Eight northern hemisphere clubs and seven from southern hemisphere, plus a Japanese side, will compete to be named world's best
From The Daily Telegraph.
The blueprint for a new ‘Club World Cup’ is understood to have been agreed with a tournament involving the top 16 sides from the northern and southern hemispheres scheduled to start in 2025, Telegraph Sport can reveal.
Under the bold proposals eight northern hemisphere clubs and seven from the southern hemisphere, plus a Japanese side, would be placed in four pools, each playing two matches against teams from the other hemisphere. The winner of each pool would progress to the semi-finals ahead of a final to crown the best club side in the world.
The competition, which would take place instead of the knockout rounds of the Champions Cup and see the Premiership final brought forward to early May, would happen once every four years ahead of a British and Irish Lions tour.
The format is understood to have been endorsed by key stakeholders, including Premiership Rugby and representatives for players. Discussions have now moved into the final stage, with talks including due diligence, commercials, and detailed travel plans expected to be concluded in September.
It is hoped that the prospect of the likes of Leicester, Saracens, Exeter, Leinster, Munster, Toulouse and La Rochelle taking on the Crusaders, Hurricanes and Reds will drive interest in the club game to a new level and provide a much-needed financial boost following the impact of the global pandemic.
“This is going to be massive for the club game and should generate huge interest from supporters, sponsors and broadcasters in both hemispheres,” said one source. “For the first time we are going to be able to declare which side is the best in the world.”
The plan is for the tournament to start in 2025 to avoid a clash with next year’s World Cup and the proposed new Nations Championship that is currently under discussion as part of global calendar talks. That competition is expected to start in 2024 and be held every two years.
The Premiership is expected to finish early in May 2025 to allow the Club World Cup to take centre stage as a lucrative finale to the season. It is expected to be held in European locations (which are yet to be confirmed) for the first tournament and future competitions may be held in one country, for example South Africa.
Qualification will be through the pool stages for those clubs that qualify for the Champions Cup, which from next season will also include the South African franchises, who will be regarded as ‘northern hemisphere’ sides.
The top eight sides after the first four rounds of the Champions Cup will qualify for the new tournament, with the lack of European knock-out stages ensuring it does not add extra fixtures to the season.
It is thought that qualification will be purely on merit, with no national representation guaranteed. With no Premiership club reaching the semi-finals of the Champions Cup last season, questions will be asked about how competitive the English clubs will be, given that the introduction of the South African sides will intensify competition.
However, the reduction of the salary cap to £5 million last season has affected the competitiveness of the English club but with it due to rise back to £6.4 million in 2024, there is optimism within the clubs that they will be in a stronger position for the start of the global tournament.
From the southern hemisphere, the top seven sides from Super Rugby will qualify along with one other international club team, most likely from Japan.
The commercial interests will be shared as part of a joint venture, with broadcasting rights to be sold in the domestic markets as well as international rights, and it is expected the revenues will significantly exceed those lost by replacing the final stages of the Champions' Cup.
Those sides who drop out of the competition at the round of 16 could then drop down into the European Challenge Cup, with that tournament's knock-out stages to be held at the same time.
Organisers hope staging the competition in a British and Irish Lions year will also heighten interest in rugby union ahead of the tour of Australia and the knock-out format should ensure that more players are available for early release to provide more preparation time for the tourists.
It is understood that Mark McCafferty, the former Premiership Rugby chief executive, has been a central figure in driving the project forward in his role as a non-executive director on the board of EPCR, the governing body of the Champions’ Cup. McCafferty was one of the first to back the idea of a world club championship during his 14-year tenure at the helm of the Premiership.
“Progress is being made on the international front north and south but this is a chance for club rugby to get in there first and get things sorted and set the tone,” said another source.
Always a Wasp
Topic: Rugby Club World Cup format agreed with tournament to start in 2025. (Read 1348 times)