The two best international sides in the Southern and Northern hemisphere are set to go head to head in a new tournament as part of a major reform of international rugby.
The Six Nations and Rugby Championship - which has expanded from its initial Tri Nations format - have long been cemented as the two premier international competitions outside of the World Cup. Autumn International and summer tour windows though, have enabled sides to travel to compete against each other on an annual basis.
But under the new structure, those two windows will now adopt a league format, including two groups of six teams from each hemisphere, with Japan and Fiji added to the traditional 10 sides involved. And it will culminate in a bi-annual final to determine the overall champions.
According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, northern and hemisphere sides will play three southern opponents away from home in the July window, with single tours to specific countries to become a thing of the past. Reverse fixtures will then be played in November, with the top team in each group qualifying for the final.
The inaugural tournament will kick off in 2026, and will take place over a two year cycle. There are reportedly provisions in place to introduce promotion and relegation from 2030 onwards, with teams filtering up from a second tier competition which will include the likes of Italy.
“The fundamentals have been agreed,” one source, involved in the talks, was quoted as saying. "All key stakeholders have been involved and the structure of the season, the rugby and player welfare issues were resolved some time ago. It's just tying down some of the outstanding commercial issues, but we are well advanced on those as well. We are just about over the line."
One tournament that won't be changing however, is the Six Nations. In the past 12 months, rumours have been rife that South Africa will soon be joining the event, with their club sides already travelling to Europe to compete in the United Rugby Championship.
But the Telegraph reports that will now be ring-fenced, ending any prospect of the Springboks coming on board. The tournament initially ran as the Five Nations, before Italy were permitted to enter in 2000.
The new format is likely to raise questions about possibly undermining the World Cup though, with the next version taking place in France in September and October this year.
