There has been a lot of fuss and bother recently at IRB (sorry, World Rugby) level about introducing a ‘Global season’. Much has been made of bringing ‘clarity’ to the structure of the season, player welfare blah blah. Inevitably the push is coming from the Southern Hemisphere abetted by some unexpected voices such as Gerald Davies and Bill Beaumont (lads! what are you doing!)

Let’s not beat about the bush. There is only one thing that is driving this – dosh, filthy lucre, wonga.

A key part of the thinking is that the Six Nations is shifted to the back end of the NH season (April). New Zealand has threatened to boycott Autumn internationals against Wales in Cardiff unless a new global rugby calendar is drawn up to their satisfaction. Well my Kiwi friends, it is one thing having the best team in the World (no argument there) but to then start throwing your weight around demanding this and that. Well, get in the real world. Top level sport is business. Don’t try to play hard ball if you haven’t got the deep pockets to see it through.

New Zealand tried it a few months ago when the demanded more money from the RFU to play at Twickenham (half the gate). We may not all like Ian Ritchie but he essentially told them to sod off. He knows who holds the cards. The RFU knows that they can fill Twickenham for every Six Nations game whereas New Zealand can’t even fill their own modest stadiums for home international matches.

As it is, New Zealand will not play their only currently credible international opposition (England) for the foreseeable future. You can almost hear the gnashing of teeth. England are an upward curve and there is a feeling that the longer it goes the better they are going to be. If it wasn’t for the Lions in 2017 there would be a bit of a hole in the NZRU budget. New Zealand has said that unless changes are made it will not sign up to a new international fixture schedule and will negotiate test fixtures individually. Yeah? Who with?

It’s all a bit tail wagging dog. Yes you may be the best team, but in real money terms New Zealand rugby are minnows dwarfed by the NH unions. Why? Because the Six Nations is the cash cow. It’s success is based not upon the standard of the rugby, it goes much deeper than that. It is an annual proxy war based upon centuries of history where everybody hates the English (except the Italians). It is compact geographically, perfect for a good weekend away for fans and generates substantial revenues for the cities involved (compare normal Dublin hotel prices with a non -Six Nations weekend). It has a great slot in the sporting calendar where it is the only show in town, gets huge attention and brightens up the darkest part of the year. Why would the NH unions want to compete for TV revenue against traditional summer events like Wimbledon, Tour de France, Olympics and FIFA World Cup.

In reality, Southern Hemisphere rugby is in a bit of a crisis. New Zealand could field a second team and still beat the rest. Australia have lost their way and are languishing as a domestic sport compared to Aussie Rules and the NRL. South Africa are hamstrung by quotas and political interference and only the recent emergence of Argentina has brought a degree of freshness. They are desperate for some way to bring in the money and halt the exodus of talent north.

If soccer has shown one thing it is that performance on the international stage (eg lamentable England) doesn’t really reflect wealth and in World sport, money counts. So as far as a Global season is concerned, don’t hold your breath.