{"id":1985,"date":"2024-10-23T08:48:21","date_gmt":"2024-10-23T08:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=1985"},"modified":"2024-10-23T08:52:30","modified_gmt":"2024-10-23T08:52:30","slug":"1985-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=1985","title":{"rendered":"JUST IN: Should Fiji and Japan be included in the rejigged Rugby Championship?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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From the moment news broke that the New Zealand\u00a0and South African national unions had reached agreement for quadrennial bilateral tours beginning in 2026, one question has stood out in southern hemisphere rugby: What does this mean for The Rugby Championship?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Coming out of a rivalry that extends back more than a century, and fuelled by maybe the greatest\u00a0Rugby World Cup\u00a0final in ten editions of the game\u2019s pinnacle tournament, reports emerged in early September that New Zealand Rugby and the South African Rugby Union were on the verge of ignoring SANZAAR partners, Rugby\u00a0Australia\u00a0and the Uni\u00f3n\u00a0Argentina\u00a0de Rugby, and are now simply making their own arrangements.<\/p>\n

On top of the SANZAAR and\u00a0Six Nations\u00a0Rugby-led Nations Championship kicking off biennially from 2026, NZR and SARU\u2019s agreement proposed\u00a0South Africa\u00a0would host in 2026 and New Zealand in 2030, and that the first iteration of the tour arrangement would have the\u00a0All Blacks\u00a0play the four South African URC teams \u2013 the Lions, Sharks, Bulls and Stormers \u2013 a match against South Africa A, and three blockbuster Test Matches against the World Champion Springboks. It would mark NZ\u2019s first full tour of the Republic in three decades.<\/p>\n

But when the news of \u201cRugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry\u201d, as it\u2019s been dubbed, did emerge in early September, the reporting as to the status of The\u00a0Rugby Championship\u00a0for 2026 and 2030 varied considerably.<\/p>\n

Much of the reporting out of New Zealand echoed NZR\u2019s preference for TRC to not be played at all in the tour years, while other reporting mentioned SARU\u2019s preference to play the TRC as a single round as happens in RWC years.<\/p>\n

\"South
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe Rugby Championship will still happen, but it will probably be a single round, which we are pushing for,\u201d SARU CEO Rian Oberholzer was quoted in reporting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it is not going to happen, we as SARU did say to Argentina and Australia that we will play one-off Test matches against them.\u201d<\/p>\n

NZR have similarly committed to still play two Bledisloe Cup fixtures in 2026 and 2030, and this being the case, it would certainly seem strange if games were played against SANZAAR partners and they weren\u2019t included in annuls of The Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

Clearly, there\u2019s still a lot to play out.<\/p>\n

Indeed, SANZAAR were given the opportunity to outline any background role they had in the NZR\/SARU tour discussions and TRC impacts for this column, but declined, citing the complexity of the next broadcast cycle from 2026, including the first iteration of the Nations Championship, now reportedly set to be played in London.<\/p>\n

It is premature to go into any details around the future format of The Rugby Championship at present as there is much to finalise in terms of the overall playing window.<\/p>\n

Rugby Championship spokesperson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cTherefore, it is premature to go into any details around the future format of The Rugby Championship at present as there is much to finalise in terms of the overall playing windows,\u201d their spokesperson said in response.<\/p>\n

From a Rugby Australia point of view, Chairman\u00a0Daniel Herbert\u00a0has alluded to compensation for Australia and Argentina for the loss of TRC fixtures against the Springboks and All Blacks, and there has been suggestion that the significant commercial benefits from the NZ\/SA tours could make this a very real prospect.<\/p>\n

In some respects, it might be more benefit to RA and the UAR to\u00a0not play<\/em>\u00a0the TRC in the tour years.<\/p>\n

But the rugby calendar in 2026 and 2030 will still have significant TRC-shaped holes that need to be filled, and this is where a recent podcast conversation has stuck with me over the last few weeks.<\/p>\n

London-based South African\u00a0Planet Rugby<\/em>\u00a0scribe Jared Wright joined\u00a0Harry Jones\u00a0and I on\u00a0The 8-9 Combo Rugby Podcast<\/em>\u00a0a few weeks ago to wrap up The Rugby Championship for 2024, and within that we pondered the tournament\u2019s future, with news of the NZ-SA tours still fresh in our minds<\/p>\n

