- European leaders are believed to have signed an agreement for the tournament
- Domestic leagues agreed to concessions to free up space for competition
- The Champions Cup will advance to the quarter-finals, leading to the World Club Cup.
Plans for the World Club Cup have made significant progress, with the first tournament scheduled to take place in June 2028.
European rugby leaders are thought to have signed a memorandum of understanding that could see the likes of Leinster, Toulouse and Saracens face Southern Hemisphere giants such as the Hurricanes, Brumbies and Chiefs.
And in a significant concession, the domestic league is understood to have agreed to postpone the final to May in order to prepare the decks for a new tournament to be held as an independent organization in June 2028.
This is a big change, especially for the French players, as this season's final is scheduled to take place on June 28th, while this season's Premiership final is on June 8th, with the URC final two weeks later. will be held.
A well-placed source said, “He needs to go somewhere on the weekend.'' This is a big thing for France, the French have been very protective of the Top 14 finals, but every four years there is a desire to do something different. ”
EPCR, which runs the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, has only eight weekends during the season, which will be used for four rounds of pool play and this new tournament.
The Champions Cup will be held as usual until the quarter-finals, and the European teams will be diverted to the new competition, so there will be no Champions Cup winner that year.
Instead, eight clubs will play against Super Rugby's top six teams, with two clubs from Japan to be added. Clubs that do not survive will also participate in the Super Challenge Cup.
The competition is scheduled to be held every four years, with the 2028 edition taking place in the Northern Hemisphere. Organizers are open to holding the event in the southern hemisphere in four years' time, but that will depend on broadcast deals.
The source added: “We're really working on it right now.”
This should eliminate the chance of seeing Europe's top players don the club's shirts and face off against stars from the southern hemisphere. The World Club Challenge has been held in rugby league since 1976, and is a one-off match between the Super League winner and the NRL winner.
Had the tournament been held this season, Northampton, Harlequins, Exeter, South African Bulls, Irish giants Leinster, Antoine Dupont's Toulouse, La Rochelle and Bordeaux Begles would have qualified for the Champions Cup. Dew.
In the current Super Rugby standings, New Zealand's Blues, Hurricanes and Chiefs plus Australian teams – the Brumbies, Reds and Melbourne Rebels – will pass, but Fiji's Drua has become an increasingly big topic in the competition. ing.
Two teams will then be added from Japan's Ligue 1, currently led by the Saitama Wild Knights, who feature South African World Cup winners Damien de Allende and Ruud de Jager.
Plans are also afoot to launch a women's version of the Champions Cup in 2026, which will initially feature four teams, including the Premiership Women's Rugby winners, and will be expanded over time. A meeting is scheduled for June to decide the details of the new tournament.