Draw 2017

[andrewg]

The season opener has been at Home ONCE in 6 years.

2 Home games in 1st 8 week (Inc the two Byes)

Hope the WFORCE is in a good position for the 6 Home games in 9 weeks.

SR model is broken.

[Darren]

You can view the fixtures here: http://twf.com.au/view.php?pg=2017_s...rugby_fixtures
and 2017 Super Rugby Outlook Calendar Import

Note: The following fixtures have an incorrect 12:00am kick off, the actual time is yet to be confirmed:

2017-02-25 Cheetahs Lions
2017-02-25 Stormers Bulls
2017-02-26 Kings Jaguares
2017-03-04 Lions Waratahs
2017-03-04 Cheetahs Bulls
2017-03-05 Stormers Jaguares
2017-03-12 Jaguares Lions
2017-03-19 Jaguares Cheetahs
2017-04-30 Jaguares Sharks

Also, rounds 15 & 16 are split rounds where half of 15 is played, then half of 16, then the rest of 15 then the rest of 16 I've split these into discrete rounds, so we have 19 rounds rather than 17. 15a=15, 16a=16, 15b=17, 16b=18, 17=19.

[yungfen]

With the current format no draws will ever look good. But I am very happy with this one as it much better than last year's one. Yes lots of away games to start with but we have a BYE to alleviate that. 3 home games to finish the season could be exciting depending on how we fare beforehand.

[Kalahard]

Suck shit Rebels to start the year. Blue, Hurricanes, Chiefs, Tahs, Highlanders, Brumbies then Shorks to start the year. I wonder if about rnd 10/11 there will be calls to axe the Rebels after starting 0-7.

[Sheikh]

I've had a quick look at the draws, similar to the one I did for this year's draw (http://twf.com.au/showthread.php?t=3...l=1#post411248)

The Sunwolves have a dreadful schedule, travelling even further than last year (~108,000 km!) as their schedule is: Tokyo, Singapore, Bloemfontein, Pretoria, Singapore, Bye, Tokyo, Canterbury, Dunedin, Hamilton, Buenos Aires, Bye, Singapore, Tokyo, Jo'burg, Cape Town, Tokyo. They change time zones 11 times and their only 'break' from travelling is 3 weeks in NZ.

We have about the same as last year, ~70,000 km, despite one less away game. Three separate 1 week trips to the East Coast, a 2 week trip to NZ and a 2 week trip of Durban and Buenos Aires. We also change time zones 11 times, but have a run of a month at home (weeks 7-10) and no travel after the month-long international break.

The Rebels do almost as much travel as we do (~68,000 km) with two 1 week trips to NZ, a 2 week trip to SA and finish after the break with away games in Perth and Buenos Aires. They change times zones 9 times.

The Jaguars travel is much better managed than the Sunwolves. They open with 2 weeks in SA, 4 weeks at home, 3 weeks back in SA, 6 weeks at home and finish with 2 weeks in Australia. That's about as good as they could get.

The Crusaders have an odd schedule; they only travel ~39,000 km, but have 3 separate 1 week trips to the East Coast and a 2 week trip to SA. The trips are also spaced evenly so that the longest they ever go without travelling is three weeks.

The Highlanders and Chiefs travel the least distance, under 30,000 km each. Both only have a single 1 week trip to the East Coast and a longer 3 week trip of 2 weeks in SA and a week in Perth, each changing time zones 5 times. After the Chiefs play here (week 9) they never leave NZ.

The Bulls have an arguably better schedule. They travel slightly further (36,000 km) but have only 3 journeys: 5 weeks in SA, then 2 weeks in NZ, a week in Tokyo, and then don't leave the republic again!

The Stormers also have quite an easy schedule; they travel ~50,000 km but only in 4 journeys: 4 weeks in SA, 1 week in Singapore, 3 weeks in SA, 3 weeks in NZ, and then stay in SA.

[The InnFORCEr]

There is graph in this article from UnZud showing the perceived "toughness" of the draw.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/s...-to-lions-tour