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'You'd like to think guys running your pension fund are not daft!'

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Former England and Newcastle out-half Toby Flood believes the proposed new twelve-a-side international competition could help align the northern and southern hemisphere seasons and finally create an integrated global calendar to help the sport generate more money.

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Flood, who has retired after 18 seasons of professional rugby to join the Falcons coaching set-up, accepts the rugby calendar is already packed but is confident the sport has room for development thanks to the millions being pumped into the game by major equity companies like CVC who have shares in the Six Nations and some of the major leagues. 

He said: “You would like to think that the guys running your pension fund are not daft! The market in rugby has a tremendous amount of growth in it and the more exposure you have in the Olympics and now a twelves competition can add value.

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    “At the moment we cannot align the northern and southern hemisphere and we have now thrown another curveball into it. One reason for doing it may be to show that you can align the north and south calendars and it is going to be very interesting to see where they fit twelves into the international and domestic game schedule.

    “I do believe there is still a thirst and desire in the market for rugby to be turned into something that is profitable and you could sell out Twickenham and the Principality Stadium out twice and there is value at the top end of the game. It feels like it is almost a sevens filler because the funding level of sevens seems to be very complicated However, sevens has been such an important vehicle and has helped player development.”

    Having played in the English second tier in 2019/20 with Newcastle, Flood added that the recent downgrading of the Championship – as well as the Premiership A-team league – was sad and he also voiced concern about the impact of concussion on the sport. “The A league was fantastic for my development and we played in front of 8,000 fans at Welford Road,” he added.

    “The Championship is in a tough time and that pathway for players is massively important and I do worry about the future. What stifles that value (of rugby) is the concussion protocols and there has been the study that has just come out on the impact of playing one season of rugby and do parents want to expose their children to that stuff?”

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    R
    RedWarrior 13 minutes ago
    Many England fans echoing the same gripe following Six Nations loss

    The English defense was excellent in the first half. This is considering Ireland's attack has improved significantly since the Autumn with former Leinster attack coach Goodman. Ireland were beaten by NZ in the Autumn, are behind SA and arguably behind France so de facto 4th in order (rankings take time to catch up) As Eddie Jones said Ireland are still in that elite group so England's domination in the first half is noteworthy.

    I believe they have spent the time since the Autumn largely on defence. On broken play they were relying on Smiths instint along with some jiggery pokery. For Smiths early line break a Twindaloo blocked Baird which left the gap for smith. It looked like he did Aki, but Baird was a little late arriving and clever play by Tom Curry allowed the gap for Smith. Earls line break was Smith spotting Baird coming out and beating him with a beautiful pass to Earl.

    We saw the rehearsed plays for a couple of Ireland's tries. The Aki try was just identifying that England tended to hide Smith on the wing creating a vulnerability which Ireland exploited with one of Akis great finishes.

    Although Ireland were relaxing at the end the two English tries were good enough quality and we may see more of it next week (Scotland will also have taken note).

    Although on the easier side of the draw Borthwick almost took England to a RWC final.

    But in common with the top4 you need to have firepower to get those tries in big games. Can Borthwick manage that? I don't think so.

    Next week even if England have a great first half again, you would be looking at France converting 3 of those Irish chances and pushing on after the break.

    Can Borthwick develop a plan to beat France in the next few years. If the answer is no England need to find someone who can.

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