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World Rugby scraps plans for Nations Championship
World Rugby identified the inability to reach a consensus on key issues such as the timing and format of promotion and relegation as the reason for scrapping the project.
“While we are naturally disappointed that a unanimous position on the Nations Championship could not be achieved among our unions, we remain fully committed to exploring alternative ways to enhance the meaning, value and opportunity of international rugby for the betterment of all unions," World Rugby Chairman Bill Beaumont said in a statement.
"This includes our continued commitment to competition and investment opportunities for emerging nations to increase the competitiveness of the international game with a view to possible Rugby World Cup expansion in 2027.”
The Nations Championship was scheduled to begin in 2022 and would have been made up of a top division of 12 teams from northern and southern hemispheres facing each other once over the course of a calendar year.
The fixtures would have taken place in traditional competitions like the Six Nations and Rugby Championship, as well as during summer and autumn test windows, with the top two teams meeting in the final at the end of the year.
However, the issue of promotion and relegation proved to be a sticking point, with Scotland and Ireland expressing doubt over the sustainability of the second division.
World Rugby said it had made every effort to provide solutions and reassurance on key areas.
“The core objective of the Nations Championship was to secure a strong and sustainable financial and competition model for unions, provide for the first time a meaningful competition pathway for all emerging nations, further inject excitement into the international game for fans and broadcasters and develop new markets for the betterment of all,” the statement added.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/world-ru...s-championship
That’s a significant income stream gone for RA.
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Well RA are broke now.
Couldnt have happened to a nicer bunch of people.
Every dog has his day and Clyne is having his..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
jargan83
That's a shame
It is from a development point of view. Even after paying out the £355m ($649 AUD)annually to the participating teams that would have still left around £155m ($283m AUD) into smaller nations which would have represented huge increases in investment right across the board.
Watch the 6Ns Unions now sell 30% of their rights to CVC and ruin the competition by having it locked behind a paywall.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by
valzc
Bye Bye RA.
The best thing to happen to them. They have been too reliant on other unions bailing them out for decades.
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It is likely that three Pro 14 unions were against this Ireland, Scotland and Italy. Fiji, Georgia and Romania weren't overly keen if it ever got to the council.
You get relegated for two years. It just shows how stupid the RA are. The biggest winner out of the SH unions is SA as the Pro 14 is likely to get a CVC deal which they will benefit from due to the participation of the Kings and the Cheetahs. It will also paid in Pounds and/or Euros.