Sky’s Tony Johnson does not have much faith World Rugby will find find a way to get everyone to agree on its World League proposal.
TONY JOHNSON IS A COMMENTATOR AND PRESENTER FOR SKY TV’S RUGBY COVERAGE IN NEW ZEALAND.
LATE LAST YEAR, I SUGGESTED THAT Gus Pichot’s grand plan for a Global Rugby Series was exciting, worth considering, and probably unworkable.
The concept has certainly gained traction since then to the point where dotted lines were very close to being signed, before some alarming details were strategically leaked and everyone either took a step back, a side step, or stepped forward and cried foul.
The format widely circulated in late February was not what I imagine the majority of us were hoping for.
Instead of a two tier, truly global league, with promotion-relegation and greater opportunities for the smaller nations, we were being told of an exclusive 12 nation league based on money, power and influence, leaving the rest shut out in the cold.
Guarded enthusiasm gave way to hostile opposition.
First to lash out were the Players, claiming furiously to being left out of the loop, and at the prospect of having to play up to five full on tests in consecutive weeks, raising the possibility of, as Kieran Read more or less put it, exhausted players producing second rate test rugby.
The ‘smaller’ nations were up in arms at being shut out for a 12-year period that they feared could kill the game in their countries.
And the TV bosses around the world who currently bankroll much of the game, were on extreme edge at the talk of one mogul stumping up the requisite billions in exchange for total control of the broadcasting rights and pushing hard for an immediate, all-controlling pay to view deal before anyone else could throw their wedge into the ring.
But the biggest concerns were over the exclusive nature of the 12 team concept. It’s probable that the group with the money was happy that the chosen dozen included all of the current Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams, the financial potential of Japan ,and the so called ‘sleeping giant’, USA.
You could justify Japan as the 11th ranked nation, but presumably to accommodate Uncle Sam, currently a distant 15th, and that ambition-free zone known as Italy, ranked 14th , Fiji (9th) and Georgia(12th) would have to go fly a kite.
Suddenly World Rugby found itself fighting a war on several fronts, with even Pichot expressing his disappointment over the way some of the bigger nations had flexed their muscles and his doubt that his dream project would be up and running by next year
The governing body was forced into ‘clarification mode’ releasing a statement pretty much realising Pichot’s fear by talking of the new league not kicking in before 2022.
Even that may not be enough time to resolve a couple of major sticking points that could become stuck in the mud points, never to move.
The Six Nations would have been happy that while Championship points would go towards the Global league, the Six Nations would be undiminished in importance. They would have loved the talk of the play-offs being staged in big money European arenas.
There were understandable concerns over the impact on the British and Irish Lions, and as always, predictable barbs from self-important rugby writers that this was all probably some sort of grubby plan hatched up South of the Equator, and therefore to be treated with utmost suspicion.
But the condition they muscled up on was that there be no relegation. They will fight that tooth and nail, Italy and Scotland especially, as the ones with the most to fear. So, is it really workable? Well, New Zealand Rugby will be hoping so, and so will many of the fans.
The concept in theory is appealing, not just because it could really fire up the international scene, but because of the money it could generate to the benefit the global game, not just the big fish, and for the financial ammunition it could provide in the war against the oligarchs of European club rugby.
But there are so many hurdles to jump before it can ever become a reality, and the intransigence over issues such as relegation, and who gets an invite threatens to derail the concept altogether, or at the very least turn it into a lopsided compromise where everyone gives ground but the Six Nations.
The players need to be listened to. American pro sports have been brought to a standstill by player action in the past, and while no such threats have been made in rugby, it would be unwise to dismiss it as a possibility.
Right now there are impasses, and not many obvious answers.
One way of resolving the player welfare issue would be to trim the competition to a 10 team top league, not 12, reducing the number of games, but with the Six Nations taking a non-negotiable all for one approach, the only way for that to work would be for the premier division to consist only of the current Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams. A six-four split, meaning more games played in the Northern Hemisphere than the South.
It is heartening to know there are plans for a second tier, a must if rugby is to be true to itself. Ideally, the winners of a second tier league would challenge for a place at the top table each year, but again, the Six Nations will almost certainly refuse to expose one of their weaker members to the mere possibility of relegation, given their generation old fear of the ‘developing’ countries.
And look, put yourself in their place. They don’t need this like we think we do.
The Six Nations is not broken, it is a fantastic success every year, no matter what you might think of the style of rugby. It is fiercely fought in front of passionate fans who don’t have to travel far for any match, and it makes zillions.
And even if the national unions can reach agreement, then there would then be the prospect of an all-in cage fight with the clubs, in particular the French ones, some of whom appear to be a mission to destroy international rugby altogether.
If this global league is going to get off the ground, any ground to be given will have to be given by the usual suspects...the ones producing the bulk of the talent, the ones always fighting for the cash to keep it.
The next couple of years are going to tell us who really is running the game.