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It was slightly tongue-in-cheek, but the gap between the bottom of tier 1 and top of tier 2 is disappearing, and those tier 2 teams need the chance to play proper tournament rugby every year
Markyboy-
I agree. Pick Georgia for example, I am not convinced that they are not capable of beating Italy or event another 6N side with proper regular good oppositions. I believe it is not by chance that E. Jones made england train with Georgia some time ago
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I think this idea that the gap is closing is something of a delusion - 20 years ago Romania were amazing and pushing/beating France, but because they had no pathway they lost that team and interest waned again. Georgia were arguably much better 5 years ago than they are now, but how do we know because they have not and will not get a regular chance to test themselves. It all just feels cyclical - teams get good, get close, get no chance to really improve so just drop away again...
Japan have certainly improved, and there are less embarrassing thrashings, but I think that's just fitness being better in the smaller teams. Kenya were decent a few years back. Not so much now. Unless there is a genuine shake-up in the global game the smaller teams won't develop - unless they have the financial strength of Japan to actually make something happen (and make them attractive to the other leagues).
There are some interesting things happening in Germany where a billionaire benefactor has got involved. That will be worth watching. USA are obviously another potential big player - especially if the NFL civil action lawsuits really start to bite...
If i had untold millions kicking about it would be an interesting exercise to see if I could do a deal to buy an exclusive licence to 'Fiji Rugby' for 10+ years and run all of their professional and commercial operations. If you could pay the players on a par with the top nations, and in doing so ensure you get reasonable access to them (most Fijian players are based in France so the clubs exert serious financial pressure on them to not go to training/international duty etc) you could do something really special with that team. You'd need to be able to base them in Europe and make sure you get enough games against the top teams - but like the AB's take themselves on the road and play money-making games against whoever in Hong Kong/America/London etc I reckon you could do similar with Fiji and turn them into the global force they ought to be. There are some ridiculous statistics around the pacific island populations and professional sport - I think 20% of all professional rugby players are from there!
paulbiche
owl
I think that's harsh on Scotland considering their performances recently but Italy have offered nothing for ages now and have quite probably gone backwards over the last ~8 years...