As we slip out of an unusually eventful year in rugby, is there anything left to look forward to? (Scrabbles around for an answer, and comes up with YES!)
WXV
By far the most important and innovative addition to the calendar is WXV, due to start next autumn. So big is the enterprise that World Rugby hasn’t yet divulged all the details. Most important of all: where will it take place?
New Zealand is already booked in to host the 2024 version, so commonsense dictates that the first instalment must take place in Europe. Only there can WR be sure of the sorts of crowds to satisfy TV companies, as they woo them for the fullest possible coverage. My preference would be France, where the devotion to the women’s game is greatest.
The important letters in the new acronym are the last two, XV. This is World Rugby’s big attempt to ensure that the brand ‘Rugby’ is not swamped by the attractions of Sevens.
We have to admit that most eyes will be fixed on Tier One, which will involve six of the leading powers in the global game. But WR is looking much further, to widen opportunities for the many nations still suffering from limited exposure to high-class international competition.
And they include some of those self-same top six. The only annual tournament to reach that sort of level remains the Six Nations, for which we Europeans should be ever grateful.
When the enterprise was first announced in March 2021, WR was setting £6.4m aside to cover the expenses. In an age of rampant inflation (in certain countries) will that sum still prove sufficient? The costs must be absolutely enormous. Eighteen nations will need the funding to gather at one of three locations (the three tiers will operate separately). This is a financial undertaking to exceed the demands of the World Cup: more teams involved, and on an annual basis!
It will mean farewell to autumn tours and hello to a regular fix of high-quality combat.
The Six Nations
The way the three tiers are allocated adds even more edge to the 2023 6N. Only the top three will qualify for Tier One; the next two for Tier Two. That leaves the nation claiming the wooden spoon with the unenviable prospect of competing in Tier Three.
If the finishing order remains the same as in 2022, that would mean:
England, France and Wales to Tier 1
Ireland and Italy to Tier 2
Scotland to Tier 3
But times are changing. Most of the players involved will have signed up for contracts. How that will affect the results is hard to tell; every one of the six squads will feel it has an increased chance of success.
They all have a point to prove.
Ireland
They were disappointed beyond measure at failing to make the trip to Aotearoa. The unbiased observer must see them as capable of seizing that all-important third spot. To counter the remaining shortcomings in the sub-structures of the women’s game, the Girls in Green have match-winners all over the park.
Scotland
The Thistles (it’s just possible that will become their official name) may yet throw off the stigma of the eternal back-markers. They had the boost of appearing at the RWC after a break of over a decade; contracts are coming on stream, but they still suffer from lack of depth in their elite squad. Like Ireland, they have to sort out the conflicting demands of 7s and 15s. The SRU has a hard task in widening its player-pool.
Wales
Like their Celtic sisters, Wales have a fine new training centre at their disposal. The trouble is, with so many contracted players attached to an English club, organising combined sessions is tricky. While they struggled to beat Scotland 18-15 at the RWC, they got to double figures against the eventual champions. Can they repeat that third place? I doubt it.
France
They are one of two nations to have a brand-new boss, or rather two: Gaëlle Mignot and David Ortiz. While Annick Hayraud remains in place as manager, the trio will have to sort out individual responsibilites, not an easy task.
Les Bleues match the English in failing to achieve long-sought objectives. In their case there are two: to topple the English from their position as amost permanent winners of the 6N; second, barely three years distant, to reach that elusive place in a World Cup final. No doubt the top brass will be rethinking their policy over the 7s/15s divide. The two squads manage stunningly well as things stand, but the trophies remain agonisingly out of reach.
Italy
The Azzurre are the other team to have a new head coach installed, Giovanni Raineri. He came into office only at the start of December, so has his work cut out to pass his vision of the game on to his players. Like the Scots, the Azzurre were delighted to join the party in NZ; unlike them, they managed two wins out of three in the pool stages. I still see them as the European nation most likely to make the big jump forward. But blind optimism can be a dangerous thing.
England
We were promised the results of a technical review by the end of this month. As I write, there are three days left.
But for most of us the second review is far more important. In essence it means: who will be in charge of the Red Roses come Round One of the Six Nations on 25 March?
So strangely, England is the only one of the six not to know that central detail. We can only hope that the review committee doesn’t repeat the unholy mess it caused in 2014 when England returned home as RWC winners and the BBC’s Team of the Year, only for Gary Street to be removed from office for reasons still locked away in Twickenham’s deepest dungeon.
Like all their 6N rivals, the Red Roses have a point to prove; the loss of the World Cup will have cut everybody deep. Even Wayne Smith admitted they were the outstanding team in global rugby, but they didn’t bring home the bacon, and that had nothing to do with their diet.
They have a sort of recompense, facing their greatest rivals at home at HQ in front of what we must hope will be a record-breaking crowd. 29 April is your diary date.
Some prospect!
