London: June Test matches should be scrapped and the Super Rugby season should run uninterrupted from start to finish.
That's the view of Wallabies coach Michael Cheika as discussion continues around the pros, cons and possibility of creating a synchronised global season.
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Calls have been made and meetings had by World Rugby officials to discuss a global season – from 2019 onwards – whereby southern and northern hemisphere teams could play club and international football at the same time, something that does not happen at present.
Southern hemisphere teams finish their Tests in November and get underway in February while their northern hemisphere counterparts go from August to June.
The Wallabies were beaten 3-0 by England in June and clearly Cheika is not thrilled about the idea of players chopping and changing between club and national duties in the winter months.
"I think the idea of an unbroken Super Rugby season is much better from a fan's perspective," Cheika said. "[You] have to be conscious of fans because they are the ones paying to watch the rugby. In Super Rugby, an unbroken season would be a positive for the tournament and for the popularity of rugby in our country. We have a lot competition from other sports … to have continuity would be good."
Cheika, however, expects that his plea to scrap the June Test window will fall on deaf ears.
"At end of the day, there are some powerbrokers way above my pay grade playing this game around organising this global season," Cheika said. "I don't think what I say is going to make much of a difference."
SANZAAR's decision to stage a Rugby Championship match in the northern hemisphere this weekend between the Wallabies and Pumas has turned a few heads sideways but Cheika said he was a big fan of trying to expand the sport's presence, be it in a rugby-mad nation like England or a country with a little interest in rugby.
Just so long as it wasn't a Wallabies home game.
"I think nowadays you are able to play anywhere to be honest with the opportunities," Cheika said. "You see different games touted at different venues. That's the commerce of the game. For us it's exciting. To think of Australia versus Argentina in England back in the day, you wouldn't have imagined it.
"Stadia are tendering for games. Everyone's into it. For us in Australia we only get a few games a year at home. We love playing in front of our home crowd. [We] wouldn't be too keen on letting any of our home Tests going abroad, I can assure you of that."
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