Super Six on the drawing board as World Rugby tackles global fixture

World Rugby is now moving to consider a Super Six tournament involving the three top teams from the northern and southern hemispheres.

New Zealand’s Sevu Reece celebrates his try against Australia at Eden Park last year. Four Bledisloe Tests this year is good news for fans, but maybe not so good for the Wallabies’ world ranking. Picture: Getty Images

World Rugby is now moving to consider a Super Six tournament involving the three top teams from the northern and southern hemispheres, with a potential final in November every second year — but there might just be a snag for Australia in there.

It is yet another attempt to revive the Nations Championship, which met a grisly death last year as a result of self-interest from the Six Nations, with World Rugby’s working group considering a plan to push the July Test window to October, which with the southern hemisphere nations’ annual spring tours to Europe in November, would allow two solid months in which to play its proposed Super Six tournament.

“There is a definitely again an appetite with the global season rework to try and find a way back to where we were last year,” said Australia’s representative on the World Rugby executive committee Brett Robinson.

“That’s definitely been something that we (regard) as a missed opportunity (the Nations Championship) and it clearly makes a lot of sense.”

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Given that the top three southern hemisphere countries are the Springboks, the All Blacks and Australia, it would seem that Dave Rennie’s Wallabies are assured of a place in the tournament. The snag, however, lies in the international Test program. There is none. Indeed, the only Tests that look like taking place anywhere in the world this year are Australia’s four Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand.

While the prospect of playing those Tests has excited the Australian rugby population, especially if they can be played in front of revenue-producing full houses, it would have to be said that there is a very real consequence of Australia sliding further down the global rankings. At present, Australia sits in seventh spot on 81.90 ratings points, just ahead of Scotland (80.60), Japan (79.28) and Argentina (78.31).

In the history of Test rugby, no two nations have played each other more regularly than Australia and the All Blacks. While that has undoubtedly improved the Wallabies’ overall performance, it has weighed heavily on Australia’s world rating. Overall, Australia has won 44 Tests out of 166. That rough average of one win in four has slipped slightly this century, when Australia has won only 12 out of 54, one in four and a half.

While high hopes exist for Rennie and his new broom tactics, it is statistically possible that Australia could lose all four Bledisloes to the All Blacks, which would send the Wallabies tumbling down the rankings. In that event, it is possible that Scotland, which has never beaten the All Blacks in 31 Tests, eight of them this century, could surge ahead of Australia. So too might Japan and Argentina, even though it is more than likely that they will play no Tests at all this year.

It is still hoped that Argentina and South Africa could meet up with Australia and NZ in The Rugby Championship later this year, but even World Rugby’s own medical briefing indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening in both countries and it is problematic whether the Springboks and Pumas would be allowed in the country, even with testing and a 14-day isolation.

“It’s not a bad thing that the Wallabies are playing the All Blacks so regularly. Four Bledisloes would be of great interest to the country and a great economic benefit if we can get crowds to those games. And it would actually be great from a performance perspective,” Robinson said.

“But it is madness the way the rankings work. Some of the people who are coming on Australia’s heels haven’t played them. It is something (for World Rugby) to look at. In fact, I think they have tried. They would need to come up with some kind of weighting model.”

Still, the close affiliation with New Zealand could provide a major boost to Australia’s bid to host the 2027 World Cup if the Kiwis are at all tempted by Rugby Australia chairman Hamish McLennan’s masterstroke of offering to allow them to host one of four pool competitions.

Undoubtedly McLennan made the offer in the hope it might induce New Zealand to agree to a trans-Tasman Super Rugby-style competition next season. But there is no doubt that having the Kiwis throw their weight behind Australia’s international lobbying campaign could also work wonders.

World Rugby has put back the selection process to its council meeting of November next year.