken their first overseas tour to South Africa and returned light-hearted with two good wins, but subsequent losses to Wales and Japan clouded their skies again. Their new coach, Philip Doyle, had few doubts about the challenge he faced, but if Scotland are to achieve a long-term improvement, it will be largely thanks to him.
Japan, Hong Kong and the Netherlands joined in the fun, determined to fight their way up the ranking lists. The only way to do that is to play more internationals.
England and France showed serious intent by playing each other home and away – the first time they had agreed to such an arrangement. Both games turned into classics. There were no 6-Nations points on offer, but national pride and world rankings were enough to give two large crowds in Clermont-Ferrand and Exeter dramatic entertainment. The Red Roses did well to gain a rare away win; then they had to rescue the home tie from embarrassing defeat a minute from time.
The Tyrrells
In England the third season of the pioneering Tyrrells Premier 15s would be make-or-break for the ten clubs involved. It was announced that the top six would receive an automatic invitation to take part in a new-look 2020-21 season. The remaining four would have to reapply, competing against any other club wanting to enter the fray.
Saracens and Worcester Warriors created a surprise by announcing contracts for their players, though the precise terms were quite different.
The way the season played out merely confirmed suspicions that had been forming since the outset. The well-financed, well-organized clubs would carry all before them. But they amounted to just two, Saracens and Harlequins.
For the rest, it was a case of all hands to the main brace. An audit was compiled to check how each member club was getting on. Then in March came the dramatic news: Firwood Waterloo and Richmond would be relegated and two newly formed clubs, Exeter Chiefs and Sale Sharks, admitted.
This was awful news for the rejected clubs, though their results ever since 2017 had made the decision predictable. Less obvious is how the newbies have found acceptance, especially Sale, whose preparations seem only now to be getting under way.
These decisions brought women’s rugby a fraction closer to full professionalism. Both the newcomers are well established Premiership clubs, so there is financial backing to support the women’s sections – a feature lacking in a few of their new opponents.
As players survey the landscape of the coming season, some may feel the lure of cash to ensure their futures. That would be quite understandable, but it will probably mean a huge trade in the transfer market this summer, leaving the less well founded clubs short of the necessary talent to survive. At least they will need to retain only 40 players, as the Development League has been scrapped.
The Tyrrells is a case of an adventure half completed.
Standards of play and fitness are rising vertically. But other aspects are less fruitful: crowds can still seem painfully small when contrasted with figures provided by other sports. With their big push called the Game-Changer Quins established another new record attendance, but at 4,837 it is small fry compared with gates at women’s football matches registered this season. Public awareness is still very limited, despite the occasional presence of television cameras and livestream coverage.
The administrators wisely decided on step-by-step progress for their elite platform ; there is no question of introducing professional terms any time soon. But it leaves the operation’s financial basis worryingly uneven, a criticism that Richmond laid at the RFU’s door long before they learned of their rejection.
The Tyrrells’ drawing power brings its own downside. Many dozens of players from across the British Isles, North America, Europe and the southern hemisphere have signed on to promote their careers and enjoy the highest standards club rugby can provide. But it comes at a cost: it weakens the competitions they have left behind in their native lands. It is vital for World Rugby to oversee a balancing-up of playing strength with all its member nations. Finance is once more the single greatest obstacle to progress.
As for next season, we will probably see yet more one-sided games. The RFU offers each club £75,000 p.a. But with Exeter shovelling huge sums of money into its women’s section, the inequalities of the past three seasons may well increase, not decrease. Two of the truly amateur clubs have paid a heavy price. Let’s hope that other clubs like Wasps don’t suffer a similar downturn.
Contracts
England remains the only nation to offer its players full-time contracts. The latest allocation reduced the total to 28 in a single category. The part-time EPS agreement was swept away. Even so, there were players not included on the professional list who became starters in the Red Roses team. It shows the problems inherent in introducing professionalism. Some players prefer to retain their full-time employ or continue their studies till they have secured life-enhancing qualifications.
One such is Abby Dow. She was completing an Engineering degree at Imperial College London, but found herself playing a leading role in England’s success. Her try against Scotland was the pick of the solo efforts on the entire competition.
It is just possible that England’s five consecutive wins against France are due to the different terms of contract they enjoy. The French remain on a part-time basis, but it limits the time they can spend together preparing for their biggest challenges.
Money is the root of all the difficulties, as we will see – dramatically – below. It is highly unlikely that we will see any major increase in the professionalisation of the women’s game. At best, major nations like Australia, New Zealand and Ireland may gradually increase the financial backing they offer.
The Six Nations
This turned out to be the most dramatic, the most incomplete of all the championships since their start in 1996. Nine matches were played, six were not.
The tournament was hit by two convulsions of increasing power and destructiveness, first Storm Ciara, then the knock-out blow, coronavirus, aka Covid-19.
