Tier 1 expansion - the great debate.

[higgik]

I'm confused. I assume 6N's and TRC would be yearly as it's too profitable. Therefore they would be in August and then almost straight into the Autumn windows. When would there be a break? 6N's is 7 weeks long, if it started in mid-August it would end at the start of October.

I like the idea in concept of a 4 year cycle. It would change the dynamic of the internationals an vary it up. Just confused by the 6N's and TRC part.

6N would be reduced to 6 weeks and the second part 6 weeks, with week between, so a total of 13 weeks. Ending at end October. So August, Sept and October for international, domestic NH November to May, Reduced season, as this would also mean higher level of comp.

 

[mdaclarke]

Yeah, its great that we are hosting Georgia. I suppose we should expect a bit of a blow out but Georgia won't get better against the likes of us, especially at home, if never given the exposure.

Also the perfect opportunity to blood new faces, continue to build depth, test new combinations and tactics going forward. I think everyone is still on a high after the RWC and a 'soft' start would suit us best from a mentality POV and looking at B&I Lions 2021 as a target to peak towards.

Perfect opportunity to cap some younger players so they can't be picked by other nations

 

[TRF_stormer2010]

Perfect opportunity to cap some younger players so they can't be picked by other nations

Haha. I had the same thought but TBH I don't like the idea of almost 'spite-capping' youngsters. I'd prefer an honest 'we are interested in you long term cap' from SARU just as I want players in the u20 team not to use it as a platform for exposure and then pushing off to other nations. It should be honest from them as well and if they represent SA at u20 it should be because they are interested in representing us at senior level.

That said I do believe we will see a few new faces depending on injury and how these players go in SR. So I am expecting a few new faces at position we need to develop depth. At 8 I see us going with either of Jaco Coetzee or Cobus Wiese. Maybe Marco van Staden at 8 or Kolisi moving to 8 to accommodate Van Staden at 6. At 10 and 15 I expect to start seeing the likes of Damian Willemse and Warrick Gelant getting more opportunity. Maybe Joseph Dweba at 2 or a new face at lock if we are looking to keep it local for the inbound tests.

 

[TRF_heineken]

Perfect opportunity to cap some younger players so they can't be picked by other nations

That's wishful thinking. It's the last game before the RC starts, so my guess is that the new coach would use that match more to play a few senior players who might get some rest after the SR, and have one or 2 or 3 debutants play. Our squad is still very young, so there is really no need to go overboard and cheapen the jersey, especially now that we are the World Champions too...