World Rugby needs to overcome hurdles to lock in global league

Three of the 12 top rugby nations remain hesitant to sign the World Nations Championship proposal, with quibbles over promotion & relegation among the chief reasons for the delay.

HONG KONG, HONG KONG - APRIL 05: Sione Molia of New Zealand passes the ball away on day one of the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens at the Hong Kong Stadium on April 05, 2019 in Hong Kong. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

Rugby powerbrokers were locked in deep discussions about the proposal global league in Dublin overnight, but officials are willing to extend the deadline to the end of next week to get unanimous support.

World Rugby had hoped to get the proposal approved on Friday night (AEST), however it’s understood Ireland, Scotland and Italy still remain opposed to the idea because of the promotion-relegation aspect of the 12-nation tournament.

But given the huge benefits rugby would reap from the proposed World Nations Championship, officials believe extending the deadline to bring the resistant trio on board is essential.

The WNC would deliver $9 billion to rugby over 12 years starting 2022, and would give relevance to all Test matches.

There would be two tiers, allowing second-tier nations the opportunity to jump up to play against the big nations.

This has concerned some of the northern hemisphere nations, who fear they’ll go broke if relegated.

World Rugby has moved to alleviate some of their concerns by guaranteeing a parachute payment of all money they would have received of they are relegated before the deal expires in 2033.

All of their broadcast and sponsorship revenue through to that end date would also be guaranteed, and they would still receive the $18 million a year through to 2033 that is poised for each union under the bid by global marketing form Infront.

Under the proposal, the Six Nations unions, and six southern hemisphere nations; Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Argentina, Japan and Fiji, would play each other once throughout the year.

At the end of the year, the leader of the northern conference would play the winner of the southern conference in the WNC final.

The last-placed nations of each group would have a playoff against the winners of the second-tier competition, and if the second-tier nation wins, they’d be promoted and the loser relegated to the lower league.

The Six Nations have a rival bid from private backers who want equity in the tournament, which would give control over to a corporate operator.

If the north rejects the WNC proposal, it will leave the south exposed and continue the lack of context of most north-south Test matches.

The WNC would be played in years between World Cups.

Rugby Australia has already signed on for the WNC, and all of the southern hemisphere and tier two nations are on board.

Originally published as World Rugby needs to overcome hurdles to lock in global league