Organisers now have to sell half a million tickets for six fixtures in which it will not be clear who is playing until six days before kick-off. England found themselves flying 25,000 miles to play three fixtures in three weeks on three different continents.
Some 121 years later, if you ever want to start an argument, you can walk into the backroom of any Welsh rugby pub and tell the first old boy at the bar that of course Deans scored.
After all that time they have ended up with a competition that brings to mind the old line about a camel being a horse designed by committee.
God knows the game needs the money, but you have to ask if the organisers needed to give away so much of what people love about the sport to get it.
The Nations Championship has been designed with commercial returns in mind, a tournament that seems to have been made almost entirely for television.
Spectator experience has not been a priority. The format appears designed to deter travelling fans and to risk gate revenue.
It is a tournament designed to provide a context that was apparently lacking in that legendary match between Wales and New Zealand.
Player welfare does not appear to have played much of a part in anyone’s thinking either.