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Changes are set to hit International Rugby like a hurricane. Canada, USA, Uruguay and Chile are among those set to miss out in the new International Competition. The arrangement will see SANZAAR and Six Nations Rugby beginning a new international competition that will begin in 2026.
The new competition will alter the July Internationals and November Internationals. No longer will they be for tours; instead, matches will be played in a World League format. The catch is that the competition is for a select group of teams.
The format will see the Six Nations Rugby Unions of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales joining SANZAAR countries Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Two invitational Unions will join the SANZAAR four to balance the teams at twelve overall. They are to be Fiji and Japan.
These teams will be divided into the pools of (a) Europe and (b) the Rest of the World. Their matches in July and November will exclusively be against teams from the opposite pool. July matches will be played in (b) and November matches in (a).
The Six Nations teams will therefore all travel to play three different teams in three weeks in July. They will not fly to three countries in three weeks; instead, to two. One (b) country will miss out on a home match with it instead being played in a neutral location.
As an example, France may face Australia, Fiji and New Zealand in July. Would New Zealand give up a home match? Would Australia? Similarly, picture Scotland facing Argentina, Japan and South Africa. It is a scenario of three test matches in three continents. Three in two continents is complex already.
Participants are limited to twelve. Canada, USA, Uruguay and Chile will be missing from the World League as will Georgia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Namibia, Samoa and Tonga.
World Rugby has stepped aside which sees SANZAAR and Six Nations Rugby owning and operating the World League. This comes at a time in which Georgia is pressing for a seat at the table. Georgia defeated both Italy and Wales in 2022 but will be excluded.
World Rugby’s green-lighting of the competition raises a red flag. Georgia are in isolation as a direct response of the governing body’s governance. Make no mistake, World Rugby will defend their position. World Rugby will argue that a second-tier competition is being established. They are working for it to begin with promotion and relegation from 2030.
However, Georgia are ready now and are seeking opportunities. As the sport’s governing body World Rugby has the role of seeing Georgia included from the start. The result of World Rugby’s position is that Argentina will not play a test match against Georgia in Tbilisi, Uruguay will not play host to Wales and Canada will not face Italy. RWC 2031 hosts, the USA, will be undercooked by having no matches against Tier 1 opponents.
The competition will be played in alternating years, the year before and the year after the Rugby World Cup. This is by design; World Rugby are actively protecting the Rugby World Cup and British & Irish Lions tours. In other words, arrangements are to prioritize a non-Olympian and non World Cup competitor while Tier 2 rugby competitors are bypassed.
The new international competition means repetition. Not only will new matches be prevented but Georgia will be worse off than at present. Georgia will miss out on touring Argentina in July, miss out on hosting Argentina in November and miss out on playing away to Wales in November. Instead, Tier 2 teams will play other Tier 2 teams. Georgia will also miss out on games against Fiji and Japan.
The World League is more of the same from those who hold the decision making powers. It does not bring innovations; there are fewer rather than more opportunities. It will not assist in expanding the Rugby World Cup. It will complicate the pathway for teams. Georgia are being told to wait until 2030. It is a request as there is nothing to confirm that Georgia, or anyone else, will be included at that point in time. Regardless, waiting until then is a total injustice for Georgia.
The new competition breaks World Rugby’s own promises to Tier 2 rugby. At San Francisco in 2017 World Rugby declared that there would be a 39% increase in Tier One vs Tier Two fixtures. It also announced Tier One tours to the Pacific Islands, Japan, Canada, USA, Georgia and Romania. Neither promise can materialize now as rugby lives the results of Bill Beaumont’s governance.