If we had watched only the France-England game in Round One, we would never have imagined the conditions that prevailed later. On 2 February the temperature in Pau reached 27°. A huge crowd could enjoy rugby of the highest standard played in congenial conditions.
Round Two saw Storm Ciara wreak havoc in Dublin, then Edinburgh. Players had to contend with a mixture of high wind, rain, sleet and snow. Murrayfield hosted the Scotland-England game on a Monday lunchtime after the planned fixture the day before in Glasgow was postponed. The spectacle offered a ghostly effect: an almost completely empty stadium, uniquely awful weather, and two sides that showed immense grit to overcome discomfort.
Then the virus took its toll. Successive games were called off, leaving the championship lop-sided in the extreme. England and Wales managed to complete four matches; Ireland and France three, Italy and Scotland just two.
They were the two nations worst hit by the plague. Fortunately a Scottish player who fell victim subsequently recovered, but the Italian nation was to suffer appallingly large losses.
England were able to complete their fourth match, against Wales, in front of the largest crowd to attend a home 6N match. The game served to underline the unacceptable division between the amateur and professional standing of the two teams. The 6N committee is working on possible adjustments to the programme. Scheduling should be easier to alter than the financial backing of the six nations involved.
The Ongoing Effects of Covid-19
As with every sport on earth, rugby faces huge problems of adjusting to the delay caused by Covid-19. The European qualifying matches for the World Cup are due in September. Three of the 6 Nations, Ireland, Italy and Scotland, had their eyes set firmly on those contests. Ironically, the nation finishing at the bottom of the table, Wales, have already qualified.
Parallel qualifiers around the world will have to wait for completion. And all this assumes that the RWC will take place as advertised in September-October 2021.
The far-reaching effects of the plague were soon registered. On 30 March USA Rugby announced it was filing for bankruptcy. It serves to remind us of the fragile basis many nations rest their rugby on.
The RFU took the wise decision to call a halt to all its competitions. Delaying them would only have impinged on the start of next season, whenever that may be.
World Player of the Year
Emily Scarratt was surprised to receive a call from Tokyo asking her to fly over to ‘represent England’ at the annual World Rugby jamboree. It didn’t need a crystal ball to deduce that this was a charming ruse. She was to receive the highest honour WR can offer to a player. It was richly deserved. England had two other nominees on the short-list, Katy Daley-Mclean and Sarah Bern. KD-M’s play throughout the season made her a leading contender for the award, but it was not to be.
Referees
All the onfield officials at the Super Series last summer were female, an excellent step forward. Then the Six Nations at last managed to follow suit, providing cover for the 45 tasks needed for a complete tournament. This confirmed the efforts of the referees’ organizers to increase the number of qualified referees and ARs around the world. Amber McLachlan of Australia became the latest to control a 6N game (England v Wales at the Stoop), the last fling of an unfinished season.
Scrumqueens’ Annual Awards
These are organized by calendar year, not by season. Their 2019 decisions:
Player of the Year: Emily Scarratt (England)
Coach of the Year: Andrea Di Giandomenico (Italy)
Women’s XV Team of the Year – Czechia (after a heart-warming rise to playing success)
Women’s Sevens Player of the Year – Ruby Tui (New Zealand)
Women’s Sevens Coach of the Year – Chris Brown (USA)
Women’s Sevens Team of the Year – New Zealand
International Young Player of the Year – Sweety Kumari (India)
Referee of the Year – Joy Neville (Ireland)
RugbyX
This was an interesting experiment to attract a new audience to the game. New rules were concocted; leading players were invited from around the world; it took place at the O2 Arena in North Greenwich. It involved men’s and women’s matches interlaced through one evening.
Rules included: 5-a-side, 10 minutes per match; uncontested scrums; no half-time.
The thinking behind it shows a close resemblance to cricket’s 100, as a much reduced form of the game, though rugby’s need for more public awareness is much less urgent than cricket’s. A large audience attended; most observers deemed it a great success.
Unanswered Questions
At the end of an incomplete season so many questions can’t be answered. But…
Would England have won a fourteenth Grand Slam? – yes!
Which nation will win the European qualifying rounds for the World Cup? – Italy!
We can be sure the Tyrrells final would have been between Sarries and Quins – itself a hat-trick – and for the first time at Kingsholm, Gloucester. But who would have won? – Sarries!
Who would have represented England in the fifth round of the Six Nations against Italy? Simon Middleton selected 32 players for the series; of them four made no appearances, Bryony Cleall (injured), Millie Wood, Morwenna Talling and Rowena Burnfield. Would the 17-year-old Talling have been risked on the bench for Round 5, or would Burnfield have been allowed to gain an elusive 50th cap? – No answer!
Who will replace Richard Blaze as England’s forwards (and defence) coach? – a woman?
Who will fill the 150 starting places for the new-look Tyrrells Premier 15s league next season? – Ho, hum.
