New Zealand Rugby CEO Steve Tew "has put the brakes on a proposal to scrap the southern hemisphere's hosting of June internationals in post World Cup years," according to Liam Napier of STUFF.
Reports from the BBC on Wednesday suggested changes to the int'l rugby calendar in '20 would, among other things, "see northern nations no longer trek south in years following World Cups, with a view to mitigating player welfare concerns and burnout."
The BBC report claimed this proposal "was set to be ratified by World Rugby in November." Tew "had a different view." He said, "We've got good conversations underway and we all know we need to make some changes. There is no perfect answer but the key thing is it won't be agreed until it is all agreed. The issue with what they're proposing is it needs to be part of a package ... There is no agreement until we've agreed the whole package." The missing piece of the puzzle from the BBC's report is "how the current revenue sharing arrangements would alter -- and how the south's shortfall would be made up." By way of context, in World Cup years, the 10 leading nations each receive around NZ$18M ($13.2M) "in compensation from World Rugby for lost revenue from June and November internationals" (STUFF, 9/15).
