WORLD PLAN TO LIFT RUGBY
WORLD Rugby has settled on a preferred option for a proposed new league of nations that will dramatically reshape the international game and deliver massive financial bonuses to the Wallabies.
While the proposal is still in its early stages and has to undergo a feasibility study before being ap- proved, the Townsville Bulletin can reveal that the sport’s leading nations have at least reached consensus on the preferred model to explore.
Under the proposal, the top 12 nations will play each other once a year with the top four going into a playoff system to decide an annual champion.
“The premise is we need to generate more money for the international game and the more meaningful those games are, the more likely they are to generate broadcast revenue so we’re doing an exercise in the viability of a broadcast uplift in those fixtures,” World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper said.
“It’s not just Australia, everyone can do with more revenue.”
Under the preferred format, the top six teams from the northern and southern hemispheres would have to play each other each year.
The Rugby Championship and the Six Nations would both double for the league while the crossover matches would take place in the July and November windows.
It would possibly mean the end of three- match tours.
Although the details are still to be worked out, the most likely starting date for the new competition would be 2020.