George Gregan ‘disappointed’ with Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour, drawing Six Nations ‘equivalent’
Springboks prop Thomas du Toit tackles Jordie Barrett and an inset of Wallabies legend George Gregan.
Wallabies legend George Gregan has hit out at the Springboks and All Blacks’ decision to create Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry tour at the expense of The Rugby Championship.
New Zealand will travel to South Africa later this year with the All Blacks facing all four of the United Rugby Championship teams before three Tests against the Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town, with Baltimore hosting the fourth and final Test.
The series has come at the detriment of the Rugby Championship, which will not be held this year and again in 2030 when the Springboks tour New Zealand.
Australia and Argentina have since made alternative plans and will play Test matches during that period, while Gregan understands the financial reasons and benefits from the tour, he is disappointed that The Rugby Championship is coming second to the series.
Gregan hits out at Springboks-All Blacks series
He expressed these views on the Rugby Unity podcast, where he weighed in on the tour as a whole and the final Test matches being hosted in the USA.
“Well, I think that the last part makes sense, going to Baltimore to play in a new market, a new country, which is good forward planning for 2031,” the former Wallabies captain said.
“Two iconic world-leading rugby nations are playing in America. They have probably seen the success of Ireland playing against New Zealand. They always play that at Soldier Field in Chicago, where there are a few Irish people, a few Irish fans, and the Kiwis like to travel as well, and that’s been a huge success.
“So I can see why they’ve done that for the fourth Test, and it’s an education. There’s obviously a commercial piece to it; it would be strong for both countries.
“But in terms of the Greatest Rivalry, I think they could have, and I’m just going back on what’s happened in the past, we used to play the Mandela Cup [Australia and South Africa], they still do, but you could put an extra Test on. It didn’t interfere with it; at that stage, it was the Tri Nations, and it was an add-on. But the Tri-Nations was still a really important competition.”
Six Nations equivalent
The Six Nations has a much longer history than the Rugby Championship, dating back to 1883 when it was the Home Nations, with two further expansions with France and Italy joining the competition.
But that didn’t stop Gregan from drawing a comparison.
“It’d be like saying the Six Nations, the greatest rivalries between England and France, and then they’re going to pause the Six Nations for that,” he continued.
“I know there’s a lot more history to the Six Nations, but to me, that’s the equivalent.”
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He adds that The Rugby Championship didn’t need to take a backseat for the Greatest Rivalry tour.
“So I think that could have been done concurrently because you just saw how important and meaningful a competition, The Rugby Championship last year, was. It went down to the last weekend of matches, and there were three teams in it,” he said.
“If things had gone their way, Argentina may have been able to get through, but I think they were the only ones who weren’t going to be able to lift the trophy. And that’s what you want, I think, in a strong competition.
“So it has hit its high watermark, and then they’re just going pause for a year for this greatest rivalry, that’s what I’ve said this publicly before.
“I can understand why both countries have done it. There’s remuneration, there’s good commerce behind it. But I think for the fabric of the game here in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s a bit disappointing. I think you could have had it done concurrently; it’s just two more Test matches that they would’ve had to add on from The Rugby Championship, and you find a way to do that.”
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