Clyde Rathbone: 'Evolve... or die'

There is no disputing the fact that rugby is played all over the world. From places where it is the dominant sport, such as New Zealand and South Africa, to Sri Lanka, Kazakhstan, China and the USA - the game is spread far and wide. But does the game have a truly global audience?

As the contract season in Australia hots up I’m amazed at how often I read that rugby league players are attracted to the idea of playing rugby union because it’s a "global game". Granted that next to rugby league polar bear hunting could be considered a global sport, but let’s scrutinise the idea of rugby as a global game a bit further by looking at the respective rugby seasons of the northern an southern hemisphere.

The best provincial teams in the Southern Hemisphere kick-off in February and play through until late May in the S14 competition. The SH test match season begins in June and ends at the completion of the Tri Nations in August. The Currie Cup in South Africa and NPC in NZ overlap with the Tri Nations with their finals played in October? There is then a short break for the national teams before they undertake their tours of the UK and Europe during the month of November. The Test players have a break over December and half of January before they reassemble with their provincial teams to do it all again.

A player in the Northern Hemisphere begins his season in one of the congruent competitions beginning in May and ending in May. The National Teams of the NH undertake tours to the SH in the month of June. They then begin their off season before starting again in September.

So whilst the game is played globally it is fractured into two very different seasons and certainly not watched by a global audience, or at least not at the same time. The average rugby fan in England gives the S14 no more than a passing glance all the while wondering what sort of ghastly game plan encourages tries over penalties.

A rugby fan in Sydney has little clue about the game in the NH, he does not know what the competitions are called, he knows not the names of the teams and he might just recognise a star player. Oh, and he knows the game “over there” is “dead boring”. Of course there are hard-core fans that follow the game in each part of the world with equal fascination but this group represents a tiny minority.

The only way to remedy this situation is to have the best provincial players from the SH and the NH play against each other regularly. Until this occurs the game will continue to exist in parallel universes with fan bases that are as disconnected, as they are disinterested.

Now I’m told that this will never occur, that the interests of the various regions do not align enough to instigate change. People who make these arguments have a point; the IRB has consistently showed itself to be incapable of being decisive. The ridiculous current situation regarding the laws of the game is just one example of the IRB’s ineptitude and does not inspire much confidence that the game might break away from the shackles of ultra conservative governance. At the same time the various unions that control the game across multiple countries have varied problems and goals to contend with.

With that being said let’s keep in mind that rugby union is in the entertainment Industry and I hold onto the hope that the free market will eventually force the game to become truly global. It’s already been mooted that the S14 and Magnus league champions square off, whilst this is a small step it is indeed in the right direction and hopefully a sign that the game is evolving as it should.