Six Nations 2026
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@Catogrande said in Six Nations 2026:
However in building this stronger and larger base it has to be mangled in a way that doesn't damage the current game
Deliberate typo? Works even if unintentional.
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@mohikamo said in Six Nations 2026:
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
The 6N is much more than one rugby team versus another. It's centuries of nation v nation.
I actually attended an international rugby event on the weekend.
All the top countries in the world were there except . . .
No England
No Scotland
No Ireland
No Wales
Why? . . . because they are not even countries . . . they are anachronismsTell you who was there . . . Spain was there, and they were very very good.
They finished ahead of France, and another team . . . called . . . Great Britain!
Great Britain . . . a real country!
Who went on to finish last in both the M and the W.
Mmmm . . . might have been a bit harsh
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@sparky said in Six Nations 2026:
@Catogrande Italy sell out the Stadio Olympico in Rome. Argentina get crowds of over 40,000 for home games in a soccer man country. So a successful Spanish Rugby team, ranked in the top 10, could sell out the Nou Camp or the Bernabéu.
But Georgia will have the drawback for a long time of being less financially attractive than Scotland or Wales.
I'd keep it as the Six Nations for now. But discussions about a playoff between the Six Nations wooden spoon and the winner of the next tier European competition shouldn't be off the table IMHO.
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
The reason why is because it looks like they are about to become competitive at the high end of the international game.
The commercial potential for rugby worldwide is massive.
The Spanish RU should be getting all the support that WR can muster to get them up into the big league.
Especially as the 6N dont seem at all interested in the rest of European rugby.Spain are probably a more competitive unit right now than Italy were when they came in and made it a 6N comp.
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@sparky said in Six Nations 2026:
@Catogrande Italy sell out the Stadio Olympico in Rome. Argentina get crowds of over 40,000 for home games in a soccer man country. So a successful Spanish Rugby team, ranked in the top 10, could sell out the Nou Camp or the Bernabéu.
But Georgia will have the drawback for a long time of being less financially attractive than Scotland or Wales.
I'd keep it as the Six Nations for now. But discussions about a playoff between the Six Nations wooden spoon and the winner of the next tier European competition shouldn't be off the table IMHO.
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
Spanish rugby players get to star in Coen brothers films and marry Penelope Cruz?
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@MN5 Who are higher in the world rankings at the moment: Scotland or Italy?
And dare I mention the word trajectory.
And yes, I can see Italy winning against the All Blacks in Wellington in July if the ABs take that game for granted.
@sparky said in Six Nations 2026:
@MN5 Who are higher in the world rankings at the moment: Scotland or Italy?
And dare I mention the word trajectory.
Not for Scotland, no you cannot.
But traiettoria is ok. -
Roger Goodell would have barred-up for sure when he heard this years prospective No 1 draft choice, Fernando Mendoza, speaking in impeccable Spanish.
Which ever franchise drafts him will being playing a game in Mexico or Spain next season.
Other football codes look at things a bit more broadly than rugby (union). -
@sparky said in Six Nations 2026:
@Catogrande Italy sell out the Stadio Olympico in Rome. Argentina get crowds of over 40,000 for home games in a soccer man country. So a successful Spanish Rugby team, ranked in the top 10, could sell out the Nou Camp or the Bernabéu.
But Georgia will have the drawback for a long time of being less financially attractive than Scotland or Wales.
I'd keep it as the Six Nations for now. But discussions about a playoff between the Six Nations wooden spoon and the winner of the next tier European competition shouldn't be off the table IMHO.
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
@MiketheSnow 51,000 registered players and rising (higher than Scotland, but lower than Wales) in a nation of 49 million players.
Football and Basketball are their main sports, but it's a nation where Rugby really could grow if they have a couple of world class players emerging.
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@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
The reason why is because it looks like they are about to become competitive at the high end of the international game.
The commercial potential for rugby worldwide is massive.
The Spanish RU should be getting all the support that WR can muster to get them up into the big league.
Especially as the 6N dont seem at all interested in the rest of European rugby.Spain are probably a more competitive unit right now than Italy were when they came in and made it a 6N comp.
@mohikamo said in Six Nations 2026:
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
The reason why is because it looks like they are about to become competitive at the high end of the international game.
The commercial potential for rugby worldwide is massive.
The Spanish RU should be getting all the support that WR can muster to get them up into the big league.