\"Japan<\/figure>\n

With the three of us none the wiser what might happen in 2026 \u2013 there\u2019s that complexity and uncertainty again \u2013 I wondered if this was the opportunity for SANZAAR to finally bring Japan and Fiji into The Rugby Championship, even if just as a gap-filler in these tour years. It was a throwaway line based on nothing more than a feeling, but we all agreed that it was an idea worth exploring.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I approach this just as a fan, just as a fan, that would be all-time,\u201d Stan Sport\u2019s voice of Australian rugby, Sean Maloney said when I put the idea to him this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would be so good to see. And just as a pure rugby fan, I think the reason it would be so good is because there\u2019s automatic buy-in on the other side as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Japanese fans are going to turn up, they\u2019re going to fill whatever stadium they get a chance to get to, and the same with Fiji. So, from a fan perspective, seeing full stadiums, and seeing people going berserk for their team would be unreal.\u201d<\/p>\n

If we just look at this from an understanding the game better point of view, it would give Australians the chance to travel to Fiji to see firsthand how much the game means to them over there.<\/p>\n

Sean Maloney<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maloney still speaks in glowing terms of his experience covering the 2019 RWC in Japan, and even the local support for the\u00a0Sunwolves\u00a0during their time in Super Rugby convinces him of Japan\u2019s need to be more involved than they currently are.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re insatiable over there. Even when the \u2018Moondogs\u2019 were going along, you\u2019d still get new full houses. They\u2019ve got a massive appetite for it,\u201d he says, name-dropping the endearing colloquialism given to the Sunwolves by Australian and New Zealand Super Rugby fans during their five-year run.<\/p>\n

Maloney says there would be no trouble selling tickets for Test Matches in Suva or Nadi, either, quickly adding that he could easily see Wallabies fans jumping at the idea of a rugby weekend in Fiji with a few days golf at one of many outstanding resort courses on the islands either side. He quite likes the idea himself, in fact.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, if we just look at this from an understanding the game better point of view, it would give Australians the chance to travel to Fiji to see firsthand how much the game means to them over there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Fiji<\/figure>\n

\u201cGo and see how they can take an empty 1.25 litre Coke bottle and turn it into a footy and have the time of their lives. It would just give Aussie fans the chance to get true perspective, from a rugby sense and a life sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the idea of Argentina, Fiji, Australia, and Japan \u2013 currently ranked 6th, 9th, 10th and 14th<\/sup>\u00a0respectively on the World Rugby standings \u2013 coming together in a single tournament quickly brings with it a sense of expectation. Those four teams, on current form, would match up quite well and would create a genuine spectacle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just that. It\u2019s the contrasting styles of play as well, which is awesome,\u201d Maloney agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose four styles of play generally bring points. So, the pace at which Japan play, and then the offloading game with Fiji, and then Argentina and the Aussies pulling it together.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reckon it would be awesome. I really do. I think it would be a fantastic way to fill that void if we don\u2019t get a chance to see the established Rugby Championship through those periods of time, and I also think there\u2019s elements of it being the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

The last point is an important one. The idea of expanding The Rugby Championship has certainly been around since the Brave Blossoms\u2019 superb showing as RWC hosts in 2019, and even gathered pace for a short time when the Flying Fijians reached their first ever RWC knockout stage in\u00a0France\u00a0in 2023 \u2013 ironically, at the expense of the Wallabies not reaching a RWC knockout stage for the first time.<\/p>\n

But progress has been glacially slow since then. In fact, the emergence of the Nations Championship, and Japan and Fiji\u2019s widely assumed but still yet to be confirmed inclusion as the 11th<\/sup>\u00a0and 12th<\/sup>\u00a0teams has perhaps brought TRC expansion talk to a grinding halt.<\/p>\n

Under an Eddie Jones second coming of their own, Japan have slipped from 11th<\/sup>\u00a0and 12th<\/sup>\u00a0in the world rankings earlier in the year to their current 14th<\/sup>\u00a0as they embark on the inevitable re-jig under a new coach. They\u2019ll play New Zealand, France and\u00a0England\u00a0in the November window, but like all teams trying to break into the top ten, crave more so-called \u2018top tier\u2019 fixtures.<\/p>\n

Fiji, on the other hand, have just carried on under new national coach Mick Byrne, and rose from 11th<\/sup>\u00a0to their current 9th<\/sup>\u00a0on the back of thumping Japan 41-14 in Osaka, to claim the\u00a0Pacific Nations Cup\u00a0last month.<\/p>\n

\"Joe
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Their rise has been a continuation of the good work Simon Rawailui started 18 months ago in the run-up to the RWC in France, and has benefitted tremendously from the promotion of Byrne to the national side from the\u00a0Fijian Drua\u00a0in Super Rugby.<\/p>\n

Familiarity has been the key, as more and more Drua players fill the national Flying Fijians squad, and with Byrne now able to enhance the skillsets and gameplans he had as Drua coach with the addition of genuine international stars like centres\u00a0Waisea Nayacalevu\u00a0and\u00a0Semi Radradra\u00a0and so many others plying their trade in Europe.<\/p>\n

