Is it time for England to start playing a mid season comp against Wales, France, Scotland?

[The Daddy]

Impressive performance from the Scots in the past few weeks and we've seen notable improvements from France and Wales. I've been calling for a mid season European comp in the height of summer for a long time and maybe now it's time to start this comp.

Yes England will win for the first few years but the other teams are on an upward trajectory and will benefit and improve from comps like this and the Confederation cup.

[JM2010]

I've just said on another thread about how Scotland improved each game and would benefit from more regular games against the top nations

[londonrlfan]

Problem is Scotland wouldn't get NRL players at that time, but we could definitely play France and Wales in a mini series. No idea why we have never tried that.

[deluded pom?]

All well and good calling for this but the Scots are only competitive when using Australian heritage players. Granted England would also be without their NRL players but their replacements would be far better than the ones the Scots have to call on.

[The Daddy]

Problem is Scotland wouldn't get NRL players at that time, but we could definitely play France and Wales in a mini series. No idea why we have never tried that.

Which is why a mid season international window is massively important. This comp needs an international window in order to secure player availability and give the competition credibility.

[Hvy wg]

I'm confident if France plays against England without NRL players. It would be a good game. The score was 28-6 10 minutes before full time.

Confident we can put a good resistance and offer the fans a very good game though I don't think we'd even be close to win. 

England - Wales - France with home venus in Wales and France to promote the game and it's bang on.

[The Daddy]

I'm confident if France plays against England without NRL players. It would be a good game. The score was 28-6 10 minutes before full time.

Confident we can put a good resistance and offer the fans a very good game though I don't think we'd even be close to win.

England - Wales - France with home venus in Wales and France to promote the game and it's bang on.

Totally agree and France have enough young talent coming through who have the potential to be top class and close the gap with the top three nations.

I also like the forward thinking of the new French administration and they're showing some real ambition which is a good sign.

Add the Milhoudi brothers, Lucas Albert, Fages, Marguerite, Bergal, Yaha, Dezaria and some of the other young guns coming through in France to the team who played England and they can be real competitive in 3-5 years.

[Yakstorm]

A window large enough to run a multi-team international competition is unlikely to happen anytime in the next 5 years, however this doesn't mean that England can't look a bit closer to home for future internationals.

France, in the right conditions, has shown they are competitive at home and can draw a decent crowd at home.

Scotland, with a handful of NRL players, can match it with Tier 1 nations. As Coventry showed, Scotland can draw a crowd as well in England.

You then have the ever improving Welsh, and as shown in the 2000 and 2013 RLWCs, Ireland can attract a crowd in northern England.

Surely between the mid-season slot and after the GF, England could fit in at least 2x of these nations a year. Promoted correctly and planned right, their opponents could be near full strength and crowds of 15K+ could be attracted.

[Hvy wg]

At the very minimum, France and Wales should play each other at least once a year. We both need games and we are usually close to each other. 

 

[Oxford]

Is it time for England to start playing a mid season comp against Wales, France, Scotland?

It always was time to play these games and should never have been allowed to wither on the vine the way it was. Has Nobby said "You have to play against the best .." in order to improve. The excuses for not having these as a regular event are comical to say the least. Scotland are clear evidence of what can be achieved on a shoe string, imagine what we could do, if we did this and took it seriously!

[Hvy wg]

Is it time for England to start playing a mid season comp against Wales, France, Scotland?

It always was time to play these games and should never have been allowed to wither on the vine the way it was. Has Nobby said "You have to play against the best .." in order to improve. The excuses for not having these as a regular event are comical to say the least. Scotland are clear evidence of what can be achieved on a shoe string, imagine what we could do, if we did this and took it seriously!

 

The excuses are legit. In this system without an international window, France can't put a team on the field during the season without killing Catalans. 

[Tommygilf]

Making them regular fixtures is mutually beneficial for all parties. As for affecting catalans, surely this should be a motivation for the rest of SL to get some form of salary cap relief to sign french talent so the burden is spread more.

[The Daddy]

At the very minimum, France and Wales should play each other at least once a year. We both need games and we are usually close to each other.

You should have more confidence in France than that, with the young players they have, the ascendency of Toulouse and Catalan U19 and U23 the French federation are quite rightly aiming to be on a level playing field with the top three.

[MatthewWoody]

I'm confident if France plays against England without NRL players. It would be a good game. The score was 28-6 10 minutes before full time.

Confident we can put a good resistance and offer the fans a very good game though I don't think we'd even be close to win. 

England - Wales - France with home venus in Wales and France to promote the game and it's bang on.

. 

Spot on. 

I've also written a letter on the topic to Rugby League Express/Weekly (now I can't remember, as I used to read them both through PocketMag), suggesting something like this. 

I also "proposed" - these are the important ideas I have under the shower or when I shave... - a test match between the French and England during the WCC weekend. Without players involved with the team who play the WCC and withouth the NRL players, England would be "closer" to France and it would make the game grow there. Also giving a more International image to the World Cup Challenge. 

It would have worked more especially next season, with only 2 matches played in WCC. 

[MatthewWoody]

The excuses are legit. In this system without an international window, France can't put a team on the field during the season without killing Catalans. 

Yes. 

We definitely need an International window. 

NRL stops for a 3 straight weeks Origin window and the rest of the world play International footy. 

Fiji etc, Wales v France series during, say, an Baskerville Shield series etc. 

I asked John Kear in Monza about the need of more International footy and he agreed, although he said - and I agree - it is impossibile with the current club calendar especially in England. 

[Oxford]

The excuses are legit. In this system without an international window, France can't put a team on the field during the season without killing Catalans. 

No they're not legit Hvy wg they're exactly that excuses.

 

The question should always be if this is the case what needs to be done about it? What needs to change? Is it special dispensations to the Dragons SC wise to create a bigger squad? Is it more French sides in SL, the Challenge Cup? And I'm not necessarily putting these forward as the answers. It could be anything like less club games in the NRL and SL and just regular international slots where every year we put on our chauvinistic glad rags like yawn and live out the bias and racist dream that will put our sport on a much better footing than at present.

[Wellsy4HullFC]

They wouldn't get their strongest players unless it was a meaningful game so it would just be a whitewash.

Maybe the 8 nations comp could be played over two international windows within the same year to get me games involved?

[JonM]

In this system without an international window, France can't put a team on the field during the season without killing Catalans. 

 

Fair point. The trouble is that France can't put a team on the field at the end of the season either. Second in the European Cup in both 2014 and 2015 after losing to Ireland & Wales, beaten by USA & Samoa in 2013, the 84-4 against England last year were all in October/November

 

I hope that sans M. Agar, things will get better.

[joe elliot]

The game needs these internationals or the game carries on in a downward spiral. I'm a typical sports fan, I'm only truely interested in international sport. We need to be brace and prioritise internationals over club rugby, it's critical we do this now. Let's stick with 5 nations every year, it also makes great financial sense.