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Tier II nations set to win big from proposed World Nations League

Japan's Amanaki Lelei Mafi squares up to Fiji's Nemia Soqeta. (Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images)

Tier II nations could be the big winners in the wake of fresh talks about a proposed World Nations League between world rugby leaders in Los Angeles this week.

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According to The Times, discussions regarding the format of the new competition have included tier two nations Fiji and Japan joining sides from the Six Nations and Rugby Championship in a 12-team league.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BtPEVTYAvRI/

Each team would play each other once throughout the year, followed by a series of play-off matches, with a final between the best nation from either hemisphere to be played at a neutral venue such as Wembley Stadium in London or Camp Nou in Barcelona.

Talks of relegation from the Six Nations have also been proposed.

The report from The Times outlines a proposition which would see the bottom-placed Six Nations side take on the winner of the Europe Rugby Championship, which features second-tier nations Georgia, Romania, Russia, Spain, Germany, and Belgium.

The winner of that promotion/relegation play-off would claim a spot in the next season’s edition of the World Nations League.

Shortened versions of the competition could take place in years featuring British and Irish Lions tours, while the tournament is set to be put on hold during World Cup years in an attempt to preserve rugby’s flagship event.

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J
JW 20 minutes ago
Competing interests and rotated squads: What the 'player welfare summer' is really telling us

Nice, that’s good to hear, I was worried for the tackler and it increasing concussions overall.


My question is still the same, and the important one though. Where the rate of concussions in Fed 2 high? Of course if there where only three concussions, and they were reduced now to one, then there is no need for the new laws etc.


There are two angles to this discussion, mine above about player welfare, and of course the that which you raise, legal responsibility. More, the legal responsibility we are concerned with is what’s happening now.


WR don’t really know much about CTE I wouldn’t think, whether it happens from innocuous things like heading a ball, or from small knocks or big knocks that don’t heal. Right now they are ensuring the backside is clean by implementing laws to rule out any possibility they didn’t do enough. So once they understand the problem more they may realise some things are overboard.


The other legal responsibility is the one you are talking about in France, the past. Did the LNR and WR know about the severity and frequency of CTE in rugby? That is the question in that debate. If they didn’t know then theres nothing they could have done, so there is no worry. Further, what we may have now is a situation where 90% of those court actions might not happen in future thanks to the new framework we already have around HIA and head contact processes. Your English example is only going to be an issue if future players still continue to receive CTE (as that is obviously bad), as it is now, the players have taken on their own responsibility by ignore advice. No doubt some countries, like France and New Zealand, will lower their tackle height, but as long as the union has done an adequate job in advising of the severity of the problem at least the legal shadow over the community game will have gone.

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