Rugby Championship set to be scrapped as radical new plans tabled – report
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi and his team-mates celebrate after being crowned Rugby Championship winners.
The Rugby Championship, in its current guise, is reportedly set to be scrapped until at least 2029, with Southern Hemisphere giants looking at extended tours of each nation.
The news comes in the midst of one of the most competitive Rugby Championships to date. Just two points separate table-toppers Australia from bottom-placed Argentina, while all four teams sit on records of two wins from their four fixtures.
Rugby Championship set for major overhaul as new tours proposed
These reports from the Sydney Morning Herald come amid the backdrop of the All Blacks’ proposed tour of South Africa next year, in which they will face all four URC teams and take on the Springboks in a three-Test series. There have also been suggestions that a fourth Test between the sides will take place in Europe in November, alongside the 2026 end-of-year Tests.
This is set to be the start of a new era for Southern Hemisphere rugby, with plans now in place to see all four SANZAAR nations involved in tours in 2028, too, replacing that year’s Rugby Championship in the process.
Ex-Springbok’s brash assessment of Rassie Erasmus’ side who have ‘gapped’ the rest of the world
Willie le Roux earns shock Test recall but with a twist as Springboks’ evolution continues
With that now set to see the 2028 Rugby Championship not take place, that means the six-game version of the tournament will now next take place in 2029, with the 2027 edition also shortened due to the Rugby World Cup in Australia.
As part of these proposed plans for 2028, the Wallabies are set to undergo two three-Test tours of their local rivals, with one likely to be against the All Blacks and the other against either South Africa or Argentina.
While there will be no traditional Rugby Championship in 2026, the SMH also claim that the Bledisloe Cup will still be contested in a two-Test format next year, with one Test taking place in Australia and one in New Zealand.
There are also suggestions that Australia are pushing for an ANZAC Day Bledisloe Test against the All Blacks, with New Zealand Rugby chair David Kirk previously telling the SMH he is open to that as well.