World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont mentioned on Tuesday the game was getting into an “exciting new era” with the revealing of a brand new bi-annual worldwide competitors from 2026, however the plans didn’t obtain common approval from rugby’s smaller nations.
The new competitors will comprise a high division of 12 groups from the Six Nations and the southern hemisphere’s Rugby Championship.
Two additional nations — thought more likely to be Japan and Fiji — shall be invited to make up the dozen, and matches shall be performed in July and November.
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There shall be a second division additionally made up of a dozen groups, though promotion and relegation is not going to come into operation till 2030.
However, if Beaumont thought the modifications would fulfill second-tier nations, his hopes have been disabused by Samoan fly-half Lima Sopoaga.
The 32-year-old advised AFP the plans have been “a slap in the face” for tier-two groups.
“Being excluded from this is incredibly frustrating, for me it’s not what rugby is meant to be about, the so-called rugby values that everyone talks about,” mentioned Sopoaga, who beforehand performed 16 Tests for New Zealand.
The new competitors — but to be given a reputation — will exchange the present summer time and autumn worldwide home windows.
Beaumont mentioned: “Agreement on the men’s and women’s global calendars and their content is the most significant development in the sport since the game went professional.
“(It is) a historic moment for our sport that sets us up collectively for success.
“We now look forward to an exciting new era commencing in 2026. An era that will bring certainty and opportunity for all.
“An era that will support the many, not the few, and an era that will supercharge the development of the sport beyond its traditional and often self-imposed boundaries.” Six Nations Rugby hailed the overhaul as a “player-led reform” and mentioned it might adapt its girls’s and males’s tournaments accordingly.
“The senior Men’s Six Nations will move to five match weekends run over a six-week block, with further rest periods for international players leading out of competitions and throughout the season.” The Women’s Six Nations will begin three weeks later than the present calendar.
‘A DAMN SHAME’
For some second-tier nations there may be additionally a brand new match, a revamped Pacific Nations competitors involving Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and USA.
The Pacific Nations Cup, which shall be performed within the southern hemisphere launch window of August and September, will function two swimming pools of three groups — a North America/Japan pool and a Pacific Islands pool with every union internet hosting matches.
A finals sequence involving all groups will happen annually, the place the annual champions shall be confirmed. Japan will host the primary finals in 2024.
Beaumont mentioned this could resolve fears expressed by coaches of second-tier nations through the ongoing World Cup in France of an absence of Test match rugby within the four-year cycle.
Sopoaga mentioned he was not sure what a greater various was, however it’s “not this one, that’s for sure.” “Rugby’s meant to be everybody’s game but it seems like it’s only for the rich and for those nations with money,” he mentioned.
World Rugby additionally introduced the boys’s Rugby World Cup will enlarge from 20 nations to 24 for its subsequent version in Australia in 2027.
The sport’s governing physique mentioned in a press release that including 4 nations to the World Cup would “provide more qualification opportunities for more teams and regional competitions”.
The transfer comes regardless of a number of mismatches within the pool phases of the continuing World Cup, which culminates in Saturday’s remaining between defending champions South Africa and New Zealand.
Of the tier-two nations, solely Fiji reached the knockout phases, beating Australia within the pool for the primary time in 69 years on the way in which, however additionally they misplaced to Portugal.
Sopoaga mentioned the strikes made it tougher for Samoa — who misplaced by only one level to eventual semi-finalists England within the pool stage — to be aggressive on the subsequent World Cup.
“Samoa played 12 Tests between 2019 and 2023 and only two of those were against tier-one nations,” he mentioned.
“Tier-two teams can’t just wait every four years to give it a crack. It’s a damn shame.”
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
