World Rugby confirms 'historic' new global tournament and World Cup expansion

The World Rugby Council met in France on Tuesday to finalise and vote for the reform of international rugby, with the sport's governing body announcing the changes.

The need for the club and international game to align their calendars has been a pressing issue in recent years, but the reform looks set to ease those concerns.

"In the women's game, the decision means clearly defined global and regional player release periods for the first time with no domestic competition overlap, opening the way to a harmonious structure that promotes opportunity and growth ahead of an expanded 16-team Rugby World Cup in 2025," World Rugby said in a statement.

"In the men's game, new competition structures coupled with an increased level of cross-over fixtures between the high performance and performance unions will deliver long-term certainty of content for the first time, supporting increases in competitiveness, interest and value ahead of a landmark Rugby World Cup in the USA in 2031."

The new bi-annual tournament known as The Nations Championship or World League is set to debut in 2026.

The competition will take place during the existing men's July and November window. It will involve the current Rugby Championship and Six Nations teams as well as two other nations - rumoured to be Fiji and Japan.

World Rugby states that this will create "a true pathway for all unions"; however, it will be ring-fenced until 2030 at least.

A second division of the tournament, run by World Rugby, will consist of 12 teams.

"Played in the July and November international release windows, it will provide crucial opportunities (and certainty of fixtures) for unions currently outside of the existing annual competitions, and in turn provide opportunities for unions and regional associations through to the second division," World Rugby's statement read.

Meanwhile, World Rugby also confirmed that the Rugby World Cup will be expanded from 20 teams to 24 at the tournament in 2027.

This will allow more teams the opportunity to qualify for the tournament and will remove the long breaks in between fixtures that occurred at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

"It is fitting that we finish Rugby World Cup 2023, the sport's greatest celebration of togetherness, with the sport's greatest feat of togetherness," World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said.

"Agreement on the men's and women's global calendars and their content is the most significant development in the sport since the game went professional. A historic moment for our sport that sets us up collectively for success.

"We now look forward to an exciting new era for our sport commencing in 2026. An era that will bring certainty and opportunity for all. An era that will support the many, not the few, and an era that will supercharge the development of the sport beyond its traditional and often self-imposed boundaries. I would like to thank all my colleagues for their spirit of collaboration. Today, we have achieved something special."

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