Stunning new rugby competition proposed with teams bidding for world's best players

Some of Wales' top players could be the subject of mega money deals to play in rugby's version of the IPL.

South African newspaper Rapport claim the tournament is being mooted for 2026 in the USA and it will take on a similar form to cricket's Indian Premier League. The report claims around 280 men and 140 women players will be recruited for the proposed new league, with teams potentially bidding for their services.

There is set to be a big financial incentive for players with wages between £600,000-£900,000 being mooted. An anonymous source told Rapport: , “They’re making a serious push to bring in the world’s best players.

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“It could not succeed in the past and I doubt it will happen in 2026 despite the latest efforts. I suspect World Rugby will probably have a hard time finding room in the calendar to accommodate it.

“Eventually, it could become like the LIV Golf series, where players will receive big salaries as a breakout group. This could mean that rugby players will have to choose between that and, for example, playing for the Springboks a year before the World Cup.”

A number of player agents are reported to have held talks around the project on behalf of some of the game's biggest stars.

There will naturally be concerns surrounding player welfare given the stacked domestic and international rugby calendars. On top of that there are also fears the competition could force players to choose between featuring in the proposed new tournament or playing Test rugby for their country.

The identities of the potential investors backing this project is unknown, neither is when the tournament would fit into the already heavily congested rugby calendar. It is unlikely Wales' players will be at the top of the list given their struggles of late but there are at least a handful who will surely be on the radar.

The likes of Jac Morgan, Aaron Wainwright and Tomos Williams, among others, are all top end Test players who would surely be among the 280 players in contention. Given the current financial struggles in rugby in general, let alone in Wales, receiving such lucrative offers could be too good to turn down.

This idea would follow the lead of cricket's IPL which is a franchised-based competition consisting of eight teams. It takes place across seven weeks so in theory the rugby version would have a similar number of teams consisting of the world's best players.]

In 2021, a revolutionary 'World 12s' competition, that would have worked in a similar IPL-style format, was proposed and backed by the likes of Steve Hansen before being blocked by World Rugby.