By Rabble Rouser
November 6 2002

Rabble Rouser this week talks about the Autumn Internationals and the unpopular end of season Playoffs and comes up with a solution that will be acceptable to all who don't want club games on international weekends. Floozies, Boozers, Fezboys and Loozers! It's that time of year again. You know, the time of year when England go up against teams who normally play their rugby upside-down and who gloat when they win, but shrug their shoulders and say "well, we didn't put out our strongest side, so losing to England away doesn't matter that much" when they lose. That's right, it's the Autumn internationals, this year against the so-called Big Three; New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.

I received this week a press release from Zurich Rugby telling me how much the fans remain loyal to their clubs who, despite losing some of their top players who have to play for their countries, still have to play their bread-and-butter league fixtures while the spotlight shines on HQ.

The question I have for Zurich Rugby is this: Is there an alternative? How many of the folks that turn up at Vicarage Road, Franklin's Gardens, The Rec, Adams Park and the Memorial Stadium this weekend will feel short-changed? Quite a few, I should coco. First, many of them will have tried - and failed - to obtain tickets for the game against the All Blacks. Second, many of the teams that will compete in round nine of the Zurich Premiership will be under-strength.

How many Northampton fans will be miffed that their playmaker Matt Dawson will be absent this weekend due to England duty? How many Tigers fans will be up in arms that they will be without Martin Johnson, Ben Kay, Austin Healey, Lewis Moody and top points scorer Tim Stimpson for the same reason? I'd hazard a guess at more than a handful. And to make matters worse, if you're a follower of the Pooh Corner Posse or the Black Pigs, they're playing each another! It demeans what is probably the most important regular season home fixture for Saints this year and it isn't right.

Season ticket holders up and down the land will feel cheated that the stars they fork out so much money to see week-in, week-out, will be strutting their stuff on the Cabbage Patch (or elsewhere for the Welsh, Scottish, Irish and overseas contingent) rather than their own paddocks. I certainly feel cheated. Don't you?

Of course, Zurich Rugby and the PRA are putting a positive spin on the situation. Despite the fact that nobody outside Twickenham, other than the club die-hards and those unable to acquire tickets this weekend will give a monkey's about what goes on between the 12 clubs that, apart from a few short weeks during the Autumn and early Spring, are the flag carriers for the English game.

"It" - the Intenationnal release period - "gives some of the younger members of the squads the chance to shine" read the Zurich Rugby blurb. It went on to point out that Robbie Morris and Charlie Hodgson made their debuts for Saints and Shakrs respectively, while the incumbents were away with England. Good for them.

PRA Chief Executive and media Daaahling Damian Hopley reguritated the same stale old stuff: "The competition for places in every squad is so fierce these days that playing during these Autumn Internationals offers a valuable opportunity for the younger players to make their mark on the Zurich Premiership." Again, fine. But sometimes those younger players are cruelly exposed when they mix it with the big boys. Besides, if they are any good, they'll get into the side on merit anyway. And, as in the case of Gloucester wing Marcel Garvey this season, they're good enough to get into the England reckoning.


Much was made by Zurich Rugby about the previous 22 game home-and-away format that denied the clubs their best players for a three-week period and how it affected some sides' title aspirations. Just ask any Sarries follower and he or she will agree, especially during the 1990-2000 campaign when over a third of the Saracens squad was missing for a month that saw them slide from the top of the table, never to recover.

Solution? Easy, according to the powers that be. The three-week end of season playoff that will decide the Champions. The Playoff system, so we’re told by Zurich Rugby, "ensures a fairer solution for all 12 clubs, as poor league results over three weeks does not have such a significant effect on a club's Championship bid as any of the top three clubs can reach the Zurich Premiership Final and be crowned Champions". So that's alright then.

Er, no, actually. What about the side that comes fourth, misses the Playoffs and rues the points dropped when their star performers are performing elsewhere? That will cut no ice with them. What about the side that just misses out on automatic Heineken Cup qualification for the same reason? Doubtless, the same. What about the side that is left out of the "last chance saloon" competition for the final HC place? You know what they'll be thinking.

Howard Thomas believes that playing midweek games late in the season is an alternative to playing through the internationals, but they have, in the past, proved unpopular with the fans. This, of course, is true. Thomas also pointed out that as sides who have to play the same day as the Twickenham games, stagger their kick-off times "appear to have a positive effect" on their crowds due to "the increase in media coverage and general exposure to rugby union during this [the Autumn international] period." This is OK if you play your home games on Saturdays. Not good if, like half the league, play on Fridays or Sundays.

I'll conclude by delivering a lesson in basic arithmetic. The internationals in November go on for three weeks. If there are no club games during this period, there will be three extra fixtures to fulfil by the end of the season. The Playoffs last three weeks. It doesn't take a Cambridge PhD to work out the maths: No league games during the Autumn internationals. No Playoffs. Problem solved.