Kiss: We have to protect league rugby

LONDON Irish head coach Les Kiss says World Rugby must not sacrifice league rugby on the altar of a global season.

World Rugby powerbrokers will tomorrow meet to discuss far-reaching proposals aimed at aligning the northern and southern hemispheres.

Ground-breaking options include shifting the Six Nations from its February/March

slot, bringing the Rugby Championship forward and creating a new October/November Test window to facilitate a Nations Cup, with club rugby in the north adopting a largely summer season.

Kiss, right, who formerly coached Ireland and Ulster after learning his trade in Australia, would welcome global alignment but insists it must not come at a cost of wrecking league structures in the north.

Kiss said: “There are a lot of plusses about a global season for both hemispheres but Covid-19 has thrown a big spanner in the works and to travel overseas at this moment, or for the foreseeable future, is going to be the biggest challenge.

“We’ve got to do things that keep the domestic leagues strong because if World Rugby change the calendar too quickly and the leagues can’t keep a good progression going, the knock-on effect could be detrimental to Test rugby as well. “Leagues like the Premiership, PRO14 and Top 14 must stay in a strong place because if we can’t travel a lot, it will be hard to keep international competitions going over the next 12 months, maybe two or three years even, so we cannot afford to destroy domestic competitions.

“The focus has to be on how we keep domestic leagues strong and continue putting things in place to support the international game.

“We have to be responsible and sustainable and it’s going to be important to do it from the ground up.

“I know Test rugby makes a lot of money, but if you forget what’s underneath it will be costly.”