Why Six Nations is pinnacle of game

HERE we are at the start of another Six Nations with everything to play for as the excitement builds with the first games this weekend. The world of rugby desperately needs the Six Nations to be a real success if the game is to grow and prosper.

As much as the World Cup is seen as the ‘prize’ competition, it really doesn’t cut it for the players or fans because there are so many variables which are allowed to influence the outcome of the competition. The most glaring is the pool draw taking place months in advance of the contest, allowing for some countries to have an easy route to the play-offs while others face a brick wall every step of the way.

It is extremely difficult for those countries from the lower tiers that seldom have fixtures against Tier 1 nations to know how far they need to raise their game to even get out of the pool stage of the contest.

If you have a little knowledge of the game, you can virtually predict the countries that will reach the knockout stages as soon as the draw is made because of the structure of the pools with each usually having two Tier 1 nations who dominate. I understand why World Rugby arrange the games like this as they want the teams with the biggest support in the final stages to earn as much money as they can, but it is kind of fixing the outcome of what should be a fair and even competition.