World League start ‘hard to call’
SYDNEY: Sanzaar chief executive Andy Marinos is uncertain about if and when World Rugby will roll out an annual World League.
Chief executives from the game’s top nations met in Los Angeles last week to discuss the possibility of introducing a yearly competition that would pit the winners of the Rugby Championship against the Six Nations champions.
Under proposals being considered, the newly created tournament would involve test matches being awarded points and the winner of the northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere divisions competing in an endofseason finale.
The new competition is pencilled in to start by 2022 at the latest, but when asked how soon fans would see it, Marinos was noncommittal.
‘‘It’s pretty hard to call right now. Everyone’s market is in different state of renewal or reorganisation,’’ he said.
‘‘There’s a fair bit of conversation to have with the national unions to discuss what is best for both hemispheres going forward.
‘‘The narrative of the World League is really good. You’ve got to get more meaning into the June and November international windows because at the moment they’re just a series of test matches for world rankings.
‘‘It makes a lot of sense. The whole challenge is how we integrate that into current cycle and season structures and what format that will take.’’
Regardless of if, and when, the World League is introduced, Marinos revealed Sanzaar’s four members, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina, were considering making changes to the Rugby Championship.
Since Argentina’s introduction in 2012 — and with the exception of World Cup years — the tournament has involved the Pumas, Springboks, All Blacks and Wallabies facing each other home and away.
Marinos said the unions were willing to alter and expand the existing competition to increase revenue.
‘‘I think there’s an openmindedness from Sanzaar and its unions around the Rugby Championship,’’ he said.
‘‘The current format has been set since Argentina came in, and we are looking at that and what those potential new markets are.’’ — AAP