‘Key principles agreed’ ahead of World Club Cup launch in 2028

Momentum is building towards a first World Club Cup in 2028, with powerbrokers hoping to hold the 16-team tournament over four weeks in June of that year in the northern hemisphere.

Insiders have suggested that there is “positive momentum” behind the plans, with “key principles agreed” between northern and southern hemisphere bosses.

The new tournament will take place every four years, meaning a second edition has been mooted for 2032, and will effectively replace the Investec Champions Cup knockout stages for the European and South African sides that qualify. Those that advance to the World Club Cup from the Champions Cup will be decided by the pool stages of the latter.

For instance, were the World Club Cup being staged this year, then Toulouse, Leinster, Northampton Saints, Bordeaux-Bègles, Harlequins, Bulls, Stormers and Exeter Chiefs advance into a separate knockout format that would include the top six Super Rugby franchises and two more club teams, most probably from Japan.

The eight clubs that made up this season’s last 16 – Bath, La Rochelle, Lyon, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens, Munster, Leicester Tigers and Racing 92 this season – would then drop into a “super-charged” Challenge Cup.

This would be made possible by domestic competitions finishing earlier in these years, which is a significant step given that the French have been understandably protective over keeping the Top 14 showpiece in its early summer slot.

Meanwhile, there is also meaningful progress being made on a women’s Champions Cup. Proposals are due to be examined at a conference this June and the target is for a first edition to be held in 2026, the year after the World Cup is held in England.

Contestants would come from England’s Premiership Women’s Rugby, Élite 1 Feminine in France, the Celtic Challenge, which contains sides from Wales, Ireland and Scotland, as well as the Latin Cup, including clubs from Italy and Spain.

Global feel to World Club Cup essential to its success

In an age of scepticism surrounding rugby union administrators, where many incumbents are attempting to unpick mistakes of the past, it is impressive that proposals for a World Club Cup are seemingly close to reality. Just persuading domestic competitions to shift back their finals to May, leaving June open for the inaugural showpiece in 2028, will have been a task demanding plenty of negotiation and patience.

Raw intrigue has never been a problem and it has felt as though this tournament has been in the ether for years. In recent times, we have often wondered about who would prevail in a tussle between Leinster and the Crusaders, while the latter were in the midst of their silverware glut in Super Rugby. Those two teams even hooked up for tactical workshops over lockdown.

Now that it is apparently nearing, cynics will question whether the game really needs a four-week World Club Cup in the summer after an international one. Players that have represented their respective countries over the previous year will be frazzled. Environmental costs will not be insignificant, either.

Insiders believe the venture can “generate significant finance”, which underpins everything, because there will be a sense of the unknown about the first instalment. It will be interesting to see how supporters feel about the list of Champions Cup victors being left absent once every four years. That concept might sadden any traditionalists that have not already been terminally disillusioned by the tweaks to European competition and a confusing format.

What, then, could this creation look like? We have to fudge things slightly because of how the seasons work, but this year would have seen Toulouse, Leinster, Northampton Saints, Bordeaux-Bègles, Harlequins, Bulls, Stormers and Exeter Chiefs advance from the Champions Cup pool stages. The top six of Super Rugby Pacific, albeit with the teams only having played six or seven fixtures, reads: Blues, Hurricanes, Brumbies, Chiefs, Rebels, Reds.

Currently occupying first and second in Japan’s top tier are the prolific Saitama Wild Knights and Brave Lupus Tokyo. The former boast Damian de Allende and Marika Koroibete among their ranks, while the latter have Michael Leitch and Richie Mo’unga. Depending on buy-in from teams, which would be critical to the success of the World Club Cup, there should be squads stacked full of stars. In all honesty, the Premiership representatives would be up against it – but why would that put anyone off?

Imagining the make-up of a draw and potential routes to a grand final at once whets the appetite and throws up one more question. Is this another way to isolate the haves from the have-nots?

The Jaguares from Argentina are rumoured to return to Super Rugby in the coming years and Fiji Drua could well be pressing for a World Club Cup spot by 2028. Theoretically, teams from Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales could feature. Moana Pasifika, based in New Zealand, is made of players with Pacifica heritage and surely a Georgian team will be in the United Rugby Championship before too long.

All that adds up to a decent geographical spread. But could we be doing more? Perhaps this only accentuates the plight of the rugby administrator. The answer is always ‘yes’.