For me, one of the big problems with the current four nations set up is that it simply isnt enough. England have just been comprehensively beaten by australia and NZ in what are basically one off games, and now wont play a truly competitive international again until 1 year from now. By that time anything the players will have learnt from the two losses will be completely forgotten.
I think there should be two international periods every year; one mid season period of ~ 3 weeks where teams from the same hemisphere play each other ( thus minimising travel mid season), and the second at the end of the season where teams from different hemispheres then play against each other.
Proposed end of season international structure
Year 1 - World Cup
Year 2 - Eng v Aus Ashes series; NZ v France series; separate qualifying tournament between other nations to determine 2 teams to compete in 5 nations tournament in year 3.
Year 3 - 5 Nations: Eng, Aus, NZ, plus european qualifier, plus oceanic qualifier.
Year 4 - Eng v NZ series; Aus v France series; World Cup Qualifiers.
Year 5 World Cip.
Mid season should be a series of friendlies ( over a 3 week period) every year between teams from the same hemisphere. Not one single game between eng and france for example.
Would you believe.. I know when our summer is
I also know when our winter is which is why im heading off to Aus in 6 weeks! Im a right tart though so it'll probably be too hot
I was agreeing that mid season summer windows would be best as opposed to what we have now where the 4N and WC in '13 is going to be played in miserable weather in November.. exciting...
Was the tri-nations (i.e. playing Aus and NZ twice in four pool games) actually a better development tool for England than the current four nations set-up? I agree with the concept of the latter but really enjoyed the double-dose of games with the big boys. It also allowed for tests in between - where the odd team out that weekend (e.g. Australia) would play Wales or France in a test.
The 4N is better for the development of RL but has diluted the quality. Tough dilemma.
All views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the RLFANS.COM or its subsites.
Whilst every effort is made to ensure that news stories, articles and images are correct, we cannot be held responsible for errors. However, if you feel any material on this website is copyrighted or incorrect in any way please contact us using the link at the top of the page so we can remove it or negotiate copyright permission.
RLFANS.COM, the owners of this website, is not responsible for the content of its sub-sites or posts, please email the author of this sub-site or post if you feel you find an article offensive or of a choice nature that you disagree with.
