The closed-shop in international rugby union was reinforced this week after the second coming of the Nations Championship was announced by World Rugby in Paris, albeit four years after it was forced to abandon its initial launch attempt.
There is very little difference between the two versions of the concept, other than that this time it was voted through 40-10 by the World Rugby Council, and is scheduled to start in 2026. It was hailed immediately by chairman Bill Beaumont and chief executive Alan Gilpin as historic, amid Gilpin’s claim that it would create “guaranteed pathways for all nati...