MINI WORLD CUP COMES CLOSER
World Rugby is pressing ahead with plans to make the June and November test windows more competitive.
An idea has been hatched to create a more meaningful format that would see the top 12 nations in the world play in what would effectively be a mini World Cup.
Teams will be split into four pools of three, with a play-off format to raise the commercial value of the competition from 2020.
“We’ve agreed the concept has enough promise to keep going,” New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew said.
“We’ve always said we’d like the calendar to be better utilised in terms of value, and, so, if there is a concept we think can work, and it does increase value for everybody and ticks some other important boxes like bringing tier two countries into the mix more often, then we’re supportive of that.
“At this stage it looks like it can do that but there’s still work to do.”