2026 Nations Championships

[Saintjay]

 

[AlRums]

 

[AlRums]

The issue with sales has nothing to do with the appeal of the tournament (it’s still a test match against England, that has draw appeal). The issue is that SARU has significantly hiked up the ticket prices of SA games over the last two years which has made it unaffordable for the majority of South Africans.

Historically the cheapest tickets for this kind of game would probably have been around R250 or £13ish, with the majority of tickets being around R500-R1,000 (£25-45ish). Now the cheapest are R950 (£43) with a high proportion at R2,350-3,000 (£106-136ish).

That might not too high from a European perspective, but keep in mind that the SA median monthly income is R5.5k-ish (£250ish) and an unemployment rate of 33% (43% when you include those that have given up looking for work) and you can see how that amount just isn’t going to work out in the market. (Mean average income is R30k or £1.3k, but SA has significant inequality, so it isn’t a far reflection of the reality of the broader economy).

Add to that SARU have openly commented that they were targeting lower capacity (think it was like 70%) last year when they first did this, because they knew the higher ticket prices and lower capacity meant more profit than lower prices and full capacity. It’s a bit sad really.

If that's international prices.

What are the prices for local and URC games?

There always seems to be a good crowd for URC.

 

[saulan]

Attendance is good for Stormers, okay for Bulls and Sharks and bad for Lions. Stealing this from Reddit, but this is the attendance for this season:

Lions is so bad because the stadium is in one of the most dangerous areas of Joburg.

I couldn’t find the latest pricing, but this was a comparison from three years ago:

I think they’ve gone up a little bit in SA, but not much. There are complaints of the ticket price for the Stormers vs Sharks game being R185 (£8.40ish) I’m guessing that was the cheapest ticket. Again that’s not going to sound like much, but keep in mind the income points from before.

The big thing that changed a year or two ago was that Springbok games used to be hosted by the unions rather than SARU (e.g. Bulls, Stormers, Etc) and they’d have set prices or it was the same across the country. Now it’s changed that SARU pays a rental fee to the unions and does all the pricing themselves and they’ve jacked it up significantly.

Season ticket holders for the unions also used to get Springbok games included in the season ticket for the Union, now that’s excluded and with the new pricing you’re paying more for one Springbok game than for a season ticket. (For reference, the season ticket at the Stormers was R1,400 to R2,300 for the 24/25 season (£63-£103) which again would be a bit higher now but not by a huge amount I suspect)

 

[Welsh Exile]

don't think we need a separate thread for the cup but Georgia just beat Uruguay by a try. Would have expected a larger difference.

Didn't Portugal beat Georgia for the first time in their history the other week?

 

[Welsh Exile]

View attachment 26223

Stop the count.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Didn't Portugal beat Georgia for the first time in their history the other week?

they beat them in rugby europe

scores:

Georgia 41 Uruguay 34
Samoa 66 Hong Kong 19
Chile 48 Romania 31
Tonga 36 Zimbabwe 26
Canada 42 Spain 42
USA 30 Portugal 29

Spain and Portugal and horrible discipline in their games. Portugal had two 20 min red cards that allowed us to win.
Zimbabwe were the big over achievers although Tonga sucks.

Overall I like this format. It's good for the tier 2s to get consistent games against each other and you can see the quality improving. Wouldn't mind if they did this every year for the tier 2s.

I liked the tier 1s as well. Don't think it needs to be a competition but rather a scheduling arrangement. I get that people miss tours but there was always a musical chairs over which northern hemisphere teams get to play actual competition.

 

[AlRums]

Stop the count.

Before all the results are in?

Sounds familiar.

 

[Welsh Exile]

Before all the results are in?

Sounds familiar.

We’ll comfortably beat Argentina and SA.

 

[Becca]

We’ll comfortably beat Argentina and SA.

I like that confidence

 

[AlRums]

I like that confidence

Or fantasy?

 

[Welsh Exile]

Or fantasy?

Or taking the ****.

 

[Leonormous Boozer]

McReight was a 14 point swing in that half. Unbelievable 40mins

 

[Quel Carreleur]

Isn't a forward pass defined as the ball going forwards (compared to the passer's momentum) with the ball going forwards out of the hands as the prime guide?
Not "receiver was in front of the passer, despite the passer falling forwards, and the receiver reaching behind them"

 

[Brown Bottle]

I don't think it's anywhere near as complicated as that in the laws; guidelines for detection maybe.

I thought that was an excellent example of the importance of the viewing angle. All the initial views taken from slightly behind and in touch made it appear as if it was two flat(ish) passes so potentially ok. As soon as you got the view from the drone/spider cam from well behind and high up it was clear that the first pass was backwards and the receiver hadn't caught up with Attissogbe when he passed it back. It was hard to see how the ball couldn't have been passed towards the opposition goal line, even if Attissogbe reached behind him to take it.

 

[Quel Carreleur]

For me - none of the angles were conclusive, so it should have been "there's nothing conclusive, so stick with your onfield decision (forward pass)" not "he's in front, therefore forward, regardless of the laws of physics or amount in front"

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Isn't a forward pass defined as the ball going forwards (compared to the passer's momentum) with the ball going forwards out of the hands as the prime guide?
Not "receiver was in front of the passer, despite the passer falling forwards, and the receiver reaching behind them"

receiver is offside so either pk for offside, or scrum for forward pass. I think the scrum is the more appropriate sanction.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Currently losing to Zimbabwe. The zim fans are having a great time though. Happy for them.

 

[Reiser99]

Interestingly north and south both have won 6 and lost 6. Also the cumulative points for both hemispheres is 33. Pretty even so far.

 

[dullonien]

receiver is offside so either pk for offside, or scrum for forward pass. I think the scrum is the more appropriate sanction.

Unless there's a kick, there is no offside in open play like that. That try was perfectly good in my opinion, and the ref's wording to disallow it was complete garbage. Doesn't matter if the player is in front, so long as the ball is passed backwards, which I thought it was by the direction of the hands. Great take behind him by Attissogbe.

 

[pagliaccio_euforico]

Unless there's a kick, there is no offside in open play like that. That try was perfectly good in my opinion, and the ref's wording to disallow it was complete garbage. Doesn't matter if the player is in front, so long as the ball is passed backwards, which I thought it was by the direction of the hands. Great take behind him by Attissogbe.

Knock on offside?

 

[dullonien]

Knock on offside?

Yes, that too.

 

[spursincornwall]

is there a separate nations cup thread, like the concept but seeing the scorelines, there are going to be some cricket scores in the world cup

 

[Quel Carreleur]

Surely this IS the separate Nations Cup thread?

 

[Quel Carreleur]

WTF is he thinking ?
Absolute idiot, thug.
Red card and a ban measured in years

 

[Kiwiwomble]

i saw this posted the other day, havent checked it but realised the NC is probably the first time it could have been done as the July tests were historically just one team touring a country rather than three different ones

 

[TRF_Olyy]

England did it in 02/03, I believe

 

[Saintjay]

Think they lost only 6 times in 42 matches. Boks that is.

 

[Kiwiwomble]

England did it in 02/03, I believe

really? is that on the back on the world cup? thats the only other way i could see someone playing so many different teams in 12 months

looks like youre right, i wonder if we've ever done it?

 

[TRF_Olyy]

Had a quick look online and think you fell one short in 13/14, because you didn't play Italy - England got lucky with the schedule in that Argentina tour into Trinations visit run

Does add just about the only bit of interest I can muster to the rugby championship though, be interesting to see if anyone else can manage it in the future