World Rugby chief takes Twitter battering over World League

Look up the newly proposed World League in rugby on Twitter and the motherlode of comments will be severely critical.

This is so apparent that any positive comments by fans about the new 12-team league are almost impossible to find amongst the plethora of censure. There are a number of reasons for this, which range from player welfare, to the disregard of Tier Two nations, to the fact that this is just a scheme to make money.

In light of this criticism, World Rugby’s CEO Brett Gosper took to Twitter to say that fan research had been carried out, and they were “resoundingly positive about [the] concept”.

Very few fans believed Gosper, and demanded that this research is published:

Will this be published?

— Robert Rees (@Rreesrugby) February 28, 2019

publish it then.

— SPK (@spkeene) February 28, 2019

Please make this evidence public.

— thedeadballarea (@thedeadballarea) February 28, 2019

https://twitter.com/HenryWindsor79/status/1101148852785172483

https://twitter.com/robruaryan/status/1101147266641993728

Tweet it -it will take you seconds. Cheers

— Richard Stock (@S7OCKY) February 28, 2019

https://twitter.com/IWasAPirateOnce/status/1101152686475489280

Questions have been raised as to who these fans are that support this new proposal, as they will not be members of Tier Two countries, rather the commercial backers of this new deal.

Furthermore, it is unclear as to what these fans were asked, as very few people believe that anyone would support a system like this.

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Some have highlighted that the “major broadcast markets”, probably involve the USA and Japan, who are much richer and provide a much more lucrative prospect than Pacific Island teams or some European countries. This is why those two nations have been involved in this new league, in spite of Fiji being above both of them in the world rankings.

The general feeling is that this was something that may have started out as a good idea, and fans may have been proposed a question that seemed desirable for the globalisation of the international game. However, it now looks as though it will be wildly different from what any fan wanted, and it is a competition that will be tailored to the 12 wealthiest teams rather than the 12 best.

Depends on the questions asked and how they were framed.
Personally, I doubt: "How strongly on a scale of one to ten do you agree/disagree that Fiji, Samoa and Tonga should be excluded from the new world championship?" was on the list…..

— Julian Rendell (@jrendell) February 28, 2019

You might want to check that again given the social media response. Did they check with actual rugby fans? It's a disgrace that Fiji, Georgia, Samoa et al don't have a seat at the table.

— Doug the Prop??? (@DougProp) February 28, 2019

How do you define fans?

— John Mulcahy (@mulcs85) February 28, 2019

Madness. Driven by rich countries wanting to be richer. Won't grow the game, and will ruin players.

— Sunlit Uplands here we come.. (@PMJPlod) February 28, 2019

By fans do you mean potential commercial backers?

— SedatedFMS ??? (@SedatedFMS) February 28, 2019

The US and Japanese markets clearly….

— thedeadballarea (@thedeadballarea) February 28, 2019

https://twitter.com/hsthomas316/status/1101156355862339586

Many fans also raised the lingering questions to Gosper that have not been resolved. One main topic is the future of the Lions tour and how that is compatible with this new league. This is just one of many questions that are emerging in the wake of this news being announced.

Importantly, a huge number of fans reiterated to the CEO that they do not know a single person that is in favour of this new project, insisting how unpopular it will be.

That sounds like research conducted to justify a conclusion. Will you be making the research and findings public? I'm struggling to find even a small percentage of 'fans' who are supportive of this idea.

— MarkO (@mark_m_owen) February 28, 2019

All due respect Brett I’m yet to see a single positive response to this.

— EimzT (@EimzT) February 28, 2019

Not to mention ending the Lions !

— Gavin (@gavincfrost) February 28, 2019

https://twitter.com/Rich_Thom90/status/1101145235336454147

Really? I don’t know anyone who thinks it’s a good idea!

— James Fisher (@jamesrfisher) February 28, 2019

I don’t think you are telling the truth…..think you spelt positive wrong…its spelt “negative”. Any true rugby fan would not support this! Awful idea!!

— John Crees (@JohnCrees) February 28, 2019

Very rarely has a new proposal been wholly criticised like this by fans, but this disapproval looks like it will continue to flood in.

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