THE FUTURE OF the proposed Nations Championship remains unclear as World Rugby gathers for its council meetings in Dublin on Wednesday.
Rugby’s governing body will lead further discussions about the proposed competition, which it hopes will launch in 2022.
World Rugby’s proposal is that the annual global Nations Championship would involve promotion and relegation, but that has proved to be a major stumbling block in reaching an agreement with all of the leading unions.
It is not expected that a consensus will be reached this week in Dublin, adding to the sense in some quarters that the proposal is doomed, but World Rugby is still hopeful that the Nations Championship will see the light of day.
“The Nations Championship is pretty central in the discussions,” said World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper yesterday at the launch of the #TryAndStopUs campaign for women’s rugby.
“There are still some gaps between consensus so we’re going to try and close them over the next few days, or move on one way or another.
“We will see how the conversations go. I don’t want to predict either way really, it really is hard to predict.”
World Rugby has proposed that the 12-team Nations Championship would include all Six Nations and Rugby Championship countries, as well as Japan and Fiji, in an annual global championship.
Six Nations and Rugby Championship results would be part of the Nations Championship, with the remainder of the games being played in the July and November Test windows, culminating in a global winner being crowned in a final each year.
The proposal was that a second-tier competition would also take place, with a promotion/relegation play-off each year.
It’s understood that Ireland is one of the nations against relegation, and Gosper has previously urged ‘tier one’ countries to be open-minded.
World Rugby has promised the unions that the Nations Championship would generate £5 billion over 12 years, having lined up Swiss company Infront Sports and Media as their commercial partner for the proposed championship.
However, it is still unclear whether or not the Nations Championship concept will come to fruition as Gosper admitted this week’s Dublin meetings are huge for the sport of rugby.
“I think there are some big decisions to make,” said Gosper. “We hope that what we’re proposing is what’s decided. Whatever goes forward, there’s going to be change.
“This debate and this conversation has been interesting for the sport.”
Gosper also said there is a possibility that there could also be a women’s Nations Championship in the future.
“We’re looking at that,” said Gosper. “The proposition we’re making does set aside money for a women’s competition. This will create a possibility of a 10 or 12-team competition across the world. That’s very much in our objectives.”
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He’s not as disappointed as some on relation to how far off they are? They are miles off. No offence to Munster but they are an average,though very gutsy and committed side,and they have hammers Leinster twice in a row now. I do agree that they haven’t had any continuity with combinations,especially from 9-13,and hopefully when the likes of OBrien, Healy, Moore, Teo, McFadden etc come back then there will be a big improvement.
I must take the opportunity to praise Matt O’Connor for the huge improvement in Guinness Pro12 teams. Ever since he arrived at Leinster, every other team has greatly improved. Teams, that two years ago were almost brushed aside by Leinster, have now reached the heights that Leinster once inhabited alone.
Treviso have improved, Munster have improved, Edinburgh have improved, Scarlets have improved, Dragons have improved, Zebra have improved, Connacht (brilliant tonight, by the way) have improved..
In fact, they have all improved so much that Leinster has great difficulty taking on any of them.
By extension, Wasps and Harlequins have shown just how brilliant they are too due to you Matt.
I can hardly wait to see how much Castres get better when they arrive at the RDS soon. They will build statues in your image all over the town.
Matt, you have done European rugby a great service. They have all reached and surpassed Leinster this season thanks to your input at Leinster and everywhere else.
Thank you Matt and Happy New year!.
(and also to Mr Caputo, the news paper seller. Your influence on all other teams has been exceptional)