Test Window Madness

[TRF_Olyy]

That the ABs are playing for money?
Yes, but every side needs to make money otherwise they'll cease to exist in a professional sport.

I'm sure I read that the PI nations earn a lot more money playing elsewhere than at home, due to smaller stadiums etc.
While I'd like to see NZ play Samoa/Fiji/Tonga in Samoa/Fiji/Tonga, I imagine the unions of those countries would much rather the games were played in NZ.
While this is harsh on the fans living on the PI, the unions/sides need the cash. NZ should send NZ Maori to play against the sides in a "who's the best polynesian side" series.

 

[Big Ewis]

scrap the June tests down under. We don't need them. If we're going to reduce the number of league games (which we did by moving from Top 16 to Top 14) the same has to be done at Intl level.

again with that nonsense...those tests have always been there, it's world Rugby tradition. There's always been 3-test series, in fact sides would tour an entire nation and play against various sub-divisions and clubs and smaller entities. Those tours have disappeared, and you want to splash the two yearly tours (or at least one of only two...) we have ?? How awesome that would be for fans, Rugby tradition and history, and measuring up to the SH nations in between world cups...marvelous idea.

It ain't international Rugby that needs to cut down on anything FrenchFan, and you know it. Stop it with your bizarre aspirations and notions; don't confuse the incompetence of some involved with test Rugby and the entirety of test Rugby's existence. Six Nations, test series away, test series at home, that's it, that's all we ask for...actually we're not asking, we're just stating what has always been.
Stop being so (deliberately, I hope) blind to the fact the only thing that's grown, at all, in any measure whatsoever, is the Top 14 over the past years (and pls don't mention the Top 16-reduction thing, it's a petty argument and has no business here).

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Does he have a point though?

He has no point whatsoever IMO. The NZRU are under as much obligation to tour the PI nations as France is to tour Eastern Europe or SA is to tour the rest of Africa; none at all.

Yes, it might be nice in a romantic sense and I suppose we all want to see the PI nations be competitive because we love their brand of rugby but why should NZ specifically do more than it is allready doing? NZ, France, B & I and to a lesser extent SA do give tier 2 nations a big leg up already in having their best play in our pro competitions and having those players exposed to rugby at the highest club levels week in week out.

The IRB and the smaller unions themselves are responsible for uplifting their game and the RWC is the global showpiece in which tier 2/3 nations get to test their mettle against 'the big boys'. The margins are decreasing every tournament. We';; get more and more tier 2 teams stepping up and the game will naturally become more competitive without forcing anybody into anything not to their own benefit as well.

 

[donmcdazzle]

Does he have a point though?

No. Most of the Samoan team were born in NZ and developed through the NZ rugby system. They owe us a hell of a lot more than we owe them. Why would the NZRU literally throw away money for the sake of going to a country who already benefits hugely from the resources the NZRU already spends?! Crazy arguments.

In a nutshell: THE NZRU losing money (by playing there) would be detrimental to the Samoan rugby system, as they rely on the NZRU so much already.

 

[smartcooky]

That the ABs are playing for money?
Yes, but every side needs to make money otherwise they'll cease to exist in a professional sport.

I'm sure I read that the PI nations earn a lot more money playing elsewhere than at home, due to smaller stadiums etc.
While I'd like to see NZ play Samoa/Fiji/Tonga in Samoa/Fiji/Tonga, I imagine the unions of those countries would much rather the games were played in NZ.
While this is harsh on the fans living on the PI, the unions/sides need the cash. NZ should send NZ Maori to play against the sides in a "who's the best polynesian side" series.

Yes to this

It is a fact that the PI unions make much more money from a test v the All Blacks in New Zealand than in the Pacific Islands. This is the case even in stadia with comparable capacities, and the reason for this is well understood by anyone who lives here. Quite simply, PI's that live in New Zealand are financially MUCH better off than those still living in the homelands. Many of them send some of their NZ wages back to their families in the islands.

If you compare a test in, say, Apia Park (capacity 15,000) with one staged at, say, Mount Smart Stadium (30,000), the level of ticket pricing in Samoa to get the same return would be so high that not many people could afford to go.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Why won't the NZ'ers want to tour the Pacific Islands?

There are so many nice resorts where they can relax and just have some fun?