Stupid world Cup kick off times... =(

I know many of us are looking forward to the world cup. but looking at the kick off times I think most of us are going to have to be nocturnal!

Sunday 11/09 - 09:30am South Africa - Wales
Sunday 18/09 - 04:30am Wales - Samoa
Monday 26/09 - 07:30am Wales - Namibia
Sunday 02/10 - 06:00am Wales - Fiji

4:30 am for the Wales Vs Samoa game. I appreciate that New Zealand is on the other side of the world, but what planet do the organisers live on?
I'm guessing england got priority over us as they play Georgia on the day at 7:00.
And why the hell did they stick the Namibia game on a Monday at 7:30 when most of us will be on the way to work!!!

Part from the 4:30 one those are not to bad, definitely not as bad as trying to watch the ashes last winter.

That's actually not so bad, and I'll probably only have to book one day off work. The 4:30am one will be a bit painful to get up for though!

I had a look at Wales' fixtures and they are kicking off at;

8.30pm local time
6.00pm local time
3.30pm local time
7.30pm local time

I don't see the problem, unless the problem is you believe that scheduling games to be amenable to your schedule on the other side of the world is more important than having them at times when the people in the nation that is actually hosting the World Cup can go and see them.

Notch wrote:I had a look at Wales' fixtures and they are kicking off at;

8.30pm local time
6.00pm local time
3.30pm local time
7.30pm local time

I don't see the problem, unless the problem is you believe that scheduling games to be amenable to your schedule on the other side of the world is more important than having them at times when the people in the nation that is actually hosting the World Cup can go and see them.

Well said Notch. Getting up at 3am to watch test matches on the other side of the world is a Kiwi tradition. I'll bet the 3.30pm and 6pm games have the best rugby, purely because there'll be less dew in the air

Notch wrote:I had a look at Wales' fixtures and they are kicking off at;

8.30pm local time
6.00pm local time
3.30pm local time
7.30pm local time

I don't see the problem, unless the problem is you believe that scheduling games to be amenable to your schedule on the other side of the world is more important than having them at times when the people in the nation that is actually hosting the World Cup can go and see them.

Local time is New Zealand time though. You need to take into account that New Zealand is on the other side of the world and different sides of the planet face the sun at different times of day.
and most rugby fans will be situated in Britain and france you's think theyd make the times better for us, especially since it will be our tv companies that are putting the most money into the tournament.

AlynDavies wrote:

Notch wrote:I had a look at Wales' fixtures and they are kicking off at;

8.30pm local time
6.00pm local time
3.30pm local time
7.30pm local time

I don't see the problem, unless the problem is you believe that scheduling games to be amenable to your schedule on the other side of the world is more important than having them at times when the people in the nation that is actually hosting the World Cup can go and see them.

Local time is New Zealand time though. You need to take into account that New Zealand is on the other side of the world and different sides of the planet face the sun at different times of day.
and most rugby fans will be situated in Britain and france you's think theyd make the times better for us, especially since it will be our tv companies that are putting the most money into the tournament.

You're getting an 8.30pm kickoff. That's unheard of in NZ. And generally the players would much rather be playing in the afternoon.

I believe the phrase "harden up mate" comes to mind at this point.

AlynDavies wrote:

Notch wrote:I had a look at Wales' fixtures and they are kicking off at;

8.30pm local time
6.00pm local time
3.30pm local time
7.30pm local time

I don't see the problem, unless the problem is you believe that scheduling games to be amenable to your schedule on the other side of the world is more important than having them at times when the people in the nation that is actually hosting the World Cup can go and see them.

Local time is New Zealand time though. You need to take into account that New Zealand is on the other side of the world and different sides of the planet face the sun at different times of day.
and most rugby fans will be situated in Britain and france you's think theyd make the times better for us, especially since it will be our tv companies that are putting the most money into the tournament.

Give over!

I can't believe some of the comments I'm reading here. It's a WORLD cup being hosted by New Zealand, so just like the global tournaments we have over here, the kick off times will be local. It's nothing to do with foreign broadcasters or time. I can't see the London Olympic events being moved around to accommodate other nations, can you?

This is an antipodean conspiracy! All rugby matches that I want to watch should kick off at 2.30pm where ever I happen to be.

This would not have happened in the old days and is another example of the world gone mad.

I will be writing to my MP.

I believe our NI friends have an expression - 'Catch yourself on'

"Local time is New Zealand time though"
"most rugby fans will be situated in Britain and france " - yes, no-one will be turning up to watch games in arguably the most fanatical rugby nation in the world
It's Yin & Yang, they'll be up at all hours in 2015. Apart from the Namibia game, they're all do-able without too much hassle. Make an occasion of it, loads of us have done it in the past

Anyway, what time will I be watching the games ? Oh yeah -

8.30pm - SOUTH AFRICA
3.30pm - SAMOA
7.30pm - NAMIBIA
6:00pm - FIJI

13 weeks and 5 days before we fly out

Kiwiredevil wrote "your getting an 8;30pm KO that's unheard of in NZ"

He then tells us that the players would rather play in the afternoon.

