The competition that could put the World League debate to bed
The congregation of leading executives within the global rugby fraternity to negotiate details for the much-maligned World Rugby Nations Championship in Dublin earlier this month presented a missed opportunity to discuss a more tantalising proposition.
When details of the competition were exposed by the New Zealand Herald, the annual Nations Championship initially drew criticism from all corners of the globe for diluting the prestige of the quadrennial World Cup and Lions tours, a lack of regard for player welfare and its exclusivity from emerging nations.
Although an updated version of the competition’s structure released by World Rugby presented a pathway for developing rugby countries to compete with tier one nations, concerns lingered about player burnout and the role that the World Cup and Lions tours would play within international calendar.
Complaints from the governing bodies of the English and French club competitions have added to the number of issues voiced worldwide, with their exclusions from negotiations creating a sense of disdain between them and World Rugby.
The extremely negative impact that this proposed Nations Championship has embedded within the rugby world makes it difficult to envision this new competition getting off the mark, despite World Rugby hoping for a start date of 2022.
Even if discussions in the Irish capital somehow satisfied the demands of all involved parties – which it hasn’t, as England continue to stand firm against World Rugby’s proposal amid fears of relegation from the Six Nations – the issue of diminishing the prestige of the World Cup would still be a prevalent concern of which that appears nigh on impossible to resolve.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvgNYqxA3an/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
While the promotion-relegation mechanism implemented by World Rugby in their updated competition proposal is commendable and some national unions have warmed to the competition concept, there remains fierce opposition against the Nations Championship from all stakeholders since its details were first leaked.
So much so, in fact, that it seems far-fetched for the tournament to get the green light from all national governing bodies by World Rugby’s self-imposed April 5 deadline.
Part of that can be attributed to the running narrative of the whole competition proposal by World Rugby since the idea of a Nations Championship first came to light, in that they are trying to fix or improve international rugby by providing more ‘meaningful’ fixtures in an annual competition format.
In reality, international rugby hasn’t been this strong in many years.
This year’s World Cup will have five genuine contenders to stake a claim for the title through New Zealand, England, Ireland, South Africa and Wales, and if Australia can resurrect themselves after a few abysmal seasons, then they will make it a six-horse race.
That’s a far cry from the 2015 edition of the tournament, when the All Blacks were streaks ahead of any other nations in terms of experience and ability as they won their second successive crown.
Aside from perhaps an alteration to the way in which the game’s eligibility laws are structured – which has bordered on farcical as some players represent nations that they’d have no intention of playing for three-to-four years beforehand – and creating an equitable playing field for tier two nations like Fiji and Georgia, there is little to fix or improve in international rugby.
Rather than radically changing something that needs minimal work done to improve it, the attention that has been focused on the debacle that is the Nations Championship by World Rugby should instead be channeled into another side of the game that contributes significantly to the global calendar: professional club rugby.
Super Rugby, the Pro14, Top 14 and Premiership, as well as the Champions Cup, have provided the international game with a myriad of star players since those competition’s inceptions, while also giving fans a team to cheer for at a domestic and continental level.
Given the importance that professional club rugby holds in terms of preparing coaches and players for the step up to the test arena, as well as providing revenue to national unions and private owners who pay the wages of these coaches and players through the financial investment of fans, it’s saddening that World Rugby has neglected this aspect of the game.
While there is little that World Rugby can do to enhance the dynamics of each individual competition given it doesn’t own Super Rugby nor the Champions Cup and its feeder competitions, it could certainly provide more ‘meaningful’ fixtures for clubs without damaging the reputation of the World Cup and the international game.
Instead of trying to pursue a Nations Championship that has proven to be controversial and largely condemned worldwide, why has the concept of a Club World Cup not been explored by the global governing body?
It would be difficult to fit into the existing calendar due to the scheduling differences between Super Rugby, the northern hemisphere competitions, and the international test windows.
However, a condensed knock-out tournament between the semi-finalists from the Champions Cup and Super Rugby over a three-week period would be doable with some of re-jigging of fixtures prior to the July test window, which would suit teams from both hemispheres as that coincides – to varying degrees – with the end of their club seasons.
Such a competition would be unparalleled within the rugby fraternity, and it would yield plenty of interest from players, fans, broadcasters and sponsors as the best teams from both hemispheres compete to determine which club is the best on the planet.
It’s a far simpler concept to the current proposition on the table, leaves the integrity of the international game and World Cup intact, and possesses the potential to be extremely financially-rewarding for World Rugby, which was undoubtedly a major incentive for them to propose the Nations Championship in the first place.
Of course, a multitude of creases would need to be ironed out in order for a Club World Cup to get the go-ahead, and a host of stakeholders and any pre-existing concerns would need to be addressed, but the potential exists for this tournament to explode into a success.
Potential Club World Cup quarter-final fixtures (based on 2018 Champions Cup and Super Rugby placings):
Crusaders v Scarlets
Lions v Munster
Racing 92 v Waratahs
Leinster v Hurricanes
The Short Ball – The World Rugby Nations Championship Debacle:
Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to comments