Mark Evans, the former Saracens, Harlequins, and Western\u00a0Force\u00a0CEO, has overseen the Drua\u2019s rise in Super Rugby as CEO since their admission, and has already seen the local pathways benefit from the presence of professional rugby on-islands has done for the game in Fiji.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe run a 37-38 man senior squad for the Drua, with a 10-12 player development squad underneath,\u201d Evans explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we\u2019ve just started the Academy for 16-19 year-olds, which in two years\u2019 time will be populated with around 90 boys. It\u2019s created a pretty decent structure that should do two things \u2013 it should produce a constant stream of players, and it should give boys at 15 or 16 years of age an alternative to going overseas.\u201d<\/p>\n

No other team plays so many games away as Fiji. In the last 18 months, I think Fiji have played something like 25 games. Three of them have been at home.<\/p>\n

Mark Evans<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Evans mentions Radradra and others who have gone off to the NRL in Australia, and what he calls the \u201cgenerational talents\u201d that have left home at 17 to go into JIFF programs in France, the\u00a0Joueurs Issus des Fili\u00e8res de Formation,<\/em>designed to qualify players for Les Bleus by 22 or 23.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope these pathways will encourage boys to stay in Fiji, come through and play for the Drua, then go on to play for the Flying Fijians, and then maybe they might go to Europe or Japan at 27 or 28 just like happens everywhere else,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Evans says the Nations Championship, if Fiji are included as has been reported since the concept was first mentioned, provides Fijian rugby the next important step in their international growth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is really important for us at a number of levels,\u201d Evans says.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne, I think we\u2019re ready for it. The other is that I think we will be a handful for any team in Fiji.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo other team plays so many games away as Fiji. In the last 18 months, I think Fiji have played something like 25 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cThree of them have been at home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Fijian
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Importantly, the Nations Championship would finally give Fiji a chance to play \u2018top tier\u2019 nations on home soil, something that hasn\u2019t really happened since they hosted\u00a0Scotland\u00a0in Suva back in 2017. Despite the proximity, and now the\u00a0Super Rugby Pacific\u00a0links, the Wallabies or All Blacks both haven\u2019t played in Fiji since 1984.<\/p>\n

The commercial and economic constraints are often cited as a prohibitor of top teams touring Fiji, but Evans rightly makes the point that it\u2019s even harder to overcome these economic constraints if you never get any content to monetise in your home market.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Drua have shown time and time again that there is a market in Fiji. Only a million, or just under a million people, but they\u2019re all bonkers about the game and there is a market. And so, with good management, I think the Nations Championship ticks every box at every level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fiji playing in The Rugby Championship, even if only in those NZ-SA tour years would similarly tick those boxes. More international content on home soil would bring significant economic benefit with it, but it would also enhance the already visible and strengthening rugby pathways put in place by the Drua.<\/p>\n

From a personal point of view, as a fan, I\u2019d love to see Fiji and Japan come in, but as a broadcaster, you would just bend over backwards to call those games because they\u2019re both teams that are awesome to watch.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More than that though, SANZAAR has also shown it can adapt when needed.<\/p>\n

When the Springboks chose not to come to Australia in the first COVID-impacted season in 2020, SANZAAR resurrected the old Tri-Nations tournament, and the Wallabies, All Blacks, and Los\u00a0Pumas\u00a0just carried on. The precedent for SANZAAR members not playing in TRC for a season is right there in the history books.<\/p>\n

But would they want to adapt? And would NZR and SARU let The Rugby Championship carry on without them?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll find out in due course, with discussions around new broadcast negotiations for 2026 underway. It seems like the perfect appetiser toward what should be an inevitable step of expanding TRC, yet it remains far from certain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know why we don\u2019t just start that in \u201826 as a taste test and see how it goes,\u201d Maloney concludes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom a personal point of view, as a fan, I\u2019d love to see Fiji and Japan come in, but as a broadcaster, you would just bend over backwards to call those games because they\u2019re both teams that are awesome to watch, and that are then in turn soaked up by fans across those regions who absolutely love the game.<\/p>\n

I mean, you can\u2019t miss. They\u2019re not just two awesome rugby-playing countries, they\u2019re just two awesome countries full stop. It\u2019s a no brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the moment news broke that the New Zealand\u00a0and South African national unions had reached agreement for quadrennial bilateral tours beginning in 2026, one question has stood out in southern hemisphere rugby: What does this mean for The Rugby Championship? Coming out of a rivalry that extends back more than a century, and fuelled by 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