A new World League, which will see 12 nations play each other in a calendar year from 2020, is set to be signed off in March.
According to the New Zealand Herald, the proposal for the league has support from all 12 nations after being under consideration for several months.
The Six Nations sides – England, Ireland, Wales, France, Scotland and Italy – as well as the Rugby Championship countries – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina – are set to be involved in the league, along with the USA and Japan.
This essentially means that the Pacific Island nations of Tonga, Samoa and Fiji have been left in the cold, as neither the Six Nations nor the Rugby Championship will introduce a promotion-relegation system.
The new league will see the Six Nations sides travelling south to play three randomly allocated Tests, before the round-robin style Rugby Championship kicks off in August with southern hemisphere nations then travelling north to play three other northern hemisphere nations in November.
