As one World Cup cycle ends Saturday in Paris, another starts afresh in the URC and the English Premiership. Young players in both leagues have been able to secure game time for their clubs which they would otherwise not have had if it wasn't for rugby's global show piece taking place in France. With an eye on the future it appears those in charge of the English Premiership and the United Rugby Championship are looking ahead to what the club landscape could look like over the next few years.
Beaumont announces big change in Rugby
Huge change in coming to world rugby. With the Rugby World Cup wrapping up this weekend, the powers that be in Rugby Union are now looking to the future with the announcement of a new of Nations Championship, Pacific Nations Cup and the expansion of the Rugby World Cup from 20 to 24 teams for the 2027 edition in Australia.
Coming in 2024, a new-look Pacific Nations Cup! 🏆 🏉 pic.twitter.com/Nue19GFTEk
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) October 24, 2023
All of these actions are now being taken to capitalise on the momentum that the World Cup has given the sport in recent months and to allow rugby to drag itself in to a new era. Head of World Rugby Bill Beaumont stated:
"A new era is about to begin for our sport. 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. All boats will rise together."
The radical changes at international level are set to be mirrored at club level. Nowhere is change needed more badly than England. Against the backdrop of 3 Gallagher Premiership teams folding in the past 12 months due to insolvency, English rugby has identified a critical need for exploration of a better product and structures to be able to give rugby a more stable financial platform.
Not for the first time, English clubs are wondering about a marriage with their Celtic cousins.
A British and Irish 'Super League'?
With this tidal wave of change in the sport, the leaders of different unions and leagues have been able to meet and converse in France about changes to the Premiership and URC. An article in the Telegraph just over a week ago, stated that the English clubs would be adopting an NFL draft style system in order to distribute players in a more equitable fashion. With this was also the confirmation that talks to form a British and Irish 'Super League' (South African and Italian teams would also be included) were well under away. RFU Chief Executive Bill Sweeney confirmed in Paris yesterday that talks between the relevant international unions had taken place but stressed that there was no done deal as of yet. He said of the talks,
I think you’d expect us to talk about anything really, the way the game needs to grow, the game needs to be financially stronger. We want to attract more investment coming in, so all sorts of conversations take place in terms of different options. That one’s not fully developed by any means. So it’s a very tentative, hypothetical conversation at this stage but it has certain merits, but it also has certain challenges.
It is fraught with challenges, I tend to think about ‘look what happened in football with the European Super League’, so fans are going to be taken into consideration on this. So what does that mean in terms of the overall structure? Some very big, significant questions are going to be asked on it, which is why I say at this stage, it’s very tentative but we consider all conversations.”
Would you support a British & Irish 'super league' for pro clubs?
— Rugby World (@Rugbyworldmag) October 19, 2023
According to today's Irish Independent, the IRFU are 'open' to talks on this matter.
Questions for European Cup
One of the biggest questions that fans would rightly have is what would this mean for the European Champions Cup. The tournament was for a long time the centre piece of Northern Hemisphere rugby, with many of the finest players from around the globe participating in it every year. #
If the Premiership and URC were to form one 'super league' could leave the European Cup largely redundant, with the French Top 14 the only other league involved in Europe's top club competition. Scheduling would be another issue if the European Cup was to continue as well as the structure of the new league and whether you would have a two tiered system with promotion and relegation. As Bill Sweeney stated there would be a lot of questions but it appears that all Unions are open to talks on the potential changes.
