No World League without global season says Burger
SCHALK Burger predicts World Rugby’s grand plans for a Nations League will lie dead in the water unless the two hemispheres are aligned.
World Rugby are currently refining proposals for an annual competition involving the ten leading Test nations, plus Japan and Fiji, culminating in a final each November.
However, while South World Cup winner Burger supports the idea in principle, he believes fundamental issues with season structure must be addressed first.
Burger told TRP: “World rugby is ready for something new and it’s an exciting project, but the biggest thing is we need a proper global season.
“I’ve followed the Nations League story closely and it has some merit, but if you don’t fully align the seasons in the north and south, you’ll have top players worn-out.
“It’s obviously difficult to do because the Six Nations is in February and March and is a big competition, but at the end of the day we’ve all got to be playing rugby through the same months, whether it’s February to November or September to May.”
Burger reckons this year’s World Cup will be the most open in memory. However, he believes the current season structure does the northern sides no favours.
He added: “Take this year for example, the buildAfrica up to the World Cup for the Northern Hemisphere teams is vastly different to those down south.
“Southern Hemisphere players will play Super Rugby, then the Rugby Championship Tests and be battle-hardened, whereas guys in the north will finish their season in May and just have a few warmup games.
“It would be a lot smoother if we all played in the same months, plus you could give guys more time off when at the moment the seasons just roll into one.
“When you look at how guys like Faf De Klerk, Willie Le Roux and some of the Aussie guys have been criss-crossing the globe playing Test rugby and for their club sides in Europe, it’s not good for their longevity. A proper global season would help rectify that.”
The 35-year-old flanker, will leave Saracens at the end of the season to return to Cape Town, and said: “It’s most likely I’ll hang up the boots.”