World Rugby is seeking to "future-proof" the int'l game by creating a World League concept that will take all the "friendlies" currently played in the June and November test windows and "fold them into a meaningful 12-team annual competition," according to Wayne Smith of THE AUSTRALIAN. Plans for the proposal will be discussed at the World Rugby exec committee meeting in Sydney on Wednesday but they are at such an "embryonic stage" that officials are "reluctant to flesh out options lest an entirely different model is adopted." But with World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper conceding that while the majority of test matches are currently "friendlies," there is "scope there for adventurous thinking." Certainly, too, broadcasters and viewers alike would see those tests as "more meaningful and relevant if every result counted beyond mere boasting rights." Gosper said, "There are a number of models out there. I think ultimately it would help add even more meaning to a Six Nations or The Rugby Championships so it would be good news for everyone, I think" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 9/25). In Sydney, Georgina Robinson reported World Rugby officials have been "tight-lipped" about the proposal but Vice-Chair Agustín Pichot "let the cat out of the bag" to French publication Midi Olympique, canvassing the "scrapping of the June and November test tours" for the launch of a 12-team tournament "pitting north against south every year." Based on football's new European Nations League concept, the teams would be "split into four groups of three and the tournament would be played over five dates," with three for pool matches and two dates for the semifinals and final. A different country would host each pool. In the current int'l rankings, Fiji, Japan and Tonga would be "thrown in the mix," giving those nations "much needed test competition against traditional heavyweights" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 9/25).
