Relief for IRFU as new Autumn tournament fills void
England's Manu Tuilagi carries the ball during the Guinness Six Nations match at Twickenham Stadium, London. The sides meet in the Autumn Nations Cup on November 21
They say necessity is the mother of invention but it is not often enough to turn that innovation into a viable product.
The announcement and confirmation of a new Autumn Nations Cup, kicking off with Ireland versus Wales in Dublin on November 13, then, will have been greeted with relief in rugby’s corridors of power, not least at IRFU headquarters on Lansdowne Road.
The architects of an alternative to the traditional Autumn Test window have found much-needed agreement on a workable format to bring back international rugby to Northern Hemisphere stadia, thereby avoiding the apocalypse scenario of a fallow autumn.
With Tests between the superpower rugby nations from north and south of the equator remaining on hold as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to hamper international travel, Six Nations Rugby believes they will be breaking new ground with their replacement model for the traditional heavy-hitting November internationals.
“In recent months as the scale of the challenge presented by the Covid-19 pandemic emerged, it became apparent that fulfilling the traditional Autumn International fixtures would not be possible particularly as a result of travel restrictions preventing certain international teams from competing in scheduled fixtures,” a Six Nations Rugby statement issued yesterday said.
“This newly-created tournament will replace the traditional Autumn International window for 2020 and ensures rugby fans all over the world will be treated to top-class international rugby this Autumn.”
Replacing South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, even if that means for pulling power in terms of television viewership rather than spectators, is a difficult challenge but a Six Nations-plus tournament of 16 matches over four weekends from November 13 to December 6 means supporters will get a decent fix of Test rugby this autumn.
Ireland, with two 2020 Six Nations games to complete against Italy and France at the end of October, will greet the Welsh to Aviva Stadium first for a Friday-night Test to get the ball rolling with their Group A schedule continuing against England at Twickenham on November 21 and then the visit of Georgia to Dublin eight days after that. The tournament concludes for Andy Farrell’s men on Saturday, December 5 as a finals weekend pits each side from Group A against the team from their equivalent position in the Group B table, containing France, Scotland, Italy, and Fiji.
Six Nations Rugby chief executive Ben Morel said: “A significant amount of time and effort has gone into delivering this new tournament format in testing circumstances and the spirit of collaboration amongst key stakeholders has been outstanding.
“While the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic made the traditional Autumn Test window unfeasible, we remained determined to deliver a unique and compelling tournament proposition which would ensure world class rugby for our fans globally, and competitive matches for players, unions and federations.
“We cannot wait for the tournament to get underway in November and fans can look forward to some outstanding matches featuring some of the greatest players in the world. We are especially pleased to be joined by Fiji and Georgia and expect them both to be tremendous additions to the competition.”
There was no additional comment from the IRFU last night but the governing body will undoubtedly be pressing for spectators to be permitted to attend their four home games. Merely playing games is a huge step forward after a year which has seen revenues hit hard by behind closed doors game under social distancing restrictions and limits on the size of outdoor gatherings. Yet at least the return of rugby last month gave broadcasters their pounds of flesh in terms of fulfilling rights agreements.
The failure to complete the 2020 Six Nations and cancellation of the November Test matches at the Aviva would have cost the IRFU €15-20 million, by the reckoning of its chief executive Philip Browne. Broadcast rights for the Autumn Nations Cup will help to offset some of that with arrangements in specific markets to be announced in due course.
With each home game bringing €2m-€3m in gate receipts what the IRFU really needs is to be able to sell tickets and get bums on seats again. That remains at the behest of the Irish Government but for now, there will be relief that Ireland has home games to play.
The Welsh are still to confirm where their four home games this autumn, starting with their remaining 2020 Six Nations game with Scotland on October 31, will be played with the Principality Stadium in Cardiff still in use as a temporary Covid hospital. Wembley has been mentioned as the preferred destination while south of the Thames at Twickenham, RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said yesterday that the English governing body remained “cautiously optimistic about the return of fans to the stadium” for the November matches, adding it was looking “forward to hearing from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport on the detail following yesterday’s government update”.
Sat, Oct 24 - Home v Italy, 2020 Six Nations R4, Aviva Stadium, Dublin - KO TBC
Sat, Oct 31 - Away v France, 2020 Six Nations R5, Stade de France, Paris - 20:00
Fri, Nov 13 - Home v Wales, Autumn Nations Cup R1, Aviva Stadium, Dublin - 19:00
Sat, Nov 21 - Away v England, Autumn Nations Cup R2, Twickenham, London - 15:00
Sun, Nov 29 - Home v Georgia, Autumn Nations Cup R3, Aviva Stadium, Dublin - 14:00
Sat, Dec 5 - Home v TBD, Autumn Nations Cup Finals Weekend, Aviva Stadium, Dublin - 14:15
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