‘Virus Cup’ concept faces quick lockdown
Just like that, Francis Baron’s grand plan to save rugby by gathering the world’s leading 16 nations in the UK and Ireland next year appears dead in the water.
Baron unveiled his vision for a sort of elitist mini-world cup in the UK and Ireland next year via British media, with his hardly groundbreaking concept said to be logged with World Rugby and his former organisation, England’s Rugby Football Union.
The former RFU chief executive wanted the world’s top 16 nations to gather by invitation in the north next summer (June/July) to play out a 31-match tournament over six weeks. He mooted that all proceeds go directly to the competing nations and forecast a haul of close to $500 million.
The event was rather quaintly given the working title of the Coronavirus Cup of World Rugby.
But World Rugby has acted swiftly, and unsurprisingly, to shoot down the concept in what would appear to be a fatal blow to its prospects.
‘‘World Rugby does not intend to pursue such a proposal,’’ the international body said via a statement. ‘‘All stakeholders continue to progress productive discussions regarding the immediate global Covid-19 financial relief strategy and international rugby calendar optimisation, both of which will further the success of Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.’’
The emphatic and speedy response by a global organisation hardly noted for its fleetness of foot should not come as a surprise.
For starters, Baron’s proposed tournament threatened to seriously undermine the sport’s flagship event, the quadrennial World Cup, from which the global body derives the vast majority of its income.
Plus, Baron’s proposal would have forced the postponement of next year’s British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa until 2022, which while possibly workable, would not be anyone’s preference.
Baron’s proposal, though, is not without some merit, and certainly this type of outside-the-box thinking has its place as the sport looks to rebuild following the crushing financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent sporting shutdown.
Rugby needs to find both a workable international calendar and muchneeded revenue for major unions seeking to prop up professional competitions in the wake of the pandemic. Replicating the World Cup is clearly not the answer. But the multimillion-dollar question remains: what is?