After a better Six Nations Championship in 2024, the English side will now face Japan in an international fixture.
The 2024 season started well in terms of playing style and results, and England wants to carry this playbook into the next few games.
Fans with Six Nations tickets were disappointed that England missed silverware but are happy to see the positive changes.
Northampton Saints’ Gallagher Premiership-winning full-back George Furbank says England won’t be tearing up the Six Nations script when they play Eddie Jones’ Japan this Saturday.
Japan hosts Steve Borthwick’s England at the National Stadium in Tokyo, and the Cambridgeshire-born talent offered insight into his country’s preparations during a press conference on Monday.
Furbank, 27, who featured prominently in the Saints’ 25-21 victory over Bath, was handed his England debut by Jones in 2020.
The English star spoke highly of his former coach, who will take the reins over the Brave Blossoms on Saturday against his former charges for the first time in his second stint.
For Furbank, when the Japanese media inevitably brings up Eddie Jones and his former association with England, the former amateur age group cricket star holds his ex-coach in high esteem.
“I got on well with Eddie; he gave me my first cap; I’m appreciative; he was a unique coach; I’ve never had a coach like him before; he was good to me and came in and made the team better.”
When quizzed about what he learned from Eddie, Furbank said: “Different variations of playing off nine, playing off 10, that I hadn’t seen before, subtle things to the way that he wanted his teams to play.”
Furbank believes there’s continuity in England’s ranks and that their game plan won’t be too different from what they offered in the Six Nations.
“I can’t give everything away, can I? We’ve focused on Japan and what they’re like as a group, but most focus is on us this week; we have a clear game plan, and nothing will change too much from the Six Nations.”
In terms of players on the radar of the English squad, Furbank singled out Siosaia Fifita as a potent attacking threat from Japan’s back three.
“We’ve analyzed individuals and back-three wise, they have Fifita, who plays either wing or 13, he’s a dangerous ball carrier, (Rikiya) Matsuda at ten as well, they’ve got threats all over the park, we’ve got to be wary on the weekend.”
“Japan has a new coaching setup, so we don’t know exactly what to expect,” said Furbank.
“We’ve been watching a decent amount of Top League (League One) from Japan, so it will probably be similar.
“There’s a lot of ball in play and a lot of quick ball and offloads; that’s the sort of game we expect them to go after.”
Furbank, who enjoyed Premiership success a week ago with his club, said there’s a lot of excitement in the English camp about the prospect of playing at the Olympic Stadium.
“We’re very excited, the boys who were with the Saints and the boys who’ve already had a few weeks training; we’re excited to play at the Olympic Stadium against what we think is an excellent team.”
Six Nations TV Broadcasting Future?
Fans of Six Nations tickets at the venues have been electrified, but the same cannot be said about the viewership.
Rugby is thriving as a televisual event. Viewing figures for the Rugby World Cup in 2023 were 19% higher than the 2019 tournament and 30% higher than in 2015. Free-to-air Six Nations games regularly draw between 3 and 4.5 million viewers in the UK. Globally, an estimated 121 million people tuned in to the 2023 tournament.
So, it’s surprising that the Six Nations is classified by the UK government’s Department for Culture, Media and Sport as a “category B” tournament. This means it can be sold to anyone, providing that free-to-air broadcasters are given access to highlights or delayed coverage.
Meanwhile, for “category A” events like the FA Cup final and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, free-to-air terrestrial broadcasters must offer full live coverage. Recently, the UK government rejected a bid to move the Six Nations into category A.
The BBC and ITV have had the rights to the Six Nations since 2003, but that could change. Rugby’s governing bodies need more money; free-to-air channels feel the financial pinch. On top of that, more and more people are opting for streaming services in general. So, when the current broadcasting deal ends in 2025, the Six Nations could end up behind a paywall.
Financial woes
Money—or the lack of it—is the important factor here, and Welsh rugby is experiencing the effects more than most. It faces a stark future both on and off the field, with players leaving Wales for more money and salary caps being introduced for those who stay.
While the Senedd (Welsh parliament) agrees that the Six Nations should remain free-to-air, the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) has warned that it would “struggle to survive” without a competitive bidding scenario involving Sky, Amazon Prime, and others.
Some Scottish politicians concur with the Senedd, adding a further constitutional dimension. The SNP’s Gavin Newlands recently reiterated calls for broadcasting to be devolved so that the Six Nations remains free-to-air.
There are precedents for rugby moving to a subscription service, too. The 2023 Autumn Internationals were only accessible on Amazon Prime, and between 1997 and 2002, England’s home games were shown exclusively on Sky Sports.
But that raises concerns about affordability, especially for fans with Six Nations tickets who already find attending matches too expensive. Even the “home comfort” option of watching on TV might become too costly for stay-at-home supporters.
According to former BBC executive and now WRU executive director of rugby, Nigel Walker, this “tension and competition at the market” is essential for rugby’s survival. The Irish Rugby Union has also previously warned about the “substantial financial damage” to rugby if the Six Nations was classified as free-to-air.
Cricket Lessons
Free market proponents point, for example, to Sky’s long-lasting commitment to cricket, which has led to innovation and technical advances such as multiple cameras and data-rich, TV-friendly statistical analysis. This results in a quality of coverage that the BBC or ITV might struggle to match with meager budgets.
But test cricket offers a cautionary tale. It found a surge of new fans during Channel 4’s captivating coverage of the epic 2005 Ashes, with the final day of the fourth test drawing 8.4 million viewers. When Sky secured the rights a year later, this fresh audience vanished.
The 2023 Ashes saw peak viewing figures of just 2.12 million. Having hauled in millions of new enthusiasts, cricket failed to keep them watching.
If rugby does succumb to the paywall, there are profound implications. As a consequence of a captive audience, subscription prices might increase as “market forces” prevail.