Especially as the 6N dont seem at all interested in the rest of European rugby.Spain are probably a more competitive unit right now than Italy were when they came in and made it a 6N comp.
ok, so what's the right answer? I don't want to see Wales, Scotland etc relegated from the competition and I don't think other fans do either.
You could potentially include them in a 7N which would give every team 3 home games a year which would help the budgeting process of the unions however where you're going to find an extra 2 weeks for the tournament from in an already overcrowded season when the French domestic tournament is the dominant financial force in the game is beyond me.
Would it be possible to include a Spanish team or 2 in the URC & European Champions Cup (maybe by removing the South African teams)? I don't have any idea re the strength of Spanish club rugby but my guess is their best players are Basque / Catalan and already play in France.
Solve the club problem first before breaking the international tournament IMO
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@Catogrande said in Six Nations 2026:
However in building this stronger and larger base it has to be mangled in a way that doesn't damage the current game
Deliberate typo? Works even if unintentional.
unintentional but as you say, it works. So I left it as is.
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Hear fucking hear
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
Hear fucking hear
Given Dodge wrote "Beating Wales, as weird as it was to be in a stadium with no jeopardy will always be more fun than beating Georgia."
...I find your agreement a tad surprising!
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If, and it’s a massive non-existent if, anyone deserves a shot it’s Georgia
They consistently shit on Spain and have enough players playing first class rugby to sustain a squad which can turn up for 5-weeks of intense rugby
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@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
Hear fucking hear
Given Dodge wrote "Beating Wales, as weird as it was to be in a stadium with no jeopardy will always be more fun than beating Georgia."
...I find your agreement a tad surprising!
@nostrildamus said in Six Nations 2026:
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
Hear fucking hear
Given Dodge wrote "Beating Wales, as weird as it was to be in a stadium with no jeopardy will always be more fun than beating Georgia."
...I find your agreement a tad surprising!
Because statistically we should be coming 5th or 6th every 6N but when we don’t it’s glorious
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@MiketheSnow 51,000 registered players and rising (higher than Scotland, but lower than Wales) in a nation of 49 million players.
Football and Basketball are their main sports, but it's a nation where Rugby really could grow if they have a couple of world class players emerging.
@sparky said in Six Nations 2026:
@MiketheSnow 51,000 registered players and rising (higher than Scotland, but lower than Wales) in a nation of 49 million players.
Football and Basketball are their main sports, but it's a nation where Rugby really could grow if they have a couple of world class players emerging.
Spain will always be the USA
The best athletes will choose football (soccer) and basketball
Every once in a while a good coach will coalesce a group of players to over perform
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@sparky said in Six Nations 2026:
@MiketheSnow 51,000 registered players and rising (higher than Scotland, but lower than Wales) in a nation of 49 million players.
Football and Basketball are their main sports, but it's a nation where Rugby really could grow if they have a couple of world class players emerging.
Spain will always be the USA
The best athletes will choose football (soccer) and basketball
Every once in a while a good coach will coalesce a group of players to over perform
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
The best athletes will choose football (soccer)
You can say the same about England (and just about every other country in the world for that matter).
Some athletes in every country will be more suited to a contact sport like rugby, than soccer.
With good development programs, no reason Spain cant end up with a similar athlete participation structure to England.
And you could say that about all countries where soccer is the dominant football code.The reason Spain is more important to the future development of rugby as a sport is because of the financial potential.
The likes of Georgia, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, while they produce great players; at the end of the day they are going to bring virtually nothing to rugby from a financial perspective.
Scotland and Wales are similar in that respect; without the 6N windfall they'd be fucked, and no better off than any other Euro country.
(Except England and France of course, or more specifically the souths of England and France).
So I fully understand the desperation to stay at the big party, even if their on field performances dont warrant it. -
@mohikamo said in Six Nations 2026:
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
I'm really trying to work out why you have such a hard on for Spanish rugby
The reason why is because it looks like they are about to become competitive at the high end of the international game.
The commercial potential for rugby worldwide is massive.
The Spanish RU should be getting all the support that WR can muster to get them up into the big league.
Especially as the 6N dont seem at all interested in the rest of European rugby.Spain are probably a more competitive unit right now than Italy were when they came in and made it a 6N comp.
ok, so what's the right answer? I don't want to see Wales, Scotland etc relegated from the competition and I don't think other fans do either.
You could potentially include them in a 7N which would give every team 3 home games a year which would help the budgeting process of the unions however where you're going to find an extra 2 weeks for the tournament from in an already overcrowded season when the French domestic tournament is the dominant financial force in the game is beyond me.
