http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/155913.html Top clubs ponder switch to summer season Leading English and French clubs are reportedly considering a switch to a summer-based season to limit the disruption caused by international call-ups. A radical plan to switch to a season starting in March and ending in November was debated by top clubs from the Aviva Premiership and the Orange Top 14 in the wake of this year's Rugby World Cup that saw sides stripped of their best players for the first two months of the domestic campaign. "It was an idea which received support," a Premiership club chairman told the Sunday Telegraph. "The clubs stated that they never wanted to play important domestic fixtures during a World Cup again because, without their star performers, it was too damaging in terms of results and attendances. Some went further than that and included the Six Nations as a concern. Summer rugby was seen as a possible solution to the problem." Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty confirmed to the newspaper that it has been on the table for some time. "We have talked about this at board level as part of the normal planning process," he said. "It opens up the possibility of the better weather, a different type of rugby and the ability to expand the crowds. But we need everybody to participate in the debate because you've got the June internationals and Lions tours which occur in that period. So it's not a solution we can implement by ourselves. These things do take several years in their gestation, but there will come a point when an opportunity presents itself and you've got to be ready for that." The idea is not a new one and along with recent reports of a proposed club world championship and an extension of the Heineken Cup, reflects frustration among the major clubs about the current financial model. "We do get anxious at the pace of change on a variety of fronts," said McCafferty. "We want to see the Heineken Cup become bigger and better and sometimes we feel the pace of change is too slow. We'd like to expand it with a world club championship, but as a complementary element, not as a replacement." "There is an appetite for such a clash," McCafferty added. "There's no doubt about that. It's just a question of juggling the calendar to make it work. We see it as a gap in rugby's sporting portfolio if you like. You've got European rugby, Super rugby [in the southern hemisphere] and international rugby, but there is no matchup between the best club and provincial teams in the world."