Beaumont remains keen on new global tournament

There could be two consecutive months of international action under plans for a new global tournament, newly re-elected World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont has revealed.

Beaumont is keen to resurrect plans for an annual competition, which were dropped last year, but stressed the Guinness Six Nations would not be expected to change dates or format.

The former England captain’s challenger and former vicechairman, Agustin Pichot, was the key driver of the Nations Championship idea but Beaumont has promised to carry it on.

Outside the Six Nations and the southern hemisphere’s four-team Rugby Championship, a 2017 agreement ensures dates in July and November are set aside for internationals.

Beaumont, who was handed a second four-year term on Saturday, said: “I think there could well be an appetite for putting the two windows together. It could be north going south in one month and then immediately afterwards the south would come north the next month.

“But bear in mind we have to take all stakeholders with us. You have to take the club game and European game with us.”

Beaumont revealed “embryonic” talks had begun with representatives from both hemispheres as well as the International Rugby Players union.

“What we will try to do is bring in a new competition that keeps the Six Nations a stand-alone competition but there could well be an instance that in the Nations Cup, maybe not all the Six Nations teams are playing at the top level,” he said.

“Sitting below that you could have a subsidiary competition featuring emerging nations and you could well have promotion and relegation. We have to find funding that will enable this emerging nations tournament to take place.”

Beaumont revealed an independent governance review would be chaired by British Olympic Association chairman and former sports minister Sir Hugh Robertson, with one of the issues being proposals to alter international eligibility rules.

“It would allow players who might have played in a sevens tournament, or might have played an odd game for a tier-one nation, to go back,” he said.