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England vs New Zealand: The match everyone wants in 2017 ... but rugby does not need
England could face New Zealand as early as November this year, but this is why they shouldn’t
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Suddenly, the international rugby match everyone wants may take place later this year, rather than late next year.
English RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie this week confirmed that he had been in touch with his opposite number at the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU), Steven Tew, about the possibility of squeezing in a match between England and New Zealand at Twickenham in early November, outside the official international window.
It has been suggested that England could face the All Blacks‘ opponents on November 4, a date already pencilled in on the world number one team’s fixture list for a match against the Barbarians to mark the 125th anniversary of the New Zealand union.
But negotiations are still taking place over that November 4 fixture, which has given Ritchie the chance to suggest that England could step in – even though as recently as last November, he had suggested England would no longer seek to pay teams for matches outside Test windows.
As reported elsewhere on Rugby Pass, an RFU spokesperson has been widely quoted in the rugby media as saying: “We are playing New Zealand in 2018 – if the opportunity comes up for us to play them before then, we will pursue it.”
It sounds nearly perfect. Rising England, ranked second in the world, against New Zealand, the rugby nation to rule them all for the better part of the past 125 years. To be the best – coach Eddie Jones’s stated ambition – England have to beat the best. That’s New Zealand. To stay the best, New Zealand have to beat all pretenders.
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Right now, England vs New Zealand is the heavyweight match that all of rugby wants. The two best sides in rugby today going at it hammer and tongs in a blood-and-thunder winner-takes-all clash for the ages.
To keep the boxing analogy running just a little longer – the sole issue that could scupper the plans, apparently, is money.
New Zealand want a slice of the gate. Given they are supplying the biggest draw in world rugby, for New Zealanders that’s a no-brainer. In the past, the English have refused this demand. For the RFU, this too has been a no-brainer – not least because host nations are not obliged to share this revenue with their opponents. It’s not as if they need the attraction of New Zealand to do it, as they fill Twickenham at every England game.
Besides, this may be the heavyweight rugby match everyone wants – but is it the match rugby needs?
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Between June 24 and November 25, the All Blacks are scheduled to play 14 internationals, including the Barbarians-or-England game. In those five short months, they will first play the British and Irish Lions in New Zealand three times; head to Sydney for the first match of The Rugby Championship; return to New Zealand for matches in Dunedin, New Plymouth and Albany; then fly out to as yet unconfirmed venues in Argentina and South Africa, before winning the tournament in Brisbane.
Two weeks later, they will play the first of the November internationals in Europe. After the Barbarians-or-England match in London, they still have to play France in Paris, Scotland in Edinburgh, and Wales in Cardiff.
Player fatigue has to be an issue. Yes, these are elite players; yes, they are monstrously fit and supremely motivated; yes, they are well cared for; and, yes, this is what they do and they are well paid for doing it. But that’s a killer schedule – and while it would be inaccurate and unfair to suggest that a match against the Barbarians is easy, it’s safe to say England would be serious step up in intensity.
Then, there’s the All Blacks possible opponents, who are already part of the way through their international year. By the time November 4 comes around, they will have finished the Six Nations and completed a two-Test tour of Argentina; their players will be well into their domestic and European seasons.
Complicating matters is the summer’s Lions’ tour – 10 big matches in little more than a month, including three official Tests (and the other seven matches look pretty close to Test-level), await the 35 players heading out to New Zealand this summer.
Jones has already said he will give those England players selected for the Lions tour a break in the November internationals to prevent burnout – and England do not play as many Tests as New Zealand. It will also give him a chance to try out different combinations and bring in new players to the England set-up for the confirmed matches against Argentina, Australia and Samoa, with the possibility of that added All Blacks Test.
What we are actually looking at is a late upgrade to an already punishing schedule and the possibility of a knackered New Zealand side at the arse-end of another punishing long-haul international season, taking on a weakened England side that – unless Jones performs a u-turn on his pledge to rest his Lions – will be shorn of a sizeable selection of the players who got them to number two in the world and had everyone wondering whether this England could finally topple the All Blacks. Even assuming Jones does his u-turn, this England – the one everyone wants to see face the All Blacks – will be coming into the game cold, having not played together since Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, March 18, unless they find an opponent to play outside the international window a week earlier.
That suddenly doesn’t sound as enticing as the two best sides in rugby today going at it hammer and tongs in a blood-and-thunder winner-takes-all clash for the ages.
So ask yourself: is this the match that anyone really wants?
