Players would risk England futures in rebel league
England players who participate in rugby union's prospective new breakaway league will risk becoming ineligible for the national side.Plans are under way for a revolutionary franchise league that hopes to attract the game's biggest stars.The competition, known as R360, is scheduled to be launched next year, with benefactors from across other sports reported to be interested in investing.Organisers insist the new league will not clash with international rugby and say players will be able to continue to represent their countries in tournaments such as the Six Nations.However any player who quits the Premiership to compete in R360 risks curtailing their international career.Under the terms of the new Professional Game Partnership (PGP), the Rugby Football Union is contractually obligated to only pick players who play in the Premiership.
Sources have told the BBC there are no plans to rewrite the terms of the PGP - an eight-year deal for which was announced in September 2024 to much fanfare - with one leading administrator saying there is "zero chance" R360 will get off the ground or attract the players required.But plans for the rebel league continue to develop in a bid to overthrow rugby union's world order.In a prospectus seen by the BBC, R360 says it can give the sport its "Super Bowl moment" with a global league that would be the "pinnacle of rugby".
With an aim to attract the top 300 men's and women's players in the world, the franchise competition would be played predominantly in the summer in some of the world's major cities - with London, Paris, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Buenos Aires and Cape Town all mentioned.R360 has also vowed to "unlock the potential of the women's game", with American superstar Ilona Maher featuring on the promotional material.But a number of senior figures in the game believe the proposals lack substance and will struggle to get either the approval needed from the governing bodies or the required investment."It's the world 12s again," one source told the BBC, referencing a shorter format of the game that never materialised., externalR360 plans to take place in two blocks – April to June and August to September – and while this would not clash with the men's Six Nations or the November internationals – it would overlap with both the southern hemisphere Rugby Championship and the Women's Six Nations.R360 is headed up by World Cup winner Mike Tindall and former Bath captain and director of rugby Stuart Hooper.Tindall says in the prospectus that R360 is being launched as a response to a club game that has "failed to capture the same level of interest and investment as international rugby"."Clubs around the world are feeling the strain and are being propped up by the international game," Tindall added."Rugby's lack of innovation and ability to change risks losing its appeal to new audiences and its younger market."
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