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Within 24 hours of being re-elected as World Rugby President, Sir Bill Beaumont admitted that there is no sign that Six Nations officials are making the radical concessions necessary to create a synchronized world calendar that would transform the sport.
Beaumont, who also insisted that World Rugby cannot compel wealthier European unions to share their income with less wealthy visiting unions in the future, has also made clear that efforts to revive the concept of the Nations Championship have yet they are in the “embryonic” stage.
One possibility is that the trial weeks of July and November could be combined into a two-month window in October and November, but Beaumont has poured cold water on the idea that the Six Nations choose to switch from their traditional position to April and May. to fit in with the Southern Hemisphere Rugby Championship.
“No one has mentioned to me that the Six Nations would move,” said Beaumont, who outpointed his opponent, Agustin Pichot, 28-23 to remain president thanks to the unanimous support of all the Six Nations unions.
“What would move, in my opinion, would be the windows of July and November. There might be an appetite to arm the windows, but why would you move the Six Nations? It is not affecting anyone else’s window on the global calendar. It is a six-week tournament that has been played in February and March since I was a boy. It does not affect any other place in the world. “
Beaumont has also made it clear that while local unions are open to the concept of a Nations Championship that would involve home and away matches against Rugby Championship teams from the southern hemisphere in every two years of an international four-cycle years, there are still no signs of the decline and promotion of the Six Nations.
“The Six Nations are owned by the Six Nations and have been operating for 150 years,” said Beaumont. “That certainly would not be the intention today. But we will analyze the world season and perhaps see again a variation of the Nations Championship. That was one of the big regrets that I couldn’t keep [last year] but we have learned from that experience. “
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The only certainty is World Rugby’s reaffirmed desire to promote competitions involving countries outside of the world’s top dozen. The revision of the regulations to allow players from the Pacific Islands to re-represent Fiji, Samoa or Tonga once they are no longer chosen for New Zealand or Australia is also part of the Beaumont manifesto, but there is widespread dismay in the southern hemisphere that Pichot’s campaign fell short. New Zealand rugby chief executive Brent Impey said his union was “disappointed” and urged Beaumont to “heed calls to change the game.”
The 68-year-old former England captain promises to try to involve players more closely in determining the future of the game. “We need to pay more attention to the players. I am committed to involving them in any decision we make.”
He also wants to replace the divisive terminology “level one” and “level two” referring instead to “emerging nations” and believes that the coronavirus pandemic is encouraging countries to work together for the common good.
“We are at a crossroads,” Beaumont said. “The pandemic has [led to] A true wish from the north and the south to bring our game together. One thing I’ll be desperate to do is put this game together. “
Beaumont added that he was “fully committed to undertaking a highly changing governance review” after British Olympic Association President Sir Hugh Robertson was selected to chair the committee. A former Conservative MP, Robertson was Minister of Sports during the London Olympics in 2012.
