Rugby Australia backs World Rugby’s plan for global league
Australia has agreed to support World Rugby’s radical plan to create a global 12-team league that will change the sport’s landscape and boost the cash-starved game’s finances.
Australia has formally agreed to support World Rugby’s radical plan to create a new global 12-team league that will forever change the sport’s international sporting landscape and deliver massive financial bonuses to the cash-starved game.
The final decision on whether the new league will go ahead, and exactly how it will function, still has to be agreed on but is getting ever closer to reality after Rugby Australia voted to back the proposal at a board meeting in Sydney on Monday.
Described as the biggest development in rugby since the game turned professional after the 1995 World Cup, the top six teams from the northern and southern hemispheres will play each other once a year with the top four going into a playoff system to decide an annual champion.
It would spell the end of three-match series’, except the once-every-four years for the British and Irish Lions tours, but would result in every international match counting for something, with Japan and Fiji joining an expanded Rugby Championship and three Six Nations teams visiting Australia each year, while the Wallabies would play the rest on their annual Spring Tour to the northern hemisphere.
Some European countries are still hesitant about some aspects of the competition, particularly the proposal to include promotion and relegation, but with Australia formally backing the move, other southern hemisphere countries are expected to follow suit.
World Rugby revealed its latest update on the plans in Los Angeles last month and will present another update in Dublin in March, a week after SANZAAR meets in London to negotiate its broadcast deal for 2021-25.
The SANZAAR discussions will include talks about what to with Super Rugby following widespread dissatisfaction with the current conference system and dwindling crowds.
The expectation is that with Japan joining the new global league, the Sunwolves will be booted out of Super Rugby so the competition can return to a round-robin format.
RA also confirmed that it will announce a new independent selector for the Wallabies within the next few days as part of its overhaul of the national coaching set-up.
RA’s decision last year to retain Michael Cheika as head coach for the World Cup came with the proviso that he’ll have to answer to his new boss Scott Johnson, who will fill the new role as director of rugby, while a third person will be appointed as selector.
The Daily Telegraph understands that a shortlist of possible candidates has already been interviewed and an announcement on who has the job will be made within days.
However, the decision on who will replace recently sacked Steve Larkham as Wallaby attack coach won’t be made for about another month until Johnson finishes his current commitments with Scotland and joins Cheika in Australia.