2024 Rugby Championship ... The Real Deal OR Not.
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Something occurred to me watching the EOYT games this weekend.
All 3 teams seemed to put into play their best squads and play to their strengths. The teams seemed quite settled & knew exactly what they were trying to do and on the whole, were pretty impressive.
Made me wonder, was TRC only there this year for teams to try things out?
Years gone by, you'd see best teams in TRC and then quite a few random selections for the EOYT. New players would be selected to tour & then tried out in these games. But it seems like it was the reverse this year. Which made me wonder just how much effort was put into winning TRC this year. There were some excellent games, and it's not lost on me that it was the first tournament in a WC cycle, but should it still not be that the best players/plays should be in TRC with the experiments left for the EOYT?
So, has the global axis shifted so much with rugby that the South think winning the EOYT match are far more important than TRC?
Or am I just massively over thinking it.
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@MajorRage I think you arent far off, I reckon the EOYT is closer to what you'd expect at the RWC, which sadly is what everything is geared toward now, so coaches are looking to replicate those consecutive performances v different opposition whereas TRC is often same opposition back to back or breaks between.
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@taniwharugby hadn’t thought about it like that.
Good point.
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@MajorRage said in 2024 Rugby Championship ... The Real Deal OR Not.:
Something occurred to me watching the EOYT games this weekend.
All 3 teams seemed to put into play their best squads and play to their strengths. The teams seemed quite settled & knew exactly what they were trying to do and on the whole, were pretty impressive.
Made me wonder, was TRC only there this year for teams to try things out?
Years gone by, you'd see best teams in TRC and then quite a few random selections for the EOYT. New players would be selected to tour & then tried out in these games. But it seems like it was the reverse this year. Which made me wonder just how much effort was put into winning TRC this year. There were some excellent games, and it's not lost on me that it was the first tournament in a WC cycle, but should it still not be that the best players/plays should be in TRC with the experiments left for the EOYT?
So, has the global axis shifted so much with rugby that the South think winning the EOYT match are far more important than TRC?
Or am I just massively over thinking it.
you might be right to some degree at least, i know some fans have been saying for years the TRC is too repetitive.....and things like the end of year tour a bit more exciting because you dont play the same teams every year
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To counter your suggestion, Razor pretty much played his strongest side throughout the TRC
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@DaGrubster said in 2024 Rugby Championship ... The Real Deal OR Not.:
To counter your suggestion, Razor pretty much played his strongest side throughout the TRC
The strongest side, or what he thought was his strongest side? I honestly can't remember.
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@canefan said in 2024 Rugby Championship ... The Real Deal OR Not.:
@DaGrubster said in 2024 Rugby Championship ... The Real Deal OR Not.:
To counter your suggestion, Razor pretty much played his strongest side throughout the TRC
The strongest side, or what he thought was his strongest side? I honestly can't remember.
In all honesty, they are the same
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@MajorRage said in 2024 Rugby Championship ... The Real Deal OR Not.:
Something occurred to me watching the EOYT games this weekend.
All 3 teams seemed to put into play their best squads and play to their strengths. The teams seemed quite settled & knew exactly what they were trying to do and on the whole, were pretty impressive.
Made me wonder, was TRC only there this year for teams to try things out?
Years gone by, you'd see best teams in TRC and then quite a few random selections for the EOYT. New players would be selected to tour & then tried out in these games. But it seems like it was the reverse this year. Which made me wonder just how much effort was put into winning TRC this year. There were some excellent games, and it's not lost on me that it was the first tournament in a WC cycle, but should it still not be that the best players/plays should be in TRC with the experiments left for the EOYT?
So, has the global axis shifted so much with rugby that the South think winning the EOYT match are far more important than TRC?
Or am I just massively over thinking it.
Maybe they are all using the EOYT as a dry run for bigger tournaments / tours coming post-2024?
