Rugby Europe hopes that the talks being held over a global season from 2019 will lead to second-tier nations in Europe being given more opportunities to play the sides in the Six Nations.
Georgia face Romania in Tbilisi on Saturday to decide the winners of the European Nations Cup in a match expected to be played before a crowd of more than 54,000 and Rugby Europe’s president, Octavian Morariu, believes more needs to be done to help emerging nations.
“The new tour schedule will guarantee that the winner of the Nations Cup plays against a Six Nations team in November,” Morariu said. “That is a start, but more needs to happen because Georgia and Romania have reached the point where they need regular fixtures against tier one countries to take the next step up.
“The match in Tbilisi will be worthy of the Six Nations in terms of the quality of the rugby, the crowd and the facilities at the stadium. I am not saying that either team is ready yet to play in the championship, but both need to be given more contact with the top-tier countries to help them improve, as was the case with Argentina and look at them now.
“Our aim is not to weaken or destroy the Six Nations, which is a magnificent tournament, but to grow the game in Europe and take rugby into new markets. I was pleased to hear Warren Gatland [the Wales head coach] say this week that consideration should in future be given to having a play-off between the winners of the Nations Cup and the bottom team in the Six Nations, and the priority has to be giving Georgia and Romania fixtures that would help them show they are worthy of such a move.”
Georgia and Romania have dominated the Nations Cup since its last change of format in 2000 with only Portugal, 12 years ago, breaking their monopoly. They have outgrown the tournament but have nowhere else to go. “Last year’s World Cup showed how far tier-two countries had come and the legacy of what was a great tournament should be giving access to top competition to more countries so that in years to come, there are more than five or six countries in with a chance of winning the World Cup,” Morariu said.
“The danger now is that the likes of Georgia and Romania stagnate and then regress because there is no outlet for their ambition. That would be the international game’s loss. We have had informal discussions with the Six Nations and that dialogue will continue. As I said, we do not want to damage that competition but rugby in Europe is about more than six nations, as this weekend will show.”
Georgia against Romania is being streamed live and for free on RugbyEurope.tv
