Reports in the UK suggest Japan and Fiji could join a new world championship including the Six Nations and the Rugby Championship nations.
The discussion came after the collapse of World Rugby’s plan for a Nations Championship, which proposed a global calendar with promotion and relegation for tier one and tier two nations.
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According to the Daily Mail, the top 10 rugby nations held talks during the World Cup about establishing a new coherent calendar that would see a finals series every two or four years.
The new motivation comes from wanting to build on Japan’s successful hosting of the World Cup, which generated record viewership figures. There would also be more opportunities for the leading nations from the two hemispheres to play against each other.
According to the report, the competition would be less demanding on players and would not involve every nation involved playing against every year. Tests would be arranged on a bilateral basis and points would be awarded that would count towards a league table, eventually resulting in a playoff stage to determine the championship winner.
Crucially, the competition would be ring-fenced, strictly including only the Six Nations and Rugby Championship teams, as well as Japan and Fiji.
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