So, no doubt we're all looking forward to the world cup but are all our local clubs? Last weekend marked the start of the Aviva Premiership and the RaboDirect PRO12 (formally known as the catchier Magners League) and whilst listening to a radio phone in one caller asked why the rugby club season carries on regardless of the fact that there are internationals when the football equivalents don't.
There was some discussion as to what system is better but obviously the two sports and the organisations behind them (UEFA/FIFA vs IRB) are inherently different - not to mention the length of time that football has been professional versus rugby. All this leads to us not really comparing apples with apples.
But lets play along a little while and let see which one is better. I personally like the fact that life carries on when the countries are knocking the crap out of each other. Primarily because it gives clubs the chance to blood youngsters at a senior level. It also makes the whole competition a little more competitive - Leicester losing to Exeter at Welford Road this weekend was a prime example. Imagine Man Utd playing Swansea with both teams missing their international stars - you probably wouldn't be so quick to put all your money on Man Utd.
The negatives are mainly financial - because of having loads of players away for quite long periods of time, clubs have to invest in bigger squads. With the salary cap in place in England this could be seen to give clubs with no salary cap in other European countries a bigger chance to beat English clubs. This is detrimental to the Heineken Cup which prides itself on being one of the two premier club competitions in the world. If one half of the competition isn't up to much then surely it's not that good a competition versus the Super 15.
The other main negative is towards season ticket holders. If you're fortunate enough to have a season ticket to your club side, wouldn't you want to see your team competitive in every match - and if half the squad are away then are they? Of course this is probably balanced out by the pricing of the ticket, but still ........
Lastly - I made the argument about youngsters being blooded in. The counter to that is that clubs actually invest in a few older players that aren't going to be playing the internationals - from both the northern but more specifically the southern hemisphere - but still have the quality to go out and win games. The end of the RWC this year will no doubt start a stream of players arriving on our shores from the southern hemisphere - Stephen Donald to Bath and John Smit to Saracens to name but two.
So where does this leave us - well between a rock and a hard place. The simple fact is that because of the way the earth revolves round the sun, the rugby world doesn't have an "international season". Nor does football, but football basically revolves around the European calendar with the knowledge that most of the top players ply their trade in Europe. That's not the case for rugby and never will be - so we'll never have a decision that pleases everyone!
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