This year’s Six Nations is getting the Netflix treatment, but not everyone is relishing it

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This year’s Six Nations will be the subject of a Netflix series warts and all, with behind-the-scenes cameras following the teams and capturing all the drama.

For some, this is seen as a vital step to showcase the sport beyond its traditional market, to bring it to a broader, younger audience in hopes of growing it.

But Wales head coach Warren Gatland and others have already raised concerns about the trespassing. Sportsmail raised the issue with rugby columnists Sir Clive Woodward and Danny Cipriani… and they had very different views.

Sir Clive Woodward: As a fan, I think Netflix’s involvement is fantastic. But for players and coaches trying to win games, it’s crossing the line into territory where they shouldn’t be.

I promise you, if I was involved, I wouldn’t allow it. They tried to do that with me, with England, and I said no.

Sir Clive Woodward (L) and Danny Cipriani gave their take on Netflix and the Six Nations

Sir Clive Woodward (L) and Danny Cipriani gave their take on Netflix and the Six Nations

I had to say, ‘This is a deal breaker for me. You can get a new trainer. I’m not going to have a TV camera at team meetings, where things are said and things happen that I’m not going to look back on and be totally proud of.’

We are not here to make movies, we are here to win rugby matches. If you want to be in the movies, go to Hollywood, but if you want to coach a rugby team, keep doing it.

The game has to be very, very careful. I’ve seen other sports do it and I can see why. People say that we have to sell the game better and I accept that. But at the top level, if you’re a head coach and you’re paid to win, it’s an environment that’s not perfect, let’s say. Sometimes things are said that you might remember and regret. And you don’t want players to start thinking they’re playing with the camera. That will pass.

This year's tournament will be the theme of a series of warts and everything called Maul or Nothing.

This year’s tournament will be the theme of a series of warts and everything called Maul or Nothing.

I feel sorry for the trainers, because I know I wouldn’t allow it. If I had to, I would feel very uncomfortable. I would say to anyone, ‘Do you want a TV camera in your office 24/7? You wouldn’t like it’.

I haven’t seen too many good fly-on-the-wall documentaries. Living with the Lions in 1997 was the exception, but they got away with it because they won. Had they lost those test matches, those managers and players would have been portrayed in different ways.

So the game has to be careful. There is so much negativity in rugby at the moment, and I just don’t want any more negative things to come out of this Netflix series, but that could happen.

Danny Cipriani: I think otherwise. If I were a coach and Netflix came in, it’s going to filter out the nonsense, because the amount of clichés and nonsense being said in the locker room, or by the coaches, is phenomenal. He continued to go down that path for so long, because no one can correct him. No one can address it.

Eddie Jones got away with saying everything he had to say for so long. Do you think that if he had been a football or basketball coach he would have continued? He would never have done it.

If I were a trainer and they were filming me, I wouldn’t have a problem. It’s going to be the best thing for rugby, because managers who get away with talking a certain way to players won’t be able to do it. It will lighten up the game and create more fan engagement – ​​people watching the game more.

Our sport, unfortunately, has been in decline for the last 10-15 years. Something has to change. Something has to break. For me, it’s the perfect time for this to happen. It can be difficult and challenging, but by doing this, we’re going to end up creating a game changer, for a positive reason.

Look at the characters inside basketball, the NFL, in American sports where they’ve been doing this the longest, letting the cameras into their locker rooms. You see authenticity in all the interviews. They’re not trying to say something to sound cool or control the message, they’re just being themselves and by doing so the players on the field are themselves too.

That’s a scary thought for a coach because he wants control; they want players to deliver their message. But guys like Pep Guardiola and Steve Kerr (head coach of the Golden State Warriors NBA team) recognize what it takes and let their players do what they do, within the framework of how they view the game. Having these behind-the-scenes cameras will make more people tackle it the way they do.

Woodwards: I’m not so sure. I think players will start acting like movie stars. They will be playing for the cameras. If you’re Warren Gatland or Steve Borthwick, you get paid to win a rugby game, not to make a movie.

Cipriani: But how do they get the money, Clive?

Woodwards: Are we really saying that they need Netflix to pay the trainers? I just think this leaves people open to saying things under a lot of pressure that should be behind closed doors. He’s taking the mystique out of the game and the locker room environment, which is a very dangerous way to go. Why don’t we film every Cabinet meeting or every meeting with the Prime Minister?

Cipriani: Because people don’t pay to see that on TV on Saturdays.

Woodward: You need privacy and space to say what you want to say and make decisions. I have said things behind the scenes that I am not proud of and would not want to be seen or heard.

Cipriani: I am the same, but it is part of the growth of the sport. We want authenticity and that’s good, bad, ugly, cussing, everything. We cannot avoid the emotion of the game. If we keep trying to control it, the game is going to sit still with a roof above us.

My feeling is: let’s see it all. Let’s see what it looks like. Then it will filter out the nonsense and show people the game you love, the game I love, and the amazing characters and emotion that are in it. I’m not afraid of that, I have faith and enthusiasm that it’s going to be great.

Woodwards: As a fan, it’s fantastic. As a coach, I hate it.

Cipriani: I just love it!

Maul or nothing: Netflix will follow the six teams