Six Nations CEO John Feehan has "strongly resisted calls for the annual tournament to be moved to later in the season to help deliver a more streamlined calendar," according to Mick Cleary of the London TELEGRAPH. Feehan believes that there is "no compelling reason to consider altering the structure, which sees the competition begin in early February and conclude in mid-March." He said, "You mess with it at your peril. It is the jewel in the crown of rugby's calendar. The tournament has never been more successful than it is today. It generates £1.2 billion ($1.8B) of income over a four-year period with 60 matches. The games play out at an average 72,000 crowd, 98.5% of capacity, with the shortfall invariably people not turning up on the day. Why would you want to put that at risk?" The latest call for change has been "initiated on grounds of welfare, with a view in some circles that a more logical, less disjointed shape" to the club and int'l season would enable players to "gauge their commitments accordingly." Feehan added, "If the premise is welfare, how does moving the Six Nations affect that? The
number of games played would remain the same whether we play in March or
May" (TELEGRAPH, 1/7).
