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The inaugural Fall Nations Cup begins with Ireland taking on Wales in Dublin on Friday as the rugby union continues to grapple with the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.
An eight-team event will feature Europe’s six leading nations, as well as Fiji and Georgia, arriving after Japan pulled out due to travel restrictions.
The teams will be divided into two groups of four, with England, Wales, Ireland and Georgia forming one group and Scotland, France, Italy and Fiji the other.
Each will play three group matches before the tournament ends on the weekend of December 5-6 with a final among the group winners, while the other nations will face a team in the same position in the other group. to determine the lower classifications.
The Fall Nations Cup is a product of Covid-19.
It replaces the end-of-the-year program that typically sees the southern hemisphere giants New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, none of whom venture across the equator this time for health reasons, on a European tour.
Although the Fall Nations Cup matches will be played behind closed doors due to the virus, they will generate much-needed streaming revenue.
England’s Rugby Football Union, one of the richest governing bodies in the game, recently announced an annual loss of 10.8 million ($ 13.9 million), and officials braced for more bad financial news in the next 12 months. as a result of the pandemic.
England, recently crowned champions of the Six Nations, and a revived France will be the favorites to reach the final.
However, French opportunities may be hampered by a compromise agreement reached in response to an expanded roster of matches between the country’s top clubs and the French Rugby Federation, meaning that Les Bleus players can only participate in one Nations Cup match if they played Wales and Ireland last month.
In preparation for the 2023 World Cup in France, teams can try to develop their squad depth in the coming weeks.
England coach Eddie Jones has even talked about playing with nine forwards in his team’s tournament opener against Georgia at Twickenham on Saturday, instead of the usual eight, in a bid to counter Lelos’s physique.
“Tradition says you have eight forwards and seven behind,” Jones said. “When Barcelona beat Man United in the Champions League in 2009, they played the false nine.
“There’s no reason why you can’t do that in rugby and play a false 10 or a false winger.”
But such experimentation is a luxury that Wales, on a five-game losing streak under coach Wayne Pivac, will not be able to afford to go to Ireland.
Wales on Monday laid off defense coach Byron Hayward, who, like Pivac, joined after former boss Warren Gatland retired after last year’s World Cup.
“It was my decision,” Pivac insisted on the decision to get rid of Hayward.
A perennial complaint from teams like Fiji and Georgia is that, because they don’t participate in a major annual tournament, they are deprived of matches against leading nations between World Cups.
At 11th and 12th, respectively, in the world rankings, both are better placed than perennial Six Nations fighter Italy (14th), making the Azzurri’s match against Fiji on November 21 a clash. Highly expected.
Performance, rather than results, may be the best way to measure the efforts of Fiji and Georgia, with the Georgians defeated 48-7 by Scotland last month.
“When we finish this tournament, if we know that we are a better team than before the start, then we will have had a successful Fall Nations Cup,” Georgia captain Merab Sharikadze said.
“I’m pretty sure we will. We are very motivated.”
2020 Fall Nations Cup Rugby Union Tournament Matches (SA start time)
Group A
Ireland, Wales, England, Georgia
B Group
France, Fiji, Scotland, Italy
Round one
Nov 13: Ireland v Wales, Lansdowne Road, Dublin (9pm)
November 14: Italy v Scotland, Artemio Franchi Stadium, Florence (2:45 pm)
Nov 14: England v Georgia, Twickenham (5pm)
November 15: France v Fiji, Stade de la Rabine, Vannes (17:00)
Second round
November 21: Italy v Fiji, Conero Stadium, Ancona (2:45 pm)
Nov 21: England v Ireland, Twickenham (5pm)
November 21: Wales v Georgia, Parc Y Scarlets, Llanelli (19:15)
November 22: Scotland v France, Murrayfield (17:15)
Third round
Nov 28: Scotland v Fiji, Murrayfield (3:45 pm)
November 28: Wales v England, Parc Y Scarlets (18:00)
November 28: France v Italy, Stade de France, Paris (22:10)
Nov 29: Ireland v Georgia, Lansdowne Road (4pm)
Finals weekend
Teams will play the side that ends up in the same position in the opposite group.
Dec 5: Georgia v TBD, Murrayfield (2pm)
Dec 5: Ireland v TBD, Lansdowne Road (4:15 PM)
Dec 05: Wales v TBD, Parc Y Scarlets (6:45 pm)
Dec 6: England v TBD, Twickenham (4pm)
Note: TBD = to be decided
