Rugby's world governing body has announced plans for a radical new international league called the Nations Championship.
World Rugby came under fire last week after a proposal leaked which included the Six Nations teams, the Rugby championship teams, Japan and USA. In a statement issued on Wednesday, the organisation responded to critics and went back to their original proposal.
On this week's World in Union, the Balls.ie rugby podcast getting an outside perspective on Ireland and the game in general, Paul Bains of DrivingMaul joined us to look at why World Rugby are so desperate for a change in the first place.
As is so often the case, it all comes down to money.
It is interesting that the sponsorship deal in the Six Nations is now way down. It's not just there. You've also got the European Rugby Champions Cup was supposed to have three or five sponsors. They've only got one. You can't imagine that one is paying anywhere near top dollar or what they were paying before. The amount of money coming into the game is not what everyone predicted.
Already you've had the RFU make redundant 64 people last year because they basically have a lot less cash coming in than expected. All of the Unions in Europe projected 'X' amount of sponsorship. Whether that was Six Nations sponsorship or jersey sponsorship they have found the market is a lot softer than they expected and they have less cash coming in than predicted.
The idea itself was spawned by World Rugby’s vice-chairman, Agustín Pichot. While it is a bid to increase revenue, drumming up support against players, clubs and fans will be a challenge.
You hear Paul's thoughts on why the initial proposal leaked in New Zealand, the war with the clubs and how Ronan O'Gara is doing in New Zealand here. Alternatively, subscribe and listen on all podcast platforms.
