NEW WORLD CUP CONTEST FOR REGIONS?
Wales’ four regions could soon be given the chance to play in a brilliant new competition which would see them compete with the best teams in the world.
The revolutionary World Champions Cup tournament could get off the ground as soon as two years’ time amid plans for a global rugby calendar.
It would see Cardiff Blues, the Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons have the carrot dangled of mixing it with the elite of the southern hemisphere, including crack teams like the Crusaders, Warren Gatland’s Chiefs, Australia’s top side the Brumbies and South Africa’s leading team the Bulls.
Bosses from the English Premiership, Guinness PRO14 and the French League are said to be driving the project, which was presented in the shape of a 40-page proposal to World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont on Monday. Beaumont chaired a Zoom meeting of rugby powerbrokers on Monday to discuss the planned global calendar, with clubs also putting their viewpoint across.
The meeting broke up without agreement, with clubs loath to give up their traditional September to June playing period by switching to summer rugby instead.
But there was a consensus from everyone involved for the need to compromise and the clubs appear to be using the World Champions Cup as one of their bargaining tools.
According to reports the competition would feature the best 16 teams in the world and take place every four years, ensuring there is no clash with either the Rugby World Cup or a Lions tour.
Ex-England star Simon Halliday, chairman of European Professional Club Rugby, reckons that makes 2022 or 2024 the most likely launch date. European representation, it seems, would come from teams topping their Heineken Champions Cup pools. The world competition would replace the knockout stages of the Champions Cup every fourth year.
Of course, the Welsh regions would need to be in the top-tier European event and head their groups to have any chance of being involved, which some will argue is unlikely as things stand.
But it would give the Blues, Ospreys, Scarlets and Dragons something extra to aim for, with the format of the Heineken Cup still open to debate post-the coronavirus pandemic. The Scarlets reached the Champions Cup semi-finals as recently as 2018, showing that Welsh regions could still compete, despite the financial challenges. There used to be 24 teams split into six groups of four. That was reduced to 20 sides in five groups. However, there is talk again of a 24-team competition based around eight groups of three.
According to the Mail, Halliday has been instructed by clubs to act on their behalf and told the paper: “The clubs are very united in terms of how we see things moving in the medium-term – and the World Champions Cup is a fundamental piece of it.
‘The clubs are the driving force behind this. It’s driven bottom-up by the three leagues. It would take over from the latter part of the Heineken Champions Cup.
“When we have an impression of what a good format will look like, we will engage with the southern hemisphere. We have total clarity in our minds that it’s what we’re going to do.
“You’ve got a Lions tour in 2021 and a World Cup in 2023, so it won’t be either of those years. The first years it could be are 2022 or 2024.
“We’re trying to do things quicker because of the crisis. We need to excite the fans and generate revenue, but nothing can be done in isolation.”
As part of the global calendar changes, World Rugby boss Beaumont wants to see a 10-team Test tournament taking place in October and November.
Halliday said: “There is an attempt to revolutionise the calendar and there could be two great new tournaments – club and country – that could bring in millions of pounds of revenue.”
Hopes of a swift agreement to the new global season were dashed on Monday, however, with unions and clubs unable to even reach agreement over the completion of this season’s outstanding international matches, including Wales’ games.