Brive-la-Gaillarde (AFP)

The reforms envisaged by World Rugby concerning the international calendar worry in Top 14: "It is not at all viable to play the summer", assures AFP the president of Brive Simon Gillham, member of the working group which developed the NRL counter-proposal.

Q: What is your position on World Rugby's desire to harmonize the international calendar?

A: "I don't think the League is totally against it. The desire to have a globalized calendar is a good idea. For the rest, it has made counter-proposals because there are two real subjects: players' health and the calendar which starts in January or February, where we play in the summer and ends in October. Although I am British, I have lived in France long enough to know that from July 14th it’s is a sacred time for the holidays. It’s not a good time to play rugby. There’s a heat problem and so is the players’ health, a problem with the hospitality of the sponsors, visibility, a problem with the sports calendar very crowded on Canal + ... If you play in the summer, the broadcaster will be deprived of the best times of the year to subscribe and it will go to do something else. It is not at all viable to play in the summer. "

Q: When you unveiled your project, don't you have the feeling that World Rugby is mainly thinking of the Southern Hemisphere?

A: "As it stands, this calendar has been worked to save the nations of the Southern Hemisphere. If I work in the New Zealand, Australian or South African Federations, I have no idea scale of a club match between Clermont and Toulon, for example. I cannot understand it because it is not in my DNA. Besides, the health of professional French rugby is interesting because it concerns 30 clubs whereas the Premiership only concerns 13 (12, plus the relegated Saracens). That shows our strength. I think that the Southern hemisphere has totally underestimated the world of club rugby. There is a huge cultural gap: they do not understand the importance of club rugby, local rugby ... In Brive, we have 12, 13, 14,000 people at the stadium in a city of 47,000 inhabitants. does not exist elsewhere. In terms of attendance, Super Rugby (club championship in the southern hemisphere, note) is a failure, it must be said what East."

Q: Is the English League aligned with the French position?

A: "Yes. There is a little less heat in England but the reasons are the same. The big cricket events, I know it makes the French laugh but it's the national summer sport, Wimbledon , the British Open Golf ... these are huge events that will completely obscure rugby. "

Q: How do I find consensus?

A: "It is very important that the world authorities listen to Paul Goze and the club presidents, who are all captains of SMEs, SMIs, who wet the jersey every day and who came in peace, with a counter- intelligent proposal, not at all upwind, but by putting their game, their arguments. It is essential and I am sure that the Federation will end up supporting the position of the French clubs. "

Q: Can the Southern Hemisphere be modeled on the European calendar?

A: "It is not to be modeled but to find solutions that suit everyone and these things are not decided in a presentation + PowerPoint + with a smile. This is discussed around a table, in camera , or the equivalent of a table because today it is difficult to travel. It is a collective sport and we will find solutions if everyone is intelligent. You cannot make a written proposal with a small group of people. I deeply regret that the bodies of world rugby have not considered it relevant to involve the professional leagues and the players' world union before. "

Interview by Raphaël PERRY

© 2020 AFP