A 2018 rugby league Six Nations on cards but Ireland not keen on England B

England are pencilled in to play Ireland in Dublin next autumn under the auspices of a new Six Nations tournament to increase the strength of northern hemisphere rugby league.

The tournament is provisionally on the Rugby League International Federation’s calendar and would comprise the same participants as rugby union’s Six Nations in 2018. Of those six, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France and Italy were eliminated in the group stages of the current Rugby League World Cup, while England face Tonga in a semi-final on Saturday.

Richard Egan, the chairman of Rugby League Ireland, told the Guardian: “The provisional RLIF fixtures at the minute show that there is a Six Nations next year. It’s unconfirmed at the minute though and that’s where I have issues in developing the sport here.

“In other sports you can buy tickets years in advance but I can’t guarantee what fixtures I’ve got to sell next year.”

It is unclear when the RLIF plan to announce the details officially, though the tournament should take place in October and November, following the conclusion of the domestic season.

However, that clashes with England’s three-match Test series against New Zealand next autumn, details of which the Rugby Football League confirmed on Tuesday. That lends weight to the suggestion that the England Knights concept – an emerging talent side similar to union’s England Saxons – may return to play in the tournament.

Egan, however, would be keen to see the strongest England side possible travel to Ireland to play in Dublin. He said: “We’re down for a provisional fixture against England in the capital and a game against Italy here, but if it’s an England B team, that doesn’t work for me.

“Super League clubs won’t release the big Irish players like Kyle Amor to play against England B. If we’re playing England, we want it to be the real deal.”

Ireland won two of their three group games at the World Cup but still failed to qualify for the knockout stages, a victim of the tournament’s current convoluted format. However, Egan is keen to build on their success in the coming years by persuading the RFL to induct a team from Ireland into the English leagues. “There needs to be a clear three-year plan in place, and while we’ve got some major brewers and companies in Ireland interested, we need a commitment,” he said.

“We’ll strengthen our domestic competition and then the following year, take the leading lads out of that to play against some teams in England. Then, in year three, we’d hopefully enter League 1. I’ve approached the RFL and said it needs to happen; you saw the amount of Irish interest and heritage in 2013 when we sold out our World Cup game with England. Could you sell a weekend in Dublin away to a group of Leeds fans to watch their side play? I think so.”