Momentum is building towards the first Club World Cup in 2028, with power brokers hoping to stage the 16-team tournament over four weeks in the northern hemisphere in June that year.
Insiders suggested there was “positive momentum” behind the plans and that “fundamental principles have been agreed” between northern and southern hemisphere bosses.
The new tournament will take place every four years, meaning a second tournament is planned for 2032 and will replace the Investec Champions Cup qualifying stages for the European and South African teams that qualify for the tournament. Those who will advance from the Champions Cup to the Club World Cup will be determined in the pool stages of the latter.
For example, if the Club World Cup is held this year, Toulouse, Leinster, Northampton Saints, Bordeaux-Bègles, Harlequins, Bulls, Stormers and Exeter Chiefs move to a separate knockout format involving the top six Super Rugby franchises and two teams. more club teams, most likely from Japan.
The eight clubs that make up this season’s last 16 (Bath, La Rochelle, Lyon, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens, Munster, Leicester Tigers and this season Racing 92) will then be relegated to a “supercharged” Challenge Cup.
This will be possible by finishing local competitions earlier in these years; It’s an important step, given the French are understandably protective of keeping the Top 14 showpiece in its early summer home.
Meanwhile, significant progress is being made regarding the Women’s Champions Cup. The proposals will be examined at a conference this June, with the first edition aimed to be held in 2026, the year after the World Cup in England.
Competitors will come from England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby, France’s Élite 1 Feminine, the Celtic Challenge, which includes teams from Wales, Ireland and Scotland, as well as the Latin Cup, which includes clubs from Italy and Spain.
The global sense needed for the success of the Club World Cup
In an age of skepticism from rugby union administrators, with many officials trying to correct past mistakes, it is impressive that the Club World Cup proposals are seemingly close to reality. Convincing local competitions to move their finals to May, leaving June open for the opening show in 2028, was going to be a task that required plenty of negotiation and patience.
Raw intrigue was never an issue, and it felt as if this tournament had been in the ether for years. Lately, we have often wondered who would emerge victorious in the clash between Leinster and Crusaders; The Crusaders were in the midst of a silverware bonanza in Super Rugby. These two teams even came together for tactical workshops due to the quarantine.
Now that it’s apparently getting closer, skeptics will question whether the game can be played at all. Really He needs an international cup followed by a four-week Club World Cup in the summer. Players who represented their countries last year will be exhausted. Environmental costs will not be insignificant either.
Insiders believe the startup “could raise significant funding,” which underpins the whole thing because there will be a sense of the unknown with the first installment. It will be interesting to see what the fans think about the list of Champions Cup winners remaining incomplete every four years. This concept may upset traditionalists who are not already disappointed by the changes to the European competition and the confusing format.
So what might this creation look like? We have to exaggerate things a bit because of the way seasons work, but this year we could see Toulouse, Leinster, Northampton Saints, Bordeaux-Bègles, Harlequins, Bulls, Stormers and Exeter Chiefs progressing through the Champions Cup pool stages. Despite the teams only playing six or seven games, Super Rugby Pacific’s top six are: Blues, Hurricanes, Brumbies, Chiefs, Rebels, Reds.
Currently sitting first and second in Japan’s top tier are the prolific Saitama Wild Knights and Brave Lupus Tokyo. The ranks of the former include Damian de Allende and Marika Koroibete, while the latter include Michael Leitch and Richie Mo’unga. Star-studded squads must be assembled, dependent on participation from teams that are critical to the success of the Club World Cup. To be honest, Premiership representatives will be against it but why should that put anyone off?
Immediately imagining what the draw will be like and potential paths to the grand final whets the appetite and raises another question. Is this just another way to separate the haves from the have-nots?
The Argentinian Jaguars are rumored to return to Super Rugby in the coming years, and the Fijian Drua could also be pushing to qualify for the Club World Cup by 2028. In theory, teams from Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales can feature. New Zealand-based Moana Pacifica is comprised of players with Pacifica heritage and it is certain that a Georgian team will be participating in the United Rugby Championship before long.
All this contributes to a reasonable geographical spread. But can we do more? Perhaps this only further highlights the rugby manager’s plight. The answer is always ‘yes’.