Europe's tier-two countries "have called for the Six Nations to be expanded to seven or eight teams following their successful showings at the Rugby World Cup," according to Alex Bywater of WALES ONLINE. Both Georgia and Romania "produced some impressive performances in the pool stages of the tournament, despite failing to make the quarter-finals." Georgia won two games to automatically seal its place for the '19 competition "while Romania claimed a notable victory over Canada." And as they look to reap the benefits of that success, European rugby bosses argued that "providing more regular games against better opposition for the likes of Georgia would be a fitting legacy from this World Cup." Rugby Europe President Octavian Morariu said, "It's not just about promotion and relegation to the Six Nations, it's about opening the competition to more countries. We need to see how this can be done because we don't want to damage the Six Nations. The idea is to make it more interesting, competitive and productive." Expanding the Six Nations "would be a politically sensitive issue but Morariu cited the example of World Cup semi-finalists Argentina as an example of what could be achieved from playing the best around on a regular basis" (WALES ONLINE, 10/27).
