Rugby fans want a feast not a snack
Are the staggered kick-off times for the Six Nations finale on Super Saturday fair or unfair? We present the case for and against.
The case for
How do you like your Saturdays? With a jamboree of Six Nations rugby spread across the day or a brief interlude as you watch Wales versus Ireland play out the final day while the other two games go on out of televisual reach?
The former is the more civilised way to pass the day, settling down at 1:30pm for Italy versus France, then Wales-Ireland at 2:45 before the Calcutta Cup clash from 5pm rounds out a day of uninterrupted championship-deciding drama.
Purists believe kick-off times should be synchronised to maintain the integrity of the competition and deny the teams with the last kick-off of the day an unfair advantage because they will know exactly what they need to achieve if they are to win the tournament.
Yet having different kick-off times has not dampened the drama on final-round days since the current schedule was introduced.
If anything it heightens it because all the teams still in with a chance of winning the title throw caution to the wind and go for broke.
That was the case in 2015 when Wales kicked off the day in Rome and threw down the gauntlet with a 61-20 victory over Italy at Stadio Olimpico, only to be outdone by Ireland, who went to Murrayfield and hammered the Scots 40-10, taking their points difference beyond the Welsh. In turn, that left England needing to overhaul the Irish and their response at Twickenham in the last game of the day against France produced a real thriller as Le Crunch produced a titanic free-flowing battle.
The two old rivals shared 90 points to round out a remarkable day’s action but although Stuart Lancaster’s team won it 55-35 they failed to get the 26-point differential needed to reel in Schmidt’s Ireland.
Breathtaking stuff and none the worse for different kick-off times.
What the Guinness Six Nations provides supporters on the final day of the most intense, exhilarating and suspenseful championship in Test rugby is a non-stop rollercoaster ride of emotions as the drama unravels over the course of the day, not all jammed into one short window.
Rugby fans want a feast not a snack and it’s called Super Saturday.
The case against
By its very nature, the Six Nations is a competition built on a non-level playing field.
Depending on what year it is, Ireland could be playing England and France away or England and France at home, and though we don’t really question it because home and away is simply out of the question – it’s surprising how much it’s simply accepted because, well, it’s ‘how it’s always been’.
The same thing comes to mind when considering the last day fixtures, with one team undoubtedly given an advantage over its closest rivals.
In any year, for example, Ireland could have three home games and then play last in the fifth and final round of the tournament – giving them a massively unfair advantage in knowing the results of earlier games.
So, when we look at Saturday’s fixtures, with England completing the tournament at home to Scotland, after Wales v Ireland is complete, it’s undeniable that Eddie Jones’ men could benefit from such a structure.
If Wales beat Ireland then, as has been the case more often than not in the last decade, this argument becomes moot. Wales win the title and the Grand Slam, and the England game is essentially a dead rubber title-wise.
But if Wales draw or lose to Ireland then England would surely run out of the Twickenham dressing room with a greater desire given what is now at stake.
Had the games kicked off at the same time, the tension, the anxiety, the overall drama would be far superior.
The current construct is one so clearly dictated by television money.
If a company is to shell out for the championship, then it wants eight hours of live programming on its final day – rather than just three or four.
But is it worth it?
In the last ten Six Nations only twice has there been a reason to watch more than one game – in 2015 when England had to beat France by 26 points or more to deny Ireland, and 2014, when three teams were in contention going into the final day.
Those days did provide drama – but could you imagine how much more dramatic they might have been had fans been forced to monitor the other game in real time, check their phones for opposition scores, hear the roars – or groans – as another try went in, for or against your interests?
Remember the scenes of Manchester United fans waiting to hear the final score of Manchester City v QPR....before news of Sergio Aguero’s goal came through? Such raw, incredible human drama cannot be spread over six hours of rugby.
For what it’s worth, it’s not been a live issue often enough – another sign of the championship’s inherent imbalance.
The title has been sown up before the final day in 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2011, with only 2009 and 2013 decided in a one off clash.
In 2012, once Wales beat France, the late kick-off between England and Ireland meant nothing.
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