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Agustín Pichot is on record in pushing for promotion / relegation in the proposed World League. The former Pumas captain has been under attack on social media from rugby fans who are less than impressed with the revelations that the new competition, set to begin in 2020, will not involve the Pacific Islands among others.
Fiji are ranked 9th in the world while Italy are 15th. The World League is to have 12 teams with Fiji, Georgia, and Tonga excluded despite being ranked higher than the Italians. The new-look competition has Japan and the USA joining the Rugby Championship with the six unions and those of the Six Nations to play each other once each in 2020.
Pichot responded to critics today on twitter. On his personal account he confirmed his position as creating a World League with two divisions of 12 teams. This would involve promotion / relegation with potentially a format replicating that of France’s domestic professional leagues.
In the Top 14 the bottom club is relegated and replaced by the champion of the regular season of the Pro D2. The 13th placed side from the Top 14 enters a promotion / relegation final against the winner of the Pro D2 Final which gives an opportunity for a second Pro D2 side other than the regular season’s winner to be promoted to the Top 14.
A report out of New Zealand this morning noted that the World League is to be a ring-fenced competition. It stated that there will be no promotion / relegation and that the 12 teams will play each other once every year. Those twelve were named as being Tier 1 sides Argentina, Australia, England, France, Italy, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Wales plus Japan, and the USA.
Fiji’s non-involvement resulted in no shortage of outrage, much of it entirely justified. Fiji is ranked 8th in the world and recorded a famous win in November 2018 against France in Paris. The exclusion was interpreted by many as poor treatment from authorities of the Pacific Islands.
Similar distaste was noted with regards to Georgia. There have been calls for the Six Nations to introduce promotion / relegation to enable the Lelos to earn their way to compete in the competition. The request was turned down by Six Nations Rugby who operate the competition out of Dublin, Ireland. All six unions are partners under the collective ownership.
Pichot noted that if the World League does not happen it is not due to a lack of effort. Instead it is due to people not wanting to grow the game. He also made it clear that there is opposition to promotion / relegation but did not name unions.
Suffice to say it is highly likely that opposition will not be from the Rugby Championship nations. Indeed including Japan, and the USA into the competition is explanatory. Fiji’s non-involvement remains to be clarified though prior information about the World League indicated that there would be geographical established involvement.
Could it be that Fiji miss out based on Oceania having two spots in the 12-team World League and that they have gone to Australia and New Zealand? Could the same apply to Georgia missing out due to Europe getting 6 spots? Is Japan included as ‘Asia 1’ and the USA as ‘Americas 2’?
This may well be the case and if so promotion / relegation would act as a solution with teams winning their way into the competition following the inaugural 2020 season.
The financial might of Japan and the USA is an argument that has been raised as being the real reason, and this may in fact be entirely correct. Yet there are also on-field reasons aside from geography and economics to support Japan and the USA joining the competition. Japan did defeat South Africa in RWC 2015 and the USA knocked-over Scotland in Houston in 2018. They are ranked 11th and 13th in the world today.
There is also an additional which cannot be ignored or under estimated – player control. Both Japan and the USA happen to have professional domestic rugby competitions. They would have vastly smaller problems compared to either Fiji or Georgia in gaining player release for World League fixtures.
Player rest itself is something which Johnny Sexton (Ireland), and Kieran Read (New Zealand) expressed concerns about today. Pichot did note on twitter that the World League will enable enough rest periods for the players. He also noted that World Rugby will be working with clubs and leagues to make it work. This is certain to decrease the concerns for Fiji and Georgia, unions who are actively seeking professional rugby.
