New Zealand hold firm on global calendar debate that ‘doesn’t work’ as South Africa don’t have a ‘compelling case’
All Blacks flanker Ethan Blackadder and Springboks full-back Aphelele Fassi with an inset of Australia facing the Haka.
Rob Nichol has issued a warning to Rugby Australia ahead of crunch talks to move the Rugby Championship and align with the Six Nations.
The chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA) believes that Super Rugby Pacific could take a backseat to the NPC if Australia backs South Africa’s push to create a global calendar.
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus has advocated for the Rugby Championship to be rescheduled for earlier in the year, and talks are set to take place this week over the possibility of doing just that.
Global calendar talks
This has been described as the ‘first credible attempt’ at creating a global calendar with Los Pumas legend Agustin Pichot set to lead the discussion.
“I think it will sort out a lot of problems for us,” Erasmus explained last month.
“Players resting or managing the number of games a player can play, so getting it synced, I think player welfare and rules of competitions, all those kinds of things are easier to implement and to adapt to.
“So, it looks like they’ll keep putting questionnaires out and high-performance committees looking at it. I’m not sure where it is (negotiations regarding it at the moment) and when it will start, but I think it will be awesome.”
The benefits for South Africa, and Argentina too, are plainly evident as it would further align with the northern hemisphere rugby seasons, meaning that the Springboks players aren’t effectively playing all year round.
After initially resisting the shift, it looks as if Australia have come around to the idea, but New Zealand are holding firm and need convincing.
“In the past, when we last talked about it seriously, New Zealand was the biggest challenge. Australia is now on board,” SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer said on the Rapport Praat Sport podcast.
“We have a good chance of getting through this time. I think New Zealand also understands that there are more solutions and positivity than negativity to change the seasons.”
Warning to Australia
Speaking to The Post, NZRPA chief Nichol warned that Rugby Australia needs to be careful what they wish for as moving the Rugby Championship could have a detrimental impact on Super Rugby Pacific.
“I can see what they’re thinking,” Nichol said. “They’re thinking, ‘OK, it creates a big window [April-September] for us to put Super Rugby up against the NRL and AFL in the domestic market’.
“That would be great from their perspective because you wouldn’t have the Rugby Championship after July, so you’d have a clear window.
“But for us, we’ve got this incredible competition called the NPC, so that doesn’t work for us.
“What we have works for us and the question is, if we’re going to move away from that, would we actually go for a Super Rugby comp or would we actually go the other way around and just make a longer NPC?
“We would want to do what’s best for rugby in New Zealand and if you create that kind of a window [April-September] it’s not just a fait accompli you put Super Rugby into it and bypass NPC.”
‘Absolutely no need for change’ – Ex-referee urges top unions to ‘disoblige’ World Rugby boss
Moving the Rugby Championship suits South Africa but not New Zealand
There have been calls for New Zealand Rugby to be more selfish in their decision-making and according to Nichol, South Africa have not produced any good reason for the calendar shift or tangible benefits for anyone but themselves.
He argues that it would be a massive change to New Zealand’s ecosystem and a convincing argument on how it positively impacts them will need to be made.
“For us to seriously contemplate something like this, it’s really got to be a very compelling case as to why we would do that,” he added.
“So, that’s the challenge that’s been laid down. It’s easy for a party to say. ‘Oh, we’d just really like to see a Rugby Championship at the start of the year’.
“Well, that’s nice that you’d like to see it there, but what does it actually mean for everyone?”
He added: “We’re saying to them is if you want us in our country to have that debate, it’s a really, really big conversation and one that we’re not really wanting to have unless there’s a really good reason for having it.”
The publication adds that NZ Rugby is sending director Greg Barclay and All Blacks assistant coach Jason Ryan to represent their interests at World Rugby’s Shape of the Game conference.
It is understood that SA Rugby’s contingent will include Oberholzer and Bok assistant Felix Jones.
READ MORE: Nigel Owens’ position on law tweak that Springboks coaches believe makes rugby ‘safer’
