JayRon Socrates 🏉

[Hilux NPC @HiluxNPC]

HISTORY REWRITTEN 🛡️

For the first time since 1978, the Ranfurly Shield belongs to Northland.

For the first time since 1987, the Taniwha have won in Christchurch.

48 years. 39 years. One night.

#HiluxNPC

[Hilux NPC @HiluxNPC]

SOUTHLAND HAVE WON IT🥇

#NPCFRR
📲 Watch LIVE on Sky Sport NZ and FREE to air on TVNZ+

[Hilux NPC @HiluxNPC]

For the love of the game 🥹

🎥 Sky Sport NZ

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@OBBY001 Time to revert back to the NPC, not just for engagement but also costs and environmental impact.

The NRL markets itself as the most the elite league in the world and it works, the NPC should do the same.

Or keep trying the same thing and keep declining.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@WorldRugby

Pull your finger out and do your job.

[Tier 2 Rugby @T2Rugby]

These three trends are all true at once about int'l rugby:

- Tier 1 int'ls are as competitive as they have ever been. In the most recent 6N & TRC everybody beat each other. There are more RWC semi final contenders than before.

- The gap between Tier 1 & Tier 2 has gotten worse and is as big a gulf as it has been in 20 years. Tier 2 collectively has not kept up on the field, and financial differences further increase off it as WR cuts Tier 2 funding. An era that is increasingly higher scoring and easier to pad out a score in blowouts only further exacerbates this trend. In a case of bad timing this trend happens to have coincided with the positive move of expansion to a 24 team RWC.

- Tier 3 (non-RWC teams) have become highly inactive more so than ever before and are getting cut off from Tier 2. This is an equally big problem to the more talked of one of Tier 2 sides getting cut off from Tier 1. It is now near impossible for a side outside the RWC with no competition framework (outside Europe) to plan a development plan to improve and get there in future. The global game has been shrinking in the 2020s.

There are some of course who only care about Tier 1, and don't give a damn about growth of the sport (sadly that probably includes those running it), so to them international rugby may seem like the greatest it has maybe ever been and that be a logical think to say. Yet that is an utterly tone deaf statement to make in broader context of the health of the rest of the international game which has gotten much worse over the 2020s.

So whilst the first trend is indeed good and given among the most unpredictable recent editions of the 6N & TRC, the second and third trends are a genuine crises for the global game people need to be aware of and from the perspective of "Tier 2" rugby and those who really care about it is impossible to speak positively about. The WR blazers who have overseen the global game shrink the way it has and not even attempt to grow in new countries truly merit scathing criticism for it.

The sport has great opportunities it is failing to grasp in certain markets to grow in the team contact sport niche and can even more exciting, colourful, diverse, and richer both on and off the field for more competitive teams and more fans. That is the pitch to try and get people to care. A great tournament like the 6N could grow even greater and richer. Rugby is imo a special sport for its combination of teamwork, combat, and variation of skill and strategy that can best fulfil the human desire for tribal war game like activity, and the dream is to share it with as much of the world as possible. But for that to happen the state of crisis of international rugby below Tier 1 needs to be seriously thought about and urgently addressed.

[Tier 2 Rugby @T2Rugby]

These three trends are all true at once about int'l rugby:

- Tier 1 int'ls are as competitive as they have ever been. In the most recent 6N & TRC everybody beat each other. There are more RWC semi final contenders than before.

- The gap between Tier 1 & Tier 2 has gotten worse and is as big a gulf as it has been in 20 years. Tier 2 collectively has not kept up on the field, and financial differences further increase off it as WR cuts Tier 2 funding. An era that is increasingly higher scoring and easier to pad out a score in blowouts only further exacerbates this trend. In a case of bad timing this trend happens to have coincided with the positive move of expansion to a 24 team RWC.

- Tier 3 (non-RWC teams) have become highly inactive more so than ever before and are getting cut off from Tier 2. This is an equally big problem to the more talked of one of Tier 2 sides getting cut off from Tier 1. It is now near impossible for a side outside the RWC with no competition framework (outside Europe) to plan a development plan to improve and get there in future. The global game has been shrinking in the 2020s.

