Semisi Tonga's number eight Semisi Paea jumps for the ball during the Pool B match between South Africa and Tonga at Stade Velodrome in Marseille, south-eastern France, on 1 October, 2023. Photo: AFP / Christophe Simon
Analysis - Having more game time will certainly help Pacific Island teams prepare for the Rugby World Cup in 2027, something that all three head coaches from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga had highlighted more than once at the Rugby World Cup in France.
And the new expansions announced by World Rugby is seen as a positive for the teams and other Tier 2 nations moving forward.
Fiji's Simon Raiwalui, Samoan head coach Vaovasamanaia Seilala Mapusua and Tonga's Toutai Kefu all said that they needed more game time for their players so their teams can perform as well as Tier One teams.
Vaovasamanaia said he was excited about the opportunities, after World Rugby announced changes during a press conference in Paris on Tuesday.
"I am excited at the potential of the expanded Pacific Nations Cup as it provides important high-quality fixture certainty to grow and develop Manu Samoa," he said.
"This means we will have more test matches and more time together as a team which we have lacked in the past. This new environment will enable us to keep growing and developing as we look towards Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia."
His team lost three out of four matches at the World Cup this time around.
Kefu said it was good to see changes being made but said there needs to be more matches against Tier One teams and that the model might be focused more on making money.
"Yes, it is progressing slowly, playing more games and therefore spending more time together," he said from Brisbane.
"Only issue is whether we can get access to our best players. It will be hard for clubs to release players for those periods. Also, we need to also play Tier 1 teams as well. This will speed up our development and also lure our best players."
He asked whether the model was aimed at developing teams or getting money.
"This model is based on TV deals and sponsorship opportunities. I think it's more about making more money. If so, why do they need more money?"
He had stepped down as the 'Ikale Tahi coach after the team's final pool match in Lille three weekends ago.
Former Tonga Rugby president and former 'Ikale Tahi Epeli (Epi) Taione said the new system is not aimed at levelling the field.
"The new competition and it's financial model is a 'close shop approach', one that is detrimental for the global development of the game and enrich only a chosen few," Taione said from Nuku'alofa.
"That playing field is more uneven now than ever."
Fiji's Raiwalui, who has stated he was stepping down as Flying Fijians coach in December, said he will go through the finer details of the new changes before commenting.
Semi Radradra of Fiji is tackled by Sam Costelow of Wales during the Rugby World Cup France 2023 match between Wales and Fiji at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on September 10, 2023 in Bordeaux, France. Photo: Adam Pretty - World Rugby/World Rugby via Getty Images
More World Cup teams
World Rugby has announced expansions to the Pacific Nations Cup in 2024 and a new Rugby World Rugby program that will see an expansion to 24 teams from 2027 in Australia.
A statement released this week said the men's Rugby World Cup 2027 in Australia will feature 24 teams.
The 11th edition of the men's pinnacle event will see the world's top teams compete for the right to lift the Webb Ellis Cup across six weeks from October 1 to November 13, 2027.
World Rugby said the new format will feature six pools of four teams, with a round of 16 added prior to the quarterfinals.
This will enable the tournament window to be reduced from seven to six weeks, while promoting a rhythm that builds momentum across the pool phase and respects the same minimum number of rest days between matches as at France 2023.
The expansion has also been made possible by linked reform of World Rugby Regulation 9 governing the international windows for player release.
The Council also supported World Rugby's desire to undertake the Pool Draw as late as possible to best reflect global competitiveness.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said the changes have been made to ensure that rugby becomes a truly global sport that is relevant and provides opportunity and competitiveness to attract new fans and grow value.
"This incredible Rugby World Cup 2023 tournament has demonstrated the passion and potential that lies beyond the top 10 or 12 nations, if we think big and think inclusive," Beaumont said.
"It is not acceptable to accept the status quo. Not acceptable to do nothing.
"The decision to expand Rugby World Cup 2027 to 24 teams is logical and the right thing to do. It's fitting that we finish this, the sport's greatest celebration of togetherness, with the sport's greatest feat of togetherness, the most significant development in the sport since the game went professional.
"A new era is about to begin for our sport. An era that will bring certainty and opportunity for all. An era that will support the many, not the few and an era that will supercharge the development of the sport beyond its traditional and often self-imposed boundaries. All boats will rise together."
World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said the decision was unanimously supported.
