Time To Consider An International Break In Rugby?

Rugby's past as an amateur game right up to 1995 is one of the endearing qualities of the game. However, there are many issues that crop up because of the amateur past of the game. One in particular being the absence of an international break as they do in football. In football it has developed to be this way as clubs have paid players for far longer than in Rugby, and want them available for every game they play in. This seems fair enough, if you have a contract you are legally bound to honour it, so the international break was created to accommodate a more professional game. As rugby becomes more professional is it time that we looked at putting an international break in place ourselves.




The pro's of this move would be huge, it would suit clubs, national sides, and fans alike. For clubs it would allow them to have all their best players on the pitch at any one time, the same with the national sides, and fans would know when the paid for their ticket that the best players will be there. The Pro12 goes very quiet over the course of February and March, there are games being played but the real focus is on the Six Nations. This means lower numbers on the gates for clubs, which has a massive trickle down effect. If the big names were always there then the crowds would always gather. French rugby also has a problem with this and each year they are getting more and more radical with it. The Top14 French sides pay fortunes to get players to France, so once they are there they want them playing. Again this is understandable, but last year during the rest weekends in the Six Nations they had players playing in the league. Sergio Parisse was one of these and received a ban which forced him out of the Italy vs Wales game when the Six Nations resumed. The French clubs are desperate to see their big name players playing, their season lasts longer and starts earlier than any of the British isles leagues. So is there possibly a way to change it?

First and foremost, all international competitions would have to be put into the same timescale, so the Six Nations, European Nations Cup, the Rugby Championship, would all have to be in February and March. With the club sides having a 'spring break' to recoup, although given the length of the Rugby Championship the shortest time this break could possibly be is Six Weeks. This means that instead of finishing around the end of May, if we take the RaboPro12 as an example, it would not finish until mid July. If you also take into account the four weeks of the autumn internationals, this stretches to mid August before you know it.  It would be good for the fans, clubs and nations and on top of that it would push the game on leaps and bounds. However, the game of Rugby as we know and love it does not accommodate for this. With that sort of season careers would be cut short very quickly and nobody wants to see that. I do believe there is a way to organise some sort of international break, even if the leagues on break partially while the national tournaments are being played. It is something that could be on the horizon as the game becomes more professional however, and it will be the French clubs leading the way once again.