RugbyRebels

This may be slightly OT for this forum, but just seen this piece which is an interesting read. Although the headline is about all the money the wallabies are going to get, I can't see how this is going to work

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/a ... d=12140241

A couple of interesting points:

"Under the preferred format, the top six teams from the northern and southern hemispheres would have to play each other each year with results counting for the 12-team league.

The Rugby Championship and the Six Nations would both double for the league while the crossover matches would take place in the July and November windows"

How does this work for the likes of Japan (currently 11th) and Italy (currently 13th)? Would Japan join the six nations and Italy get relegated? Good to see that Tonga (12th) and Fiji (10th) in the mix though

"There would also be a second tier competition, with promotion and relegation, and the rankings used to determine the seedings for each World Cup, adding even more incentive for teams to perform well"

If there's a second tier competition with relegation & promotion between the two, how does this then correlate to world rankings? Either it's the top 12 nations at X date, or it's a promotion and relegation league - it can't be both.

I can't see the TV officials loving this. Instead of three test tours of SA/NZ/Aus/Arg they get single matches vs Fiji & Tonga - surely bring in way less money.

Overall I can't see how this brings more money into the game - it looks like the teams will be playing exactly the same number of games as they currently do (5 six-nations, 3 SH tour and 3 AIs).

I think this is Pichot’s idea and will therefore probably happen. I’m not sure what benefit it will bring other than giving tier 2 teams so more exposure and certainty. I’m also not sure what will happen with promotion & relegation when Italy come bottom and Georgia/Japan/US/Fiji come top.

Is the idea to pool all the money from attendence/Sponsorship/TV deals etc and split everything evenly?

Everything Pichot comes up with is mainly to the benefit of Argentinian rugby, that’s what he seems to be primarily concerned with.

Timbo wrote:Is the idea to pool all the money from attendence/Sponsorship/TV deals etc and split everything evenly?

Everything Pichot comes up with is mainly to the benefit of Argentinian rugby, that’s what he seems to be primarily concerned with.

It's mainly to the benefit of the many, rather than the few. Unfortunately, that will result in rewarding unions who have made a hash of making money as well as those who haven't been able to get games.

Seems like we're bending to the SH again.

It won't happen. Firstly, the 6N will tell them to piss off - Italy will fear being relegated and Wales and Scotland have finished bottom in recent enough memory that they won't be keen either. England will also tell them to get knotted - we're very protective of our Twickenham revenues. The clubs will also not be thrilled, as the season structure post 2019 was recently agreed by everyone and they're still trying to adapt to the last agreement.

They can't make it happen without Europe, so it's a non-starter. It's a stupid bloody idea anyway - why are we attempting to reinvent the wheel? Will a mini-World Cup every year really drive more income, especially when it's basically trashing the 6N and devaluing the actual World Cup? And are we seriously saying that there were no interest in the test series over the summer? Just because Australia can't manage their finances and are going down the drain does not require throwing the baby out with the bathwater (/horrible mixed metaphor).

Basically, if you want more Tier 2 competition with Tier 1, then just legislate that. This idea is an abomination and I don't think it achieves any of the problems it sets out to solve, while creating several new and exciting ones.

Puja

Never happen. As you say P legislate or pressure T1 to play T2 and share revenue, but this ain't gonna happen. I could see a world league / mini comp happening inn the near future but will never happen at international level.