Rugby Championship and Six Nations organisers reveal plans for new global tournament

July 2, 2023

A biennial competition featuring all 10 teams from the Six Nations and Rugby Championship is set to start in 2026.

A joint statement from SANZAAR and the organisers of the Northern Hemisphere's Six Nations has advised that the new competition will be played in the existing July and November Test windows in alternate years, outside of British and Irish Lions tours and the Rugby World Cup.

Organisers say the move will "drive growth and long-term sustainability".

The tournament will feature England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy from the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Argentina - collectively known as Sanzaar.

Two more unions will be invited to join - likely to be Japan and Fiji - with plans to introduce promotion and relegation from 2030 via a second-tier competition run by World Rugby.

Six Nations and Sanzaar organisers said there would be a "transparent selection process" to choose two more teams from the southern hemisphere to ensure there are six from each.

Although no format has been confirmed, reports suggest teams from the north would travel south for three Tests in July and then host three games in November.

The Six Nations would remain in its current February-March position on the calendar and the Rugby Championship would still be played in August-September.

The statement from SANZAAR and Six Nations advised "the creation of the new competition has been a collective process from the sport, including World Rugby, unions, key leagues, competitions, and crucially, the International Rugby Players (IRP).

"Establishing the two competitions will pave the way for promotion and relegation matches, contributing towards a valuable pathway for teams, and will support ambitions to sustain and grow the global game.

"The impact this will have on the game will be to drive its growth and long-term sustainability.

"This runs alongside the work being done to add greater clarity and balance to the club and international calendar; a process Six Nations Rugby and Sanzaar remain committed to help deliver."

Rugby union leaders met in London this week, when it was announced that a decision would be made on the sport's future global calendar by the World Rugby Council in October.

Representatives from World Rugby, the British and Irish Lions, the Six Nations, and the Rugby Championship, along with stakeholders from IRP, the unions and professional leagues all attended.

The IRP tweeted its views on the talks, commenting "any global season must have opportunities for emerging nations and must put player welfare first and foremost."

The players' body has also called on World Rugby to standardise player rest periods and introduce a maximum match quota for all players worldwide.

Popular YouTube rugby analyst, Robbie Owen, aka Squidge Rugby, was quick to criticise the competition due to its negative impact on Tier 2 teams.

He tweeted "this decision will mean Georgia, who just beat Italy and Wales, won’t play a T1 team for at least four years. It would make sure a team coming out of nowhere like Chile never happens again. This is rugby cashing in the growing nations to make a few quid for the old dogs.

“The way World Rugby’s governance works right now, if 8 of the 6N/TRC countries backed a motion to carpetbomb every rugby pitch in every T2 nation, there’s nothing the other 97 member unions could do to stop it. The entire system is set up to protect interests, not grow the game.”

Image: The Wallabies take on England at London's Twickenham in November 2018. Credit: Shutterstock.

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