Oh dear. THis is a world cup and surely the games involving NH teams ought to be played at times conducive to the fans who cant get but still want to see. TV pays much more than any fan can.
NH are quite used to KO anytime up to 10pm dew or not, rain or not, snow and hail.
Is this why the AB's are "chokers?"

I've never seen a NH test match kick off past 8pm ospreylian. They've moved that game forward for the fans over here.

Just because we have a big TV market (actually England and France have a big TV market, not so much the Celtic Nations) doesn't mean we deserve any more special treatment when it comes to kick-off times than Australasia is afforded by us.

And what about the fans in Samoa? Should that game not kick off at a time that's good for them? Compromise is the nature of the game lads. This is a GLOBAL event. Kick-off times in England in 2015 will be good for you.

10pm kick-offs? Ouch. Have to admit I haven't seen any starting that late, the fans must be stumbling from the bar to their seats.

The broadcasters do have some input into game times - that's one reason why they NEVER have 2 games on at the same time (that's also why the cricket WC in 2007 was such a dire, drawn out comp).

I suspect they've allocated the times based on likely audience, and they've decided other games on the same days are likely to rate better. Unfortunately for Wales, I suspect ITV have prioritised England games over Welsh ones due to likely audience size, while French and Irish TV also have their say.

Wales v SA gets a good slot, and earlier on that day are Australia vs Italy (0330 - perfect for the Aussie market), Ireland vs USA (0600 - the yanks will still be up the previous evening, and not as big a draw as Wales vs SA)

For Wales vs Samoa , the England vs Georgia and Canada vs France games have been given the better slots, presumably because there's more viewers in England and France.

Wales vs Namibia has been bumped from Sunday to Monday by Fiji vs Samoa (a nice afternoon match for the Islanders which will rate really well downunder), Ireland v Russia, and Argentina vs Scotland gets the "prime" kick-off.

Lastly the Wales vs Fiji game is the curtain raiser to Ireland vs Italy

So in short, Wales game times suffer because of a relatively small audience in NH terms, and perceived "bigger match ups" taking priority.

As a Kiwi I'm used to the relatively small NZ TV audience (slightly bigger than the Welsh one) meaning game get pushed to less sociable times. We get used to either getting up in the wee small hours, or avoid everyone and all media until we can watch the replay.

Game times in GMT

Never seen a 10pm kickoff in my entire life.

Here is a simple answer to the kick off times, record the match when it is played and sleep. Then get up with out listening to the radio of watching a news channel and press play and watch the match when you wake up. That way it may as well be live as nobody has had time to tell you the results. That is what we used to do when i was into wrestling when i was younger, and the yanks made sure it was on at 2 AM over here ;-)

Or the other option is to get up late the day before the match, say awake, and then go to bed straight after the match.

As a world cup is, supposedly, a showpiece of global rugby, then don't the Samoa fans count as much as their NH opponents?

TV revenue, blah, blah... audience figures, yada yada... Don't care.

Lets stop thinking like the bigwigs we all say are killing the sport and start acting like the grass roots fans we profess to be.

greybeard wrote:As a world cup is, supposedly, a showpiece of global rugby, then don't the Samoa fans count as much as their NH opponents?

TV revenue, blah, blah... audience figures, yada yada... Don't care.

Lets stop thinking like the bigwigs we all say are killing the sport and start acting like the grass roots fans we profess to be.

+1

scarletspiderman.

Hit the nail on the head there.

Isn't this what Sky Plus is for?

Only if you insist on sleeping

Getting up early to watch the games is part of it. The wife can have a lie in and I can watch in peace.

Pretty shocking the arrogance of some fans who think that because they have the money the world should revolve around them. And I'm English.

PS I just hope they're not serious

The +1 has arrived! This is a seriously pointless article.Scheduling times are in place to suit the players and the country who organises the WC.Not really for the fans.

HammerofThunor wrote:Getting up early to watch the games is part of it. The wife can have a lie in and I can watch in peace.

Pretty shocking the arrogance of some fans who think that because they have the money the world should revolve around them. And I'm English.

PS I just hope they're not serious

greybeard wrote:As a world cup is, supposedly, a showpiece of global rugby, then don't the Samoa fans count as much as their NH opponents?

TV revenue, blah, blah... audience figures, yada yada... Don't care.

Lets stop thinking like the bigwigs we all say are killing the sport and start acting like the grass roots fans we profess to be.

Who's thinking like a big wig?

Surely if England and France can get decent kick off times. Why cant normal but not "fanatical" Welsh fans enjoy the World Cup to?

