The Rugby Football Union is “perplexed” at moves from World Rugby’s vice-chairman, Agustín Pichot, to drastically reform the international calendar by introducing a World League from 2020 onwards.
Pichot’s proposal – in which the world’s top 12 teams would compete in an annual tournament switched between hemispheres every November – is set to be discussed as the World Rugby Council meets in Sydney this week.
The RFU would oppose the idea on the basis that the autumn international series is a huge source of revenue – it is estimated each match at Twickenham generates up to £10m. But the union is also frustrated because international windows in July and November from 2020 onwards were the cornerstone of an agreement reached by World Rugby in San Francisco last January.
Along with Premiership Rugby (PRL) and the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA), the RFU is close to announcing how the domestic season in England fits into the global calendar as agreed in San Francisco.
An RFU spokesperson told the Guardian: “We are a bit perplexed at these apparent developments and ideas which we have not been party to. We have worked really hard with our stakeholders PRL and RPA to define the new domestic season and we are working to the principles agreed with World Rugby which we have been assured are still valid.”
Pichot explained this month that significant change was required to the global calendar to avoid international rugby’s “ruin”, claiming that the current model “is not working”. The global structure hammered out in San Francisco is due to run until 2032 and while it was at the time heralded as a historic agreement, Pichot claimed it only goes 40% of the way to resolving the international game’s problems. He also criticised Premiership Rugby for attempting to extend its season from September until June after the San Francisco agreement.
It is understood the RFU lodged a complaint with World Rugby over Pichot’s comments and received assurances from the global governing body’s chairman Bill Beaumont. Since then details of Pichot’s plans – as well as reported meetings with executives from the New Zealand, South Africa and French unions – have emerged.
The RFU expects discussions on the global calendar in Sydney to centre on how commercial revenues from the international game can be increased based on the San Francisco agreement. But privately there is a degree of concern Pichot is gathering support from other unions behind the scenes.
