World Rugby's Bonkers Proposal

The biggest news in the background of rugby right now is whether World Rugby will get their new proposal for the annual structure of international rugby past the major Unions and league stakeholders. The proposal stands to join together the 6 Nations and the Rugby Championship in a single league, adding Japan & Fiji, which will play through the year. All ending in knockout games in November. Put simply the concept is idiotic, and could ruin rugby, read on to find my views as to why.

Bill Beaumont (L) and Agustin Pichot (R) are leading the debate for changing the international game.
Usually I agree with their policies, but this is one I am deeply against.

If it ain't broke

Let's start with the biggest flaw in the plan, that the structure of international tournaments does not need fixing. What does needs fixing is the number of games players are having to play, which I have a separate proposal for here. What the World Rugby "World Nation's League" wants to do is essentially take away the best international rugby tournament on the planet for no valid reason what so ever. 

The Six Nations is the most entertaining festival of international rugby in the calendar. Every match is a test of skill and will, as grudge matches are settled between old rivals. Forget the trophies on offer, it's bragging rights for fans which mean everything between February and March, tell a Wales fan that beating England isn't "important".

One of the most memorable wins in recent memory came
in a so called "meaningless friendly".

Similarly, the Autumn Internationals in the last couple of seasons have provided some of the most intense, most physical, most skillful games between the North and South in recent memories. And claims that these games need to have "more significance" by the governing body are simply laughable. I'd love to see them explain that Ireland's victory over New Zealand didn't mean much to the hordes of green shirts back in November. 

Of the regular annual tournaments, the least interesting is probably the Rugby Championship, due in no small part to New Zealand's complete domination since the last World Cup. Which brings me on to the next point.

Rugby Championship failings

Let's be honest here, while we all enjoy watching New Zealand play beautiful attacking rugby, sitting down and watching the Rugby Championship these days is tedious. Four teams play each other twice, and with a week left the All Blacks have already won it. South Africa and Australia have maybe given them a bloody nose but then fall apart against Argentina for no reason. It's the same cycle year on year. As such crowd numbers are dwindling both on television and in the stands, and it is greatly impacting the unions as the income dries up in the process.

Even New Zealand are bored of the Rugby Championship,
they seem to use it to prepare for the Northern Tour.

So instead of trying to fix the issues in their own game, the nations of SAANZAR are trying to squeeze in on the Northern Hemisphere to replenish their coffers. South Africa have already split their clubs across both hemispheres. The main reason the Rugby Championship doesn't work compared to the Six Nations, in my eyes, is the over saturation of games. Because each team plays each other twice (or three times in the case of the Tasman rivals), the fans get bored of seeing the same teams trot out each year, to the same results.

Ironically, as part of the Nation's League, World Rugby have found a fix for it all. Push the number of competing teams up to six, throwing in Fiji and Japan, and run it like the 6 Nations. Only seeing the other teams in their own country every other year will increase turn out in the stadiums. Three games a weekend will increase television revenue. And most importantly we get to expand rugby in Tier Two nations.

Tier Two "Good News"

It's a small point but one of the ways World Rugby are trying to sell this proposal is that they're expanding Tier One competitions to include Tier Two nations. Introducing Fiji and Japan to the Rugby Championship is joined by opening the 6 Nations up to promotion and relegation. And this sounds great, we all want to see rugby develop around the world and have more teams compete at the top table on a regular basis, but why can't it be done anyway?

Why is the inclusion of Fiji, Japan, and the likes of Georgia and Romania, only possible by ruining what we already have? Let's open the 6 Nations to relegation/promotion with a playoff (as proposed by basically everyone these days), and put Fiji and Japan into the Rugby Championship in a similar annual system to the 6 Nations. Congratulations Tier Two nations welcomed to the top leagues, while simultaneously maintaining the best competitions on the planet.

Fiji is the team everyone loves to watch, their brand of rugby is infectious, they have the talent to be a Tier One
nation, but lack matches and funding.

What about the World Cup?

And finally, if we're having the best teams in the world slog it out every year for a trophy, then why does the World Cup matter? The World Cup holds a special place in the heart of every rugby fan, the four-year cycle builds with intensity every season, until the year comes and tensions escalate as teams gain momentum and players compete to be the "bolter" in the squad. It's one of the best things about sport in general and fuels fans for ages. But that all goes away with a global competition run every year, there's never any chance for tension to build, there's never any hype, the whole thing loses its allure. Which leads to crowd numbers dwindling, and then the problem that World Rugby claim they're trying to fix actually happens.

So, there are my reasons for why the World Rugby "Global League" concept is a waste of time which could ruin international rugby as it stands. What do you think about the idea? Do you like the sound of it? Are there other issues with it that I haven't touched upon? Let me know on social media.