The world leaders in prevarication!

There’s an old adage, ‘When you’ve nothing to say, say nothing’, and it’s one that World Rugby would do well to take to heart. When you see a Press release entitled ‘Rugby united in approach to optimising the men’s international calendar’ it’s reasonable to think it might be followed by something of substance, but what we got was waffle and management-speak of the most ridiculous kind.

- COLIN BOAG

The so-called global calendar is a running sore that has plagued the game for some years now, and the reasons behind it are a mystery to me. Here in England we have the Premiership, the Six Nations, the Autumn Internationals, and the European Cups, and in a normal year the summer tour to the southern hemisphere, plus the RWC every four years.

It all hangs together pretty well, and the RFU and PRL have been able to reach an accommodation on player release that seems to suit both parties. The French, too, seem to be managing it well, while in the PRO14 it’s different because of the nonsense of central contracts, but they still seem to get by.

The problems with the calendar are predominantly southern hemisphere ones, with World Rugby using those to try to find a way of consolidating its power in the game, and that’s what led to last week’s ridiculous Press release.