I get that I just find it a bit rich for someone to call out England when we are the only 'big 3' nation to annually play a full side against a team outside that group.
Personally I'm really conflicted on the Euro cup. I want to see the game grow internationally, I'm just not sure a lopsided euro cup is going to be of benefit to anyone. At the same time we won't know for sure unless it is tried.
Do the nations gain much from getting a heap of points put on them, especially when 4 of the 5 teams will have a large contingent of Englishmen and Antipodeans?
Would a euro cup not containing England with an emphasis on developing locals be of more benefit to the sport overall?
Again i'm not trying to say i have the answer just thinking out loud.
I dont think England playing in the comp is going to bring in a lot of money though. Probably not enough to cover the match fees for the side which is probably why the RFL hasn't jumped on the idea.
I also don't think you are going to get huge crowds for the games either, who is going to spend money to watch England vs Italy or wales when NZ are in town a few weeks later?
If we have the attitude of 'oh England might just flog everyone' then we will never do it, nor should we bother with World Cups. Kiwis were just going to flog everyone in their group last year weren't they? All those points you made on the Euro Cup could be applied to the World Cup.
I don't know where this attitude comes from anyway, as England often struggle with tier 2 nations and were beaten by Italy a long time before the Kiwis lost to Tonga & Fiji.
The Euro Cup not containing England has been going on since 2009, and it's done pretty much nothing. Domestic comps are stagnant or gone backwards, nothing crowds even in France, poor quality games, no coverage whatsoever. The biggest plus if England joins the Euro Cup at least once a cycle is it becomes a Tier 1 tournament and will get at least some exposure and is the best way to give the other Euro nations some consistency with their squads, as their World Cup players are far more likely to play in a Tier 1 tournament, as well as giving countries like Ireland, Wales & France some good crowds for once.
It's very disappointing that we don't even seem to have a plan to implement an international calendar, at least before we had the 4 Nations set in, now it seems to be let's make it up as we go. We should be building for a full 4-year cycle after the 2021 World Cup:
Mid-Season 3-week International Window Every Year:
- Baskerville Shield
- Pacific Cup (PNG, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji)
- Euro Cup (France, Wales, Ireland, Scotland)
- State of Origin
Post-Season - 8-week International Season
Year 1
Trans-Tasman Test Series
Euro 6 Nations
Year 2
8-team international tournament
World Cup Qualifiers
Year 3
Kangaroo/Lions Tour
Pacific 6 Nations
Year 4
World Cup
Along with extra tests before each series. For example Australia's schedule in Year 1 could be:
Week 1 - v PNG - Port Moresby
Week 2 - v Tonga - Hamilton
Week 3 - v Lebanon - Sydney
Week 4 -
Week 5 - v New Zealand - Auckland
Week 6 - v New Zealand - Brisbane
Week 7 - v New Zealand - Wellington
Compared to our current calendar:
Year 1
Baskerville Shield
Australia v Tonga in Hawaii no Qatar no New York
Year 2
Lions Tour of somewhere
Year 3
Kangaroos touring somewhere maybe
Year 4
World Cup
