Nations Championship interest renewed, SA Rugby commits to SANZAAR partnership

SANZAAR has announced that South Africa will continue to play in the Rugby Championship until at least 2025, amid reports of a revival of the World Nations Championship concept.

South Africa's interest in joining the Six Nations has been well documented recently with SA Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux stating as much last year.

Six Nations chief executive Ben Morel, however, said that they will be cautious about adding any new teams to the northern hemisphere tournament.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Sanzaar executive committee confirmed that all four partners – SA Rugby, NZ Rugby, Rugby Australia and Union Argentina Rugby – have committed until 2025.

 

This comes after the Sydney Morning Herald reported that Six Nations and Rugby Championship bosses will begin talks in March about a World Nations Championship.

 

 

The report states that Six Nations and Rugby Championship bosses will meet in London next month to revive the World Nations Championship in a fresh bid to overhaul rugby’s global calendar. The competition would take place every two years in four, skipping World Cup and British and Irish Lions years.

 

 

Two 12-team divisions of established and emerging nations are still on the cards, with the Six Nations and Rugby Championship unions in the top division, plus two more southern hemisphere countries, such as Fiji and Japan.

 

 

The concept was pitched by World Rugby two years ago was shot down after some Six Nations unions voted against the idea due to fear of relegation. 

 

 

"If we can work together for an outcome that produces a global champion every two years, engages our fan bases more than we do now and throughout the year, and provides a pathway for rugby's emerging nations to improve and progress, then we can be in a much better position to grow our game and take it to the next level," SANZAAR boss Brendan Morris told the SMH.

 

 

 

SOUTH AFRICA PUT SANZAAR ON NOTICE

 

Sanzaar chief executive Brendan Morris told Stuff.co.nz that the long-term strategy has already had to be revised, and plenty of developments are sure to take place over the next couple of years.

“They [South Africa] did put us on notice they were exploring their options, that was well before Christmas,” Morris said.

“We debated whether we do an announcement around the extension of the joint venture [until 2025]. But it’s purely a document that allows us to operate the business structure that we have.

“We’ve got a number of international and local broadcast deals that are extended to 2025. There was never any cause for alarm that we were never go to meet those obligations.

“But, at the end of the day, it’s about getting the partners together to create a fit-for-purpose strategy.”

HOW THE WORLD NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP WILL DIFFER FROM WORLD RUGBY'S CONCEPT

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the new World Nations Championship concept to be discussed in London will see the Six Nations and Rugby Championship would stay as competitions in their own rights but also contribute to the overall ladder.

Then, instead of an England team touring Australia for a three-Test series or an Ireland team touring New Zealand, the Wallabies, All Blacks, Springboks and Pumas would host three different countries each July.

If Fiji and Japan join the Rugby Championship in 2024, they would also host inbound Tests in that period.

In November, the southern hemisphere nations would head north for the final three rounds of the championship, potentially with a fourth week added on to crown a global champion in a blockbuster final Test.

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STATEMENT SANZAAR PARTNERS SIGN JOINT VENTURE AGREEMENT THROUGH TO 2025

The SANZAAR Executive Committee (Exco) has today confirmed that the SANZAAR joint venture partners (Rugby Australia [RA], New Zealand Rugby [NZR], South Africa Rugby [SAR] and Union Argentina Rugby [UAR]) have all committed to the organisation through to the end of the current broadcasting cycle in 2025.

 
The partners are committed to ensuring rugby in the southern hemisphere remains vibrant and competitive to ensure continued success at the top level of the game including the Rugby World Cup. All four nations currently sit in the Top 10 of World Rugby’s international rankings.

 
Despite the lingering effects of the pandemic, it is planned that The Rugby Championship 2022 will be played in its entirety with a return to matches being played in all four countries. Due to the pandemic the match schedule over the last two years has been severely affected with no matches played in Argentina and only a handful of matches taking place in South Africa and New Zealand.  The full 2022 match schedule will be announced in due course.
 

SANZAAR Chairman Marcelo Rodriguez stated, “The pandemic has created a very unusual sporting environment over the last two years with match and commercial delivery severely affected. This has seen the member unions work very hard to keep rugby alive and present during COVID and at times this has not been easy.”
 

“Indeed there has been much speculation about the future but it is now great that all members have committed through until the end of 2025 as a minimum. This means we can concentrate on ensuring The Rugby Championship remains as one of the best rugby tournaments on the world calendar,“ added Rodriguez.