An ex-England player criticizes “incompetent” regulatory organizations for eliminating “jeopardy” from mid-year international competitions.

James Haskell, a former flanker for England, has criticized the decision to eliminate three Test series from the schedule.

Teams typically played two games on a tour between 2004 and 2010, but starting in 2012, the International Rugby Board (now World Rugby) introduced a third window to the calendar.

That allowed for a three-match series to aid the possibility of there being a winning side, albeit draws did still happen.

Incoming Nations Championship

There aren’t any full tours this year, though, as the Nations Championship has forced another change to the schedule.

This new competition, dubbed the “Super Bowl of rugby,” is scheduled to begin in 2026, and Qatar is being considered to host the play-offs.
Haskell is not thrilled that England will play two Test matches against the All Blacks next month, one less than on their previous visit of New Zealand ten years ago.

Isn’t it unfortunate that there isn’t a three-test series? I don’t know why they do this, but that would create a great sense of peril,” he stated on the podcast The Good, The Bad, and The Rugby.

Playing Japan is fine with me, but there is no way we could miss any other games this season. Much better would be a three-Test series versus the All Blacks.