Would it be possible to include a Spanish team or 2 in the URC & European Champions Cup (maybe by removing the South African teams)? I don't have any idea re the strength of Spanish club rugby but my guess is their best players are Basque / Catalan and already play in France.
Solve the club problem first before breaking the international tournament IMO
@Dodge said in Six Nations 2026:
ok, so what's the right answer? I don't want to see Wales, Scotland etc relegated from the competition and I don't think other fans do either.
You could potentially include them in a 7N which would give every team 3 home games a year which would help the budgeting process of the unions however where you're going to find an extra 2 weeks for the tournament from in an already overcrowded season when the French domestic tournament is the dominant financial force in the game is beyond me.
Would it be possible to include a Spanish team or 2 in the URC & European Champions Cup (maybe by removing the South African teams)? I don't have any idea re the strength of Spanish club rugby but my guess is their best players are Basque / Catalan and already play in France.
Solve the club problem first before breaking the international tournament IMO
The dominant financial force in the game is at the international level.
Only France, and to lesser extent, England and Japan, generate any domestic revenue of any consequence.
Scotland and Wales only have 2/3 domestic pro teams, and they can still field competitive (maybe not winning) international teams.
Getting viable domestic pro rugby competitions up and running all round the world is a nigh on impossible task.
Even some of the ones that already exist are finding it tough.
Getting competitive international teams on the Scotland/Wales model is a much easier do.
And that is where the revenue is, and will be. -
@MiketheSnow said in Six Nations 2026:
The best athletes will choose football (soccer)
You can say the same about England (and just about every other country in the world for that matter).
Some athletes in every country will be more suited to a contact sport like rugby, than soccer.
With good development programs, no reason Spain cant end up with a similar athlete participation structure to England.
And you could say that about all countries where soccer is the dominant football code.The reason Spain is more important to the future development of rugby as a sport is because of the financial potential.
The likes of Georgia, Fiji, Tonga, and Samoa, while they produce great players; at the end of the day they are going to bring virtually nothing to rugby from a financial perspective.
Scotland and Wales are similar in that respect; without the 6N windfall they'd be fucked, and no better off than any other Euro country.
(Except England and France of course, or more specifically the souths of England and France).
So I fully understand the desperation to stay at the big party, even if their on field performances dont warrant it.You're right in that Spain (as an up and coming rugby nation) has significant financial upside going on size, population, addiction to sport etc but the domestic situation in Spain (as far as I can ascertain) is a long way off many other countries and there is little in the way of pathways and nothing in the way of traditional rugby playing - ie nothing much in schools, very few long standing rugby clubs of any note - you know, like a feeder system. It is remarkable how well they are currently doing at international level considering all those headwinds. but look at how long it has taken Japan to become competitive, even on a sporadic basis. Japan has a much longer and stronger association with rugby than Spain, has had tonnes of cash thrown at it, zealous recruitment policies and a very strong financial base. Italy is similar but not as pronounced. Spain is a long way behind in these key metrics. So don't hang your hat on a couple of years on an upward trajectory of the national team - look what has happened in Wales once that team ages.
Looking at the second tier rugby championship in Europe going back as far as 2000, Spain are fourth in the all time honours list, below Georgia, Romania and Portugal. They have never won the thing, they have four Silver medals and 4 Bronzes in 25 years.
Let's see how things pan out before we chuck the baby out with the bathwater.
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See above
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It's hilarious to me when ever people talk about rugby XVs like it's this sleeping giant just waiting to be awakened in countries that don't already embrace it.
Italy have had clubs playing in European competitions for 35+ years, and have been in the 6N since 2000. They have won 17 6N games TOTAL in that time. One win over Scotland who are usually their wooden spoon competitors and suddenly they are signs that it can happen? Setting a low friggen bar there.
Success in rugby XVs need a pretty niche set of circumstances for success. It's never going to be soccer, or shit even basketball (apparently you can find tall skinny freaks everywhere).
The 6N is beautiful for so many reasons and there really is no need to fuck with it. The 2nd tier of European teams often play "tests" in parks that look like club grounds. Untapped billions and global success where 2nd and 4rd tier sides emerge as forces is a myth. The huge money that World Rugby gouges out of people for the World Cup should be going in to providing meaningful competitions for these nations among their own level.
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Shamelessly stolen from Reddit, with apologies @mikethesnow
