The 2009 Six Nations will herald a new era, with the Wales v France match scheduled for a Friday night.
This decision will no doubt have some rugby traditionalists shaking in their blazers, bemoaning the end of the 3pm Saturday kick off. Well, not me – I like it. I’m quite a fan of evening rugby, and if Saturday night is suitable, why not Friday night?
What do you think? Does it matter?!
2009 Six Nations fixtures
February 7, England v Italy (1500), Ireland v France (1700); February 8, Scotland v Wales (1500).
February 14, France v Scotland (1500), Wales v England (1730); February 15, Italy v Ireland (1430).
February 27, France v Wales (2000); February 28, Scotland v Italy (1500), Ireland v England (1730).
March 14, Italy v Wales (1500), Scotland v Ireland (1700); March 15, England v France (1500).
March 21, Italy v France (1315), England v Scotland (1530), Wales v Ireland (1730).
Rugby? On a Friday night?! Somebody pass me my traditionalist blazer and a soap-box! Rugby has long been the weekend retreat of the Y chromosome.
We work during the week; we slave the day away in an environment that couldn’t be further away from the nirvana of a sofa, Sky Sports, a dimly lit room and a cold beer. Five days out of seven. And throughout those five days, we’re driven on by one thought, only one light at the end of the tunnel – the knowledge that we’ve got two free days at the end of the week, and, if we’re lucky, both of those can be used to watch and/or play some rugby.
That’s the way it is. It’s the natural order. An order that has been fine tuned and worked on by thousands of men over the course of centuries.
Watching rugby on a Friday night can only serve to disrupt this order, thanks to the chief driver of most men’s woes: the woman. Indulge me in this scenario:
You stumble back from a night on the sauce having watched rugby on a Friday night for the first time. Your better half scowling as you tip-toe into bed. She’s pretending to be asleep, but really she’s just biding her time, waiting to strike. Why is she upset? First of all, we’re expected to be fully aware of why she’s angry. Secondly, Friday nights are reserved for mutual canoodling. And lastly, not only did you bin her on a Friday, but you binned her for rugby – something that the X chromosome has become accustomed to enduring exclusively at the weekend. As a result of this unwelcome disturbance to the natural order of weekend-only rugby you promise to make it up to her . . . over the weekend. You go shopping. All day.
I hate going shopping with my girlfriend – it genuinely upsets me when she throws the idea out there, and I for one quake at the idea of going shopping on a Saturday rather than pulling on the chaffing shorts, slapping on some deep heat and chucking a rugby ball around.
Friday night rugby may initially sound as if it’s extending the rugby weekend; however, I believe that it will incontrovertibly decrease our contact with the game over the course of the weekend.
So, in answer to the question posed by the author ‘Does it matter?’: Yes. Of course it matters.
I think it could and probably will work well, after all the reasoning behind it is that some of the Friday night games in the RWC were very popular, and I wouldn’t argue with that (both France v Argentina games were excellent and both were on a Friday).
Although it’s good for games you watch on TV, it’s a real pain in the arse if you want to go to a game. For anyone outside of Greater London, getting to HQ for a Friday evening game would mean a full day off work, so you certainly wouldn’t want your team to have 3 games at home on Fridays in one season. That said, I’m sure they won’t allow that to happen (will they?!).
I’m not sure how well they’ve thought out the logistics too – 80,000 people don’t just arrive at HQ in the hour before kick-off and the transport to the ground at Friday rush-hour is likely to be crap – it’s bad enough getting a train to and from Twickenham on a Saturday or Sunday game.
Over all though, and speaking as someone who tends to only get to one England 6N game most years, I think it could work really well. My biggest fear, like John’s, is that of Saturday shopping.
To anyone who’s against it, let me reframe the debate for you: it’s Friday night, take your pick – international rugby or Coronation Street double bill with Eastenders in between? No brainer.
So this screws up any hope of arranging the Toby Memorial Tour to Paris for 20 of us ex-pats. 22 biennial trips have been memorable – an experience not to have been missed. And why did Wales and France have to be the scapegoats for this misguided experiment. Think again IRB! It’s not to late to change your minds. It’s the true fans of the most inspirational teams of the moment who will be affected most, or perhaps we don’t count. Somehow the atmosphere sitting in front of a large screen television lacks the magic of that of the Stade de France or the Millenium Stadium when the bonhomie between the supporters of contrasting national teams is paramount.
Come on John! Not every girl out there wants to drag their man shopping. But I certainly don’t relish the idea of Friday night games (whether or not that leaves open more time for shoe shopping). As an ex-pat I have just about come to terms with being in a pub at 7am on a Saturday morning for the 6N. The idea of having to try and listen via my work PC n a Friday afternoon because I can’t get away from the office is horrifying. I shall have to book the day off now, and I was saving the measely north american allowance for the lions tour. :(
The things we do for love. (like agree to go shopping on a saturday?)
Man up John.
Eveneing games on a Friday!!!!!!!!!!! Consider just 2 venues.
Cardiff is a nightmare to get in and out of a Friday, then add another 20-30 thousand battling to get to the game.
Twickenham a hole at the best of times and again hitting rush hour and rugby on the tube would be a joke,
I would agree the RWC saw evening games work well, thats becasue the travelling fans were in situ in the most part, I was one of them.
leave the game alone,
Can Anyone tell me of any matches in between March 29th and April 5?