"There is more certainty for more nations as a result of today's decisions than there has ever been. It is not perfect.
"Would we all like relegation and promotion and pathways in these competitions to start sooner in some cases than they are? Absolutely. But again, those compromises allow for that type of pathway, that type of relegation to take place in the foreseeable future, rather than not in the foreseeable future, which is what the status quo provides.
"We really look forward to working towards those historic competition models and pathways for the future. And as Bill has said, and you've seen all of that is wrapped up in an expanded men's World Cup in 2027, to go alongside an expanded women's World Cup even sooner in 2025. Again, more opportunities for more teams to qualify in to and play in the pinnacle event of our sport and we think that's really important."
Gilpin said the decision is the culmination of a process that began in May 2022 with a new Rugby World Cup hosting model, greater collaboration on reform of the international calendar and recognition that the sport needed to evolve.
The USA take the ball up through the middle against Samoa in the second round of the World Rugby Pacific Nations Cup. Photo: Oceania Rugby
New Pacific Nations Cup approved
The second major decision taken sees an expanded Pacific Nations Cup series from 2024.
The new annual men's 15s competition will see Canada, Fiji, Japan, Samoa, Tonga and the United States of America competing in two pools, a North America/Japan pool and a Pacific Islands pool with each union hosting matches.
That is part of World Rugby's commitments to increasing global competitiveness on the road to Rugby World Cups in Australia (2027) and USA (2031).
It was approved by the international federation's Council and will be played in the southern hemisphere release window of August and September.
World Rugby said a finals series involving all teams will take place each year, where the annual champions will be confirmed. Japan and USA will host the finals series in alternate years, starting with Japan in 2024.
Backed by significant World Rugby investment and union support, each union will play a minimum of three additional matches a year via the new competition, delivering important certainty for each union in order to optimise commercial and performance returns, including ticket and sponsorship revenue and domestic broadcast.
World Rugby boss Beaumont said the current Rugby World Cup showed that nations need certainty of regular access to top-level competition to be able to build, grow and deliver on the world stage.
"This Pacific Nations Cup competition helps address that need as we look to reshape the global calendar to deliver greater opportunity, certainty and equity. By 2026, these teams will have unprecedented high-level competition access."
Gilpin said the new expanded tournament is a key pillar in a wider strategy.
"Combined with the proposed new two-division global competition model from 2026 and cross-over fixtures against high performance unions, performance unions could be playing an unprecedented number of annual fixtures from 2026," he said.
"Hosting the grand final in the USA every two years is at the heart of our strategy to grow rugby visibility, accessibility and relevance on the road to Rugby World Cup 2031 and 2033. We will be making some big announcements on this in the coming months."
Fijiana Drua beat the Waratahs 29-10 on April 1 to secure their place final of Super Rugby W Photo: Wellington Times
Pathway to help women's rugby
The World Rugby Council has also approved reform of World Rugby's Regulation 9, governing international player release.
That will pave the way for the global club and international game to complement each other for the first time with clearly defined windows of release for international duties, as well as enhanced player welfare outcomes in the form of Player Load Guidelines.
World Rugby says the adjustments have been driven by a game-wide commitment to prioritise player welfare while supporting desired competitiveness increases across performance unions.
In the women's game, the decision means clearly defined global and regional player release periods for the first time with no domestic competition overlap, opening the way to a harmonious structure that promotes opportunity and growth ahead of an expanded 16-team Rugby World Cup in 2025.
In the men's game, new competition structures coupled with an increased level of cross-over fixtures between the high performance and performance unions, will deliver long-term certainty of content for the first time, supporting increases in competitiveness, interest and value ahead of a landmark Rugby World Cup.
The reform follows extensive consultation with the professional game, including regions, unions, domestic and international competitions, and detailed evaluation of the playing, commercial and fan landscape. Implementation of the agreed package will continue to involve dialogue with all parties.
"It is fitting that we finish Rugby World Cup 2023, the sport's greatest celebration of togetherness, with the sport's greatest feat of togetherness," Beaumont said.
"Agreement on the men's and women's global calendars and their content is the most significant development in the sport since the game went professional. An historic moment for our sport that sets us up collectively for success.
"We now look forward to an exciting new era for our sport commencing in 2026. An era that will bring certainty and opportunity for all. An era that will support the many, not the few, and an era that will supercharge the development