Report states that Fiji, Samoa and Tonga 15s teams not included in new World League setup

Fiji, Samoa and Tonga 15s teams have been left out in the cold for at least 10 years and will not be part of the new World League setup according to a NZ Herald report.

The report says that international rugby is braced for the biggest change in modern history with plans to create a World League that will see Japan and the USA join the Rugby Championship set to be signed off as early as next month.

The Herald understands that a 12‑team World League has captured the imagination of the leading nations and that an unknown broadcaster has already tabled an offer to finance the concept in a deal that will be worth around NZ$14 million a season for each nation.

The proposal has been under consideration for several months now and has seemingly won universal support from the 12 nations who will be involved.

There is now thought to be some urgency to try to sign off on this before the Six Nations and Rugby Championship begin separate negotiations to renew their existing broadcast rights.

The clock is also ticking as the plan is to have the new format in play by 2020.

Essentially the new format will require all 12 nations to play each other once in the calendar year, with a semi‑final and final to be played in late November, possibly early December.

The 12 nations will be the current Six Nations – England, France, Italy, Scotland, Ireland and Wales – the current Rugby Championship sides of New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina plus Japan and USA who are going to be invited to join the Rugby Championship.

The Six Nations will travel south to each play three tests.

These will be randomly allocated so England, for example, could find themselves playing Japan, Australia and New Zealand while Wales could be off to Argentina then South Africa and New Zealand.

The Rugby Championship will then kick off in August and will be a straight round‑robin.

The World League will then be completed by the southern sides travelling north in November to play the three teams they didn't play in July.

The top four teams on the table will then play a semi‑final and final in the Northern Hemisphere.

The proposal suggests that the playoffs could take place in major grounds such as the Nou Camp in Barcelona or Soldier Fields in Chicago where the All Blacks have played twice before.

We are still trying to get comments from the Fiji Rugby Union.

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