There are some of course who only care about Tier 1, and don't give a damn about growth of the sport (sadly that probably includes those running it), so to them international rugby may seem like the greatest it has maybe ever been and that be a logical think to say. Yet that is an utterly tone deaf statement to make in broader context of the health of the rest of the international game which has gotten much worse over the 2020s.

So whilst the first trend is indeed good and given among the most unpredictable recent editions of the 6N & TRC, the second and third trends are a genuine crises for the global game people need to be aware of and from the perspective of "Tier 2" rugby and those who really care about it is impossible to speak positively about. The WR blazers who have overseen the global game shrink the way it has and not even attempt to grow in new countries truly merit scathing criticism for it.

The sport has great opportunities it is failing to grasp in certain markets to grow in the team contact sport niche and can even more exciting, colourful, diverse, and richer both on and off the field for more competitive teams and more fans. That is the pitch to try and get people to care. A great tournament like the 6N could grow even greater and richer. Rugby is imo a special sport for its combination of teamwork, combat, and variation of skill and strategy that can best fulfil the human desire for tribal war game like activity, and the dream is to share it with as much of the world as possible. But for that to happen the state of crisis of international rugby below Tier 1 needs to be seriously thought about and urgently addressed.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@GauthierBaudin The environmental impact of this nonsense competition is of serious concern.

It is clear contradiction to @WorldRugby environmental sustainability plan 2030.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@Independent @WorldRugby should have two regional competitions hosted in one country every four years. A European cup, 6N and top euro teams, and a southern equivalent. Winners can play off then.

This protects the RWC as teams are not playing each other and we can bring back tours.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@T2Rugby These are the reasons I'm losing interest in rugby. I haven't watched any of this nonsense NC but may have been interested to watch a passionate Fijian crowd and an England team struggling in the heat and humidity.

It's clear elitism and nepotism from @WorldRugby.

[Tier 2 Rugby @T2Rugby]

@mangorugby No, because the issue was never whether there could be good games. Those already existed in years before with same matches. The issue is freezing who the top 12 teams are forever, increasing inequality between haves vs have nots, and ludicrous travel.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@T2Rugby It's an utter disgrace and is a typical @WorldRugby elitist cash grab that is only there to serve a few nations and support the status quo.

In years to come we'll look at moments like this and see the incompetence that continually ruined our game.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@ChallengeCup_ I'm currently trying to buy the game in preparation for 3am wake up. It's not working help asap @ChallengeCup_

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@UlsterRugby Love this behind the scenes content, keep it coming.

Though when is @UlsterRugby going to move on to Blue Sky?

[Ulster Rugby @UlsterRugby]

Ready for a big night 💥

Here's how we line up against @ExeterChiefs tomorrow for a place in the Challenge Cup Final 👊

🎟️ https://t.co/czSrlRsbCE
📺 @PremSportsTV
🎧 @bbcradioulster

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@WrestleTalk_TV It's strange how E fans have embraced him when he is clearly an extension of TKO aggressive profitering.

It's like a millionaire telling you to spend your money to help the economy for national unity while they hoard their own money. Propaganda at its best.

[Northern Ireland @NorthernIreland]

Happy Easter from everyone at @NorthernIreland & @IrishFA 🐣💚🤍 #GAWA

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@SimonMiller316 It's the ultimate example of wrestling fans and WWE fans. If this had happened in AEW or the indies it would have been ridiculed. But because it's in the E it's now praised as revolutionary and hilarious.

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

https://t.co/shs8MGpnls

[JayRon Socrates 🏉 @JayronSocrates]

@WorldRugby

Let's be eye wise and get it done.

[Unión Argentina de Rugby @unionargentina]

En el marco del fortalecimiento estratégico del rugby regional, la Unión Argentina de Rugby (UAR) avanza en su postulación oficial para organizar la Copa del Mundo de Rugby 2035.

https://t.co/3TLH4i53p4

[Unión Argentina de Rugby @unionargentina]

En el marco del fortalecimiento estratégico del rugby regional, la Unión Argentina de Rugby (UAR) avanza en su postulación oficial para organizar la Copa del Mundo de Rugby 2035.

https://t.co/3TLH4i53p4