Six Nations 2015

ai_1

Ballysmate wrote:

Warren Gatland speaking 2 weeks before the England game.

It would be nice to get the win but we are very much looking to the World Cup and there’s a debate and discussion among the coaches about how much we show. You don’t want to show your hand completely but it’s important you go out there and play well and win at home.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/rugb ... ns-8482148

Of course the tournament has been diminished if the coaches are deliberately holding back.
Yes, I thought I was stating the bleedin' obvious and I hadn't realised that it would rankle with anyone. I agree that this years tournament has exceeded all expectations entertainment wise but the fact remains that IMO the 6N is losing relevance. Nice to win, yes of course, but is increasingly becoming a testing arena for the bigger tournament.
The 3 Autumn Internationals, although not a tournament are gaining in importance. The 5 and latterly 6 Nations was the premier international competition with tests against SAANZ being much more rare. We now get to face them more regularly. These tests give an indication of where each nation stands in what hopefully is becoming a more world game.

So you're essentially saying that since there is such a thing as the world cup, all other competition is just a poor relation and should be dismissed as pretty much irrelevant?
No, sorry. I'll be enjoying each for what it is thank you very much.
Supporting your views by taking Warren Gatland at face value? I don't think I'm the naive one here.

verylonglegs

Record viewing figures for a tournament no-one cares about. Amazing.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/32019463

Alain Quay

ballysmate

I didn't say that it was irrelevant, neither did I say it was no longer popular nor exciting. just that it was no longer the be be all and end all that it was. In fact the matches have been shuffled to maximise the TV audience.
The Lancaster article that I quoted was to show that each Union has its focus on the WC and the 6N is used in part to develop players, style and playing patterns.
As regards the Gatland article, it is telling that it was at a media conference and comments were blithely accepted and no-one seemed to bat an eyelid when he implied that winning against England would be nice, but defeat was not the end of the world. Years gone by he would have been castigated for not insisting that the Welsh were going to beat England. The fact that some of the 6N press conference was taken up by WC talk is telling in itself.
As I said earlier, I thought I was merely stating the obvious in that when a bigger competition comes along, the existing tournaments become less important. The financial rewards for winning the WC are what the Unions have their eyes on.
Arsenal fans try to convince themselves that the FA Cup is a major trophy but in reality, although the tournament can be exciting, it is not the main event.
We in the northern hemisphere have always clung to the mantra that the 6N is the envy of the rugby world. But is it? Is there a bigger rivalry than SA/NZ? The AB tour of SA in 1996?
My last muse and post on the thread is this. Do we in the Home Nations cling to the 6N because deep down we feel inferior, particularly to the ABs and deep down realise that if none of the Home Unions win the WC it will not be a massive shock? A rhetorical question, I don't know if it's true or not.

pblakeney

For 3/4 years the 6 Nations is the most important tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.
Every 4 years the World Cup takes precedent.

Seems straight forward enough.

Tests are just glorified friendlies in my opinion.