Since rugby went professional in 1996, the June Test has always been a concern for the ARU. Northern hemisphere countries put little importance on these tours, with the one big exception being the British and Irish Lions tour. Unfortunately, however, that's only once every 12 years.
This year we play Italy twice and France once. You have to wonder what France will have left after having just played the All Blacks in the previous two weeks.
Italy, meanwhile, had poor Six Nations performances, in which they were flogged by England 36-11 and lost at home to Ireland 38-9. This suggests their results in Australia will be ordinary.
The ARU is proposing a Barbarians game. However, this is unfortunately nothing more than a money grab. The top 35 players from Europe will be in South Africa, the South Africans will be preparing for games, the top New Zealand players and French players will be taken up. So, who will be left? Players from the islands? Players looking for a quick 15 grand to play a game? It's hardly a recipe for success.
If Australia wish to add another game or two, I believe they have two options. The first is a state of origin match between NSW and Queensland. A three-game series would be nice, but let's start with one. Imagine a match where the best of the two states faced off. All the top Western Force players would be eligible and ACT players Matt Giteau and George Smith would be eligible for NSW. I have little doubt this game would pack out the Sydney Football Stadium.
Just look at the teams. NSW would be incredibly strong in the backs, with Luke Burgess and Giteau in the halves, Stirling Mortlock and Ryan Cross in the centres , Lote Tuqiri and Adam Ashley-Cooper on the wings, with Mark Gerrard at fullback. No doubt they would have the wood over a young Queensland back line of Ben Lucas, Berrick Barnes, Quade Cooper, Charlie Fetoai, Digby Ioane, Peter Hynes and Drew Mitchell at fullback.
In the forwards, Queensland would have strength, with a back row of Hugh McMeniman, Richard Brown and David Pocock against Smith, Phil Waugh and Wycliff Palu. In the second row, Queensland would have the upper hand with Nathan Sharpe and James Horwill against NSW second-rowers Dean Mumm and Will Caldwell. In the front row, it would be Greg Holmes, Stephen Moore and Rodney Blake returning from overseas, against Benn Robinson, Tatafu Polota-Nau and Al Baxter. That would leave no room in the Queensland pack for Mark Chisholm or Mitch Chapman and no room in the NSW back line for Cameron Shepherd. My feeling is that NSW would come out on top, but how many times have we seen upsets in Queensland-NSW matches? They never go according to script.
Sure, there would be people who would say it devalues the Force and Brumbies, but let's remember, this would be just a one-off game. Surely it's better than a one-off Barbarians game. It would be Test match-standard rugby, played between Queensland and NSW. These strong line-ups would be a huge drawcard, to say the least. It would be close, a great battle and would certainly stir the players' and fans' emotions.
Another option for the future may well be a northern hemisphere versus southern hemisphere game played in early June. It would work for all teams if it were played right after the Super 14 and the end of the northern hemisphere season. It could be played in each hemisphere on alternate years. We talk about rugby being a universal game played in 100 countries. This would be a great opportunity to prove it. Perhaps adding a complication to this game, the IRB has ruled that northern hemisphere countries can play 11 Tests and southern hemisphere countries 12 Tests a year. How they choose to structure that program remains to be seen, with grand slam tours and the like. Surely this should stand above that. But it seems there won't be much room to move, with the northern teams engaged in five Six Nations Tests, five November Tests and one in June. This match would have to be outside those.
The southern team would consist of forwards such as Tony Woodcock, Moore, Carl Hayman, Victor Matfield, Sharpe, Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies and Richie McCaw, complemented by halves Fourie du Preez and Dan Carter, a midfield of Giteau and Mortlock, Tuqiri and Bryan Habana on the wings, and Mils Muliaina at fullback. My guess is this team would beat the northern side, which could consist of Andy Sheridan, French hooker Dimitri Szarzewski, Phil Vickery, Paul O'Connell, Steve Borthwick, Imanol Harinordoquy, Brian Jones, Andy Powell, with a back line of Harry Ellis, Ronan O'Gara, Brian O'Driscoll, Yannick Jauzion, Shane Williams, Cedric Heymans and Lee Byrne. It's another match-up that the public would love.
The Lions tour is huge and will remain so - as it has for a century. It's a huge honour and has a lot of history. But, unfortunately, with northern hemisphere players owned by their clubs, players who should be on tours to the south are often rested. Particularly in England, there is a huge focus on club rugby. Across Europe, the Six Nations has become the be-all and end-all now that players are in action in professional rugby nine months a year. The evidence can be found by remembering that the last time a northern hemisphere team had success in Australia was in 2003 when England won the World Cup. That was six years ago and it could be another 60 before that sort of success happens here again.
That's why these two options must be considered. They would have huge drawing power. Our program would include the state of origin every year and every second year we'd host or be part of a northern v southern game.
Interstate games were massive in the 1970s and 1980s. Back then we only played five or six games a year - one against a touring team, against NSW three times and maybe another odd game.
The big state games became one when professionalism began in 1996. But with the way rugby has become structured in recent years, there is a real need for these great games to be re-introduced.
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