New Zealand’s players’ boss has warned Rugby Australia not to follow South Africa’s push for a global calendar.
Rob Nichol, chief executive of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association (NZRPA), has cautioned that shifting the Rugby Championship to align with the Six Nations could come at a cost, particularly for Super Rugby Pacific.
The proposed changes, backed strongly by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus, would see the Rugby Championship moved earlier in the year in a bid to better align the southern and northern hemisphere seasons.
Talks over what has been described as the “first credible attempt” at a global calendar are set to take place this week, with former Argentina great Agustin Pichot expected to lead discussions.
KEO: Global calendar talks can’t fail again
Erasmus has been vocal about the potential upside for South Africa.
“I think it will sort out a lot of problems for us,” he said 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.”
SA RUGBY: There must be a global calendar
After initially resisting the move, Australia now appears open to the shift. But New Zealand remains unconvinced.
“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.”
Nichol, however, has urged caution. Speaking to The Post, he warned that Rugby Australia in particular should tread carefully.
“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’.”
GATLAND: Now or never for global calendar
The concern from the NZRPA is that a reworked calendar could squeeze Super Rugby Pacific, potentially elevating New Zealand’s NPC at the expense of the trans-Tasman competition.
Photo: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
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