Six Nations will bring certainty amid chaos
What a crazy time it has been for the Welsh regions in both their domestic competition, the United Rugby Championship and the Heineken Champions Cup. Cardiff Rugby having their game in Toulouse cancelled was just the last straw.
How frustrating must it have been for the players and coaches, never mind the fans? Just as rugby appears to be taking one step forward it gets another knocked back. The five points Cardiff were awarded might yet be good enough to get them into the next phase of either of the two European competitions, but there is simply no momentum in their season.
Dai Young must be tearing his hair out. The next question is whether his team has to make a return trip to South Africa during the Six Nations to play two of the newcomers to the URC.
After the terrible experience the players had the last time they went there you can understand their reticence to go back without any cast iron guarantees from the UK and Welsh Governments over a safe and speedy return should there be any further Covid outbreaks and travel restrictions.
The other problem for Young is that he will be without his international players when the games are rearranged. The whole point about the new schedule for this season was that the matches wouldn’t be played during the international periods.
There is so much at stake at this stage of the campaign – contracts, qualification and potential knock-out places. There is bound to be a clear-out at Cardiff this summer and players aren’t getting the chance to show what they can do – or when they can they are having to do it in a below par side.
I have to confess to having some sympathy with the tournament organisers as well. None of this is of their making, although some of the planning could have been better handled. EPCR, who run the European competitions, have done what they can to try to retain the integrity of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, but their decisions have lost them friends in high places at Leinster, Toulouse and the Scarlets.
I’m sure they will be mightily relieved when Monday comes and the pool stages are completed. All they then have to do is cross their fingers for the Round of 16 in April. They will battle on to find a winner in Marseille, although you wonder how many fans will be allowed in for those games and who will want to travel.
Move on a little further, and what will happen in the summer when the northern hemisphere teams are supposed to go on tour? Wales are due to go to South Africa and England to Australia. Will they be able or allowed to make those trips?
At some stage we will have to decide when the threat from Covid can be managed within normal day-to-day living. It doesn’t appear, certainly here in Wales, that we have reached that stage yet. Caution is the name of the game and I just hope there are no spikes as a result of the three home Six Nations games due to be staged at Principality Stadium.
It would have been a financial disaster for the game in Wales if no crowds had been allowed in. Moreover, it would have been cataclysmic for the Welsh economy. The games against Scotland, France and Italy are worth around £20m to the WRU and up to £60m for the city of Cardiff.
The financial picture certainly looks brighter, but what about what is likely to happen on the pitch? The Six Nations media launch will take place this week and it will be interesting to see who everyone makes favourites for the title that Wales currently hold.
Ireland and France, as the conquerors of the All Blacks in the autumn, are right up there, as are Eddie Jones’ England side that beat the world champion Springboks. Scotland and Wales can both claim to have beaten the Wallabies.
Suffice to say it promises to be one of the great Championships. We will know much more after the opening round. Ireland will be ready to build on their magnificent autumn when Wales – under Dan Biggar’s captaincy – head to Dublin, where they haven’t won in the competition since 2012, while the Scots will no doubt be champing at the bit to receive England first in the Calcutta Cup match.
I can’t wait, and at least there is certainty surrounding the tournament with crowds having been given the green light to return in all the countries.
“The games against Scotland, France and Italy are worth around £20m to the WRU”