10/09 - 07:00am France - Japan
18/09 - 09:30am France - Canada
24/09 - 09:30am New Zealand - France
01/10 - 06:00am France - Tonga

add +1 hour onto these times as France is 1 hour ahead,

10/09 - 09:30am Argentina - England
18/09 - 07:00am England - Georgia
24/09 - 07:00am England - Romania
01/10 - 08:30am England - Scotland

11/09 - 07:00am Ireland - USA
17/09 - 09:30am Australia - Ireland
25/09 - 06:00am Ireland - Russia
02/10 - 08:30am Ireland - Italy

I actually think these obscure times add to the excitement - 4.30 in the morning - fantastic - Monday going to work!!!! We have enough time to plan ahead and take the day off if need be. This has got me excited again after a rather flat season for us welsh -

So on the one hand people are arguing that the kick-off times should be better for the games that NH TV will want to show. Then when France (65 million) England (51 million) and Ireland (6 Million) get better ‘slots’ than us, that’s no good either

What you really want is this then, is it ?
All Wales’ Sunday games rescheduled for sometime between 2pm and 7:30 pm on Saturday, the equivalent (before NZ switches to DST on 25/09) of 1:00 am and 06:30 am on Sunday morning in NZ
The Monday game to be switched to Sunday, again between 2pm and 7:30 pm, so between 1:00 am and 06:30 am on Monday morning in NZ, or would you be happy with Monday evening around 7:30pm – 8:30am on a Tuesday in NZ ?

If this is not what you want, please state what rescheduling you would do. Bear in mind that, currently, no 2 games scheduled for the same kick-off time

Just embrace the difference

PenfroPete wrote:If this is not what you want, please state what rescheduling you would do. Bear in mind that, currently, no 2 games scheduled for the same kick-off time

Is it too late to move all of the matches to Spain?

It is quite hilarious and hypocritical, as Penfro points out, to on one hand complain about games for the Welsh TV market being on at unsociable times due to the fact most of the TV audience comes from Britain and France and to simultaneously complain that England and France (who constitute the vast majority of that audience) get better kick-off times!

Jeez, if only they gave fans from smaller nations the chance to see games at good times. Like Samoa and New Zealand... no, wait that's wrong isn't it?

And also;

AlynDavies wrote:Local time is New Zealand time though. You need to take into account that New Zealand is on the other side of the world and different sides of the planet face the sun at different times of day.

Yes, I had understood that when making my point but thanks all the same for the explanation there Alyn

I'm sure if the World Cup was in Wales you'd have no problem with games kicking off early in the morning or very late at night to accomodate your fellow rugby fans on the other side of the world

Notch wrote:

AlynDavies wrote:Local time is New Zealand time though. You need to take into account that New Zealand is on the other side of the world and different sides of the planet face the sun at different times of day.

Yes, I had understood that when making my point but thanks all the same for the explanation there Alyn

That's what they want you to think. The world is flat.

I am looking forward to the RWC as I have just retired so for once I don't care what time the kick offs are. Wales over the last 3 years have had the worst kick off times in the 6N to suit France i.e., 10 pm local time in France and late the following year in Cardiff for the WRU pocketing the extra revenue at the expense of the travellling supporters. As soon as England play Wales late on a Friday night in Wales the late night games get abandoned, interesting.

[quote="greybeard"]

Notch wrote:That's what they want you to think. The world is flat.

Sky Plus is an absolute must for this. Reckon I can hack 6am in order to watch the 4:30am matches before going to work, but 4:30am is a deal breaker (unless it's Scotland)!

funnyExiledScot wrote:Sky Plus is an absolute must for this. Reckon I can hack 6am in order to watch the 4:30am matches before going to work, but 4:30am is a deal breaker (unless it's Scotland)!

No Scotland play 1 game at 2am!
It seems your even worse thought off than the Welsh

10/09 - 02:00am Scotland - Romania

I'm going to be watching all the home nation games live whenever they're on. The dodgy ones will be the 7:30am kickoff although there's always the option of flexing the time

RubyGuby wrote:I actually think these obscure times add to the excitement - 4.30 in the morning - fantastic - Monday going to work!!!! We have enough time to plan ahead and take the day off if need be. This has got me excited again after a rather flat season for us welsh -

For what it's worth the last time I stayed up till 4:30 to listen to Wales play Samoa on the radio in 1994, Wales lost 34-9

When I was growing up I used to love getting up/staying up late to watch AB tests in the NH. The 3amish kick off just made it all that much more exciting.
Any real rugby fan would be happy to do that.

I’ll be up for every Ireland match regardless of the time (although they are all very doable) but the other home nations can whistle if they think I’m getting out of bed. Sky+ will be my best mate for those few weeks!

Still and all, the tournament is in NZ, get ta phook over it!

Kiwireddevil wrote:

Getting up at 3am to watch test matches on the other side of the world is a Kiwi tradition.

It used to be the case here too, Kiwi, and I miss it. I remember my dad waking me up to watch the Lions series in Australia in 1989. It's a shame those days are gone - I quite liked watching matches in Australia and New Zealand played in daylight!

I will be on holiday in Greece for the first game so it will be on about 11:30 greek time i think?

Much easier than that 4:30am one when i am back home.

May have to go out saturday night and make the merriment continue into the morning and stay up for the game.