As well as the need for rugby to expand, I think­ it's a discredit to Argentina to say they would­ lower the standard of the tri-nations. This is a­ country with limited resources who are ranked 6th in­ the world and got to the semi-finals of the last world­ cup which is one stage further than either new zealand­ or australia.

There's a moggy about.....

thewelshdude

As a Welshman, you would know all about­ Kiwi imports!

Stephen - it may not always be so

Ok, the Premiership thing may not be too good an idea­ but why not then have two divisions of 10 teams?­ Cornish Pirates, Plymouth, Exeter Chiefs, Bedford­ Blues, Bristol, Coventry, Rotherham Titans and­ Doncaster could attract support in their region and­ Rugby Union would grow to a larger audience. Which­ means, further down the line, the young players will­ get better and so will the National teams. We­ definitely need more world wide countries to play the­ game and maybe the European Challenge Cup and former­ European Shield could be created as a group format in­ the Heineken Cup mould. It will then give the lesser­ nations a chance. It's a joke that Handball is­ played by more countries in Europe then Rugby Union.­ Things need to change!

i think the problem at the moment is the lack of club­ rugby in some countries. as well as expanding the six­ and tri nations (i agree with the second tier­ promotion/relegation), i think the could do with­ creating a european league for teams from spain,­ russia, romania etc. two teams per country, home and­ away fixtures with the winners/top two or whatever get­ a place in heineken cup, maybe take one place off­ english teams and one off french instead of expanding. ­
another point that i want to raise (again!) is the­ need for a cap on the number of foreign players. i know­ that teams need cover when their top players are away­ on international duties but surely thats the time for­ some of the younger lads or academy players to get­ exposure to premiership rugby. personally i think it­ evens things up. leicester for examply usually dominate­ the league but they can lose around 9 first team­ players at a time to national teams, which gives teams­ that dont have leicesters wealth a chance to catch up.­ i for one dont want to see the guinness premiership­ turn out the same way our round ball game friends with­ the title being decided by the same 2 teams every year­ with one or two 'possibles'.
im not sure i like­ the idea of an 8 team premiership unless the standard­ of play in the championship were increased. there are­ some great teams but very very rarely can a promoted­ team compete in the guinness premiership. maybe keep­ the same number of teams in each with a 2 up 2 down­ system and a cash boost for the promoted teams to bulk­ up squad giving them a fairer shot.
i know these ideas­ probably arent that practical to implement but would­ like to know what other people think.

Stephen, Rugby is a much much younger sport that­ football and is still growing rapidly in sporting­ terms, so don't try and compare the two. That said,­ they still need to help develop the game is as many­ countries as possibly, seeing as there are only 20 or­ so nations that play regularly. Countries like­ Argentina need some kind of boost, like how Italy are­ getting two teams into the Magner's League.

As for­ Flutey, once people can accept the fact that he is Kiwi­ and realise that he PLAYS FOR ENGLAND, they can begin­ to appreciate that he would be invaluable to a team­ looking to contend with Aus and NZ and that this is a­ really terrible blow for the squad.

Why should the Tri Nations change? They are head and­ shoulders above everyone else in the rugby world. To­ include other nations would be similar to premier­ division sides playing second division teams. Who wants­ to watch that? Not me. When any of the six nations can ­ begin to compete on a regular basis with the Tri­ Nations(and an occasional win by France over the All­ Blacks is not enough) then, yeah, maybe think about­ making some changes. Until then, to include any others­ will be a waste of time and only risk career ending­ injuries to the clearly superior sides of South Africa,­ Australia and New Zealand. Do Manchester United,­ Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool play second division­ clubs on a regular basis? 'Nuff said.

It's about time the Tri-Nations had something­ change. Playing each other 20 times (I know, an­ exaggeration!) is the equivalent of the Scottish­ Premier League! I would like more interest though and­ have Japan, Tonga, Fiji, Western Samoa, USA and Canada­ form their own tournament and the top seed gets to play­ in the Four Nations (expand it to 5) and then have a­ regular relegation/promotion. Like wise, have a second­ tier 6 Nations featuring Russia, Spain, Romania and­ whoever is left and again, have a promotion/relegation­ system. While I'm cutting through Rugby Union­ ideas, let's expand the Premiership to 16 teams and­ divide into 8. A Premiership - Championship format. All­ teams professional. Have a two up-two down system.­ Bottom team from the 'Championship' cannot be­ relegated. This will mean less games for top players­ and wuold help develop the International fixture ideas.­ Your thoughts please?

Cant England find another Kiwi to replace this one?

It's about time the Tri-Nations had something­ change. Playing each other 20 times (I know, an­ exaggeration!) is the equivalent of the Scottish­ Premier League! I would like more interest though and­ have Japan, Tonga, Fiji, Western Samoa, USA and Canada­ form their own tournament and the top seed gets to play­ in the Four Nations (expand it to 5) and then have a­ regular relegation/promotion. Like wise, have a second­ tier 6 Nations featuring Russia, Spain, Romania and­ whoever is left and again, have a promotion/relegation­ system. While I'm cutting through Rugby Union­ ideas, let's expand the Premiership to 16 teams and­ divide into 8. A Premiership - Championship format. All­ teams professional. Have a two up-two down system.­ Bottom team from the 'Championship' cannot be­ relegated. This will mean less games for top players­ and wuold help develop the International fixture ideas.­ Your thoughts please?