THE Rugby Football Union is standing by its proposal to reduce the length of the Six Nations from seven to six weeks despite facing widespread opposition to their plans.
The union is keen to remove one of the tournament's two fallow weeks in an effort to create space in the calendar for the new global season which takes effect after the 2019 World Cup.
Scotland full-back Stuart Hogg has voiced his concerns while England pair Joe Marler and George Ford have both been critical over the plans to condense the calendar – with the former describing it as "ridiculous".
Truncating the tournament would generate greater momentum, but scrapping the two current rest weeks could also be seen to favour England and France because of their bigger playing pools and greater financial might.
And although RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie admits the controversial proposal is not fixed, they are still lobbying for its implementation in three years.
"No, it is not set in stone and it is still under discussion within the Six Nations," Ritchie said on Friday. "The Six Nations need to have some further debate and discussion about that.
"It is an interesting balance between economics in one respect, player welfare in another, and how does that then balance it out? You need to have a look at the total picture.
"The seven-to-six situation is something that we were supportive of and believe it is a decent thing to do. And while we don't think it is that impactful in terms of player welfare, I can understand the concerns from the other nations."
Ritchie, meanwhile, praised England head coach Eddie Jones' decision to name 15 uncapped players in his squad which tours Argentina in June.
The highly-successful Under-20 production line has been raided in picking the debutants, but it is the senior players overlooked by the British and Irish Lions - despite Warren Gatland naming 16 Englishmen in his touring party - who will form the core of the starting XV.
Jones had indicated he would rest some of his established names but instead the likes of Chris Robshaw, Mike Brown, James Haskell and Ford will be present to face the Pumas.
"I am very pleased for the 16 English guys on the Lions tour, but is very difficult for those who don't get selected, " Ritchie added.
"Eddie had some innovative and different thoughts for the Argentina tour. I think it is right that he should be bold for Argentina because it is a good opportunity to look at people in that area."
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