£5bn lure offered by World Rugby

● Governing body says it has record deal in place for proposed new tournament

with sports marketing company Infront, World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont admitted resistance remains.

“We are encouraged that the format revisions and robust financial model has been well-received,” said Beaumont. “Everyone, not just the established teams, will benefit, accelerating the development and competitiveness of the global game. However, as you would expect in an ambitious, complex and multi-stakeholder project, not everyone is in full agreement on the way forward, including the matter of promotion and relegation, but we will continue to engage and consult.”

Six Nations bosses are opposed to the idea of promotion and relegation, that underpins the Nations Championship concept.

World Rugby wants to launch a new cross-hemisphere contest in 2022, where the winners of the Six Nations will face off with the top team from an expanded, six-team Rugby Championship.

Leading players have criticised World Rugby’s lack of engagement over the entire issue. Top players had preempted the meeting by demanding a seat on World Rugby’s executive committee.

World Rugby describes its proposed new tournament as “a game-changing competition model that delivers a true pathway for all unions through a three-division formatandasystemofpromotion and relegation”. It added in a statement: “The proposed format would be underpinned by a record commercial partnership with leading global sports marketing company Infront, guaranteeing almost £5bn for investment in the sport over an initial 12-year period (of which more than £1.5bn is guaranteed incremental revenue for the world game).

Scotland coach Gregor Townsend reacted to the meeting by saying: “I know there are discussions going on today and we don’t know what will happen. The one positive is that it sounds like there is a lot of excitement about the future of our game. Competing organisations and businesses are looking to invest in the international game which should have a knock-on effect of keeping our game healthy and moving forward.”