Club World Cup

[Puja]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/ ... -june-2028

If we must have it, this is probably the least damaging - replacing the 4 knock-out games of Europe with a 4-game straight knock-out tournament in June, with the top 8 Euro/SA qualifiers going to the club WC and the other 8 qualifiers going into the Challenge Cup knockouts.

My concern is that, while it sounds like a straight-forward 4-for-4 swap out, it won't actually work like that - ideally NH calendar planners would be giving a 4 week break mid-season, but will almost certainly just have a monster season that punishes international players by going from RWC warmup camps in July/August, RWC warm-ups and then RWC in Sept-November, club season from November to May (with 6N crammed in), and then this tournament in June, with summer internationals no doubt coming in July.

Puja

[Puja]

Holy crap, I actually agree with one of Rob Baxter's public opinings: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/68789267

"If someone says to me that in four years time they've got the finances in place that cover everyone's travel costs and there's a TV deal that means all the clubs involved in it get millions of pounds, and it helps all the clubs be viable, thriving businesses, I would say it's exactly what the game needs," Baxter, Exeter's director of rugby, said.

"If what, as normal happens, is, 'Let's try and give it a go and see if we can make it work and see if we can create some interest,' I would be very hesitant about it because you can very easily create bigger issues in the game trying to solve issues, as we have seen numerous times."

If there's megabucks already willing to pay for it, then sure, great. If we're trying a major change with a hope that megabucks might soon follow, that's how we got the current shitty Champions Cup.

Puja