Brave is one word for it. Let’s launch a must-see global rugby tournament in direct opposition to the football World Cup, Wimbledon, the Open and Formula One. Necessitating even more long-haul flights and an enlarged carbon footprint in an era of soaring jet-fuel prices and climate-change concerns. And with some of the world’s most box-office players unavailable. Right-ho.
Welcome, for better or worse, to the inaugural Nations Championship, which kicks off in Christchurch, Tokyo, Sydney, Cardiff, Johannesburg and Córdoba next weekend. Spot the odd ones out, by the way. Yes, contrary to the atlas, Cardiff and Tokyo are now southern hemisphere venues. For various reasons Fiji are “hosting” Wales beside the swaying palms of Tiger Bay while Japan, for the sake of numerical convenience, are in with the traditional southern powerhouses.
None of which massively enhances the North v South concept that is the new biennial men’s competition’s supposed raison d’être. Instead of traditional touring, the feeling is that greater interest – and more broadcasting dollars – can be driven by realigning everything under the same umbrella or – more appropriately in Europe just now – beach parasol. The upshot is six games per nation followed by a November finals weekend in London with a Ryder Cup-style aggregate scoring system to identify the strongest hemisphere.
Which is a plausible idea, in theory, but less than fair and equitable to all. If England were to travel to Suva to play Fiji – they last did so in 1991, incidentally – imagine the competitive advantage the home side would gain. Instead the two teams will face off at Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, the plan being that Fiji will potentially earn more cash from the arrangement. The longer-term rationale is to build up sufficient reserves to improve their own facilities and give talented Fijians a better chance to pursue a rugby career at home.
Hopefully the good people of Cardiff, Liverpool and Edinburgh will make them feel suitably welcome but, in terms of the tournament’s integrity, there is an uneasy, colonial-style whiff of one rule for us and another for the rest. It is a similar story for Japan, who host Ireland in the Australian city of Newcastle after the Irish balked at playing in Tokyo as well as Sydney and Auckland on three consecutive July weekends. As for Georgia and everyone else outside the elite, they remain stuck beneath a reinforced glass ceiling with no hard and fast guarantee of promotion as things stand.
England, mind you, have been poring over their crazy itinerary and wondering if the UK-based Fijians have it relatively easy. If somebody wandered into a branch of Trailfinders to book a 26,000‑mile round trip from London to Johannesburg to Liverpool to Santiago del Estero and back to London inside three weeks, they would be quietly led away for counselling.
All that Steve Borthwick and his players can realistically do is put a brave – that word again – face on it. The organisers, not yet able to put Qatar Airways’ name above the door as title sponsors, will certainly hope England put up a decent fight at Ellis Park and that France do likewise against the All Blacks in Christchurch to launch the concept with a bang. Initiatives are to be welcomed but only if the quality of rugby on the field benefits.
With South Africa and New Zealand primed to rekindle the grand old touring concept in August under the banner of “the Greatest Rivalry” we will not have to wait long to discover which format most forcibly grabs the public imagination. The beauty of a proper tour used to be getting to know a country and its people and enjoying the fluctuating narrative of a multi-Test series. And don’t we already have a World Cup next year to crown the best of the best?
But in this frantic digital age it is primarily about attracting eyeballs and maximising bottom lines. And there are some potentially juicy July storylines out there, not least Dave Rennie’s first outing as the new All Black coach, buoyed by the Hurricanes’ domination of Super Rugby, against the Six Nations grand slam champions. Not all France’s star names – including Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos – will be involved but Antoine Dupont is lined up for a rare southern-hemisphere appearance against Australia in round two, upping the ante for the Wallabies’ final block of games under Joe Schmidt.
It is a quietly significant summer, too, for Ireland, lacking their injured captain, Caelan Doris, for their latest foray down under. With the opening night of the 2027 World Cup barely 15 months away it is a timely chance to familiarise themselves with Australian conditions before relocating to Auckland for a reunion with New Zealand. Their historic 2-1 series win against the All Blacks in 2022 was a real statement; now for the hit-and-run version.
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Scotland and Wales, both of whom will also be in Argentina and South Africa on consecutive weekends, will be equally aware of the implications of a slow start. The plan is that the new competition will reach an unmissable climax in late November when the sixth‑placed North side plays the sixth-placed in the South and so on. Go faster rugby may be in vogue but for the lower-profile games to be truly satisfying, there has to be something vaguely at stake.
The intention is that passionate inter-hemisphere rivalry will tick that box, with one point available to each winner on the undercard and two points to the winners of the first-placed final, making a possible maximum of seven. The first hemisphere to collect four points, accordingly, will be declared the overall winners, immediately triggering social media arguments that the precise opposite is true. New format, same old trolls.
And while on that subject, let’s not dwell on the possibility of England not even making the high-profile last two days of finals weekend in their own stadium. The third place v third place fixture is slated for the Friday night and, given the current superior world rankings of South Africa, New Zealand, Ireland and France, could end up being England’s slot. Which may or may not help boost the ratings.
Under that possible scenario, furthermore, France and South Africa could be thrown together in the final, just a fortnight after facing off in Paris. Yet another Test in an already congested calendar, less than a year before a long, intense World Cup? Good luck – and safe travels – to all, but here’s to the blessed day when rugby finally realises that less can be more.
