It also envisages co-ordinating the start and end times of different national leagues, with northern hemisphere domestic competitions like the Premiership and Pro12 starting and finishing later, with the season wrapping up in June, with the southern hemisphere leagues ending around the same time.
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World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont and vice-chairman Agustin Pichot have been leading negotiations, with the changes expected to be ratified at the next council meeting at the end of November.
A Women’s Rugby League World Cup will run parallel to the men’s competition for the first time next year.
Other more radical changes have been proposed in the past but they have found it hard to win universal support as they have typically required one of the hemispheres to make significant changes to the timing of their core competitions.
Both the Six Nations and World Cup would remain in their traditional spots in the calendar but the number of internationals would be cut.
“It’s only fitting these gifted athletes get the opportunity to showcase their skills on a global stage and we see next year’s Women’s Rugby League World Cup as a game charger for the sport”.
There is certainly an appetite for what would effectively be a club world cup.
The final team will come from the Pacific qualifying series featuring Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Cook Islands in Sydney next month after which the draw will be announced.
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“Our female players are bringing global recognition to the game and I encourage all fans to attend the Women’s World Cup next year where they will witness the tremendous talent we have in our game”. They would then have a short break before commencing the Rugby Championship, before heading to Europe as they now do.
