London Could Host An Eight Nation 'Festival of Rugby' featuring Japan and South Africa - reports
- 838
South Africa and Japan could take part in a unique 'Festival of Rugby' along with the Six Nations according to a report in the Daily Mail.
Continued border and travel restrictions has caused further uncertainty around the November Test in Europe with a proposed ‘festival of rugby’ tournament hosted in London being one of the options being put forward if the scheduled end-of-year internationals cannot go ahead.
The tournament could be structured with two pools of four countries, “with the possibility of round-robin fixtures and a final taking place at Twickenham”.
The primary option remains for the southern hemisphere nations to see their November tour to Europe through, but the festival is among the alternatives being planned. Another option being considered is that of a home and away Six Nations which would start in November and be continued in February and March.
‘There’s another option of possibly bringing in additional invitational sides,’ RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney said. ‘It’s an opportunity to be creative and maybe create some type of festival of rugby.’ he added.
A four test Bledisloe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand has been tipped for later this year while Argentina could face the possibility of facing no tier one opposition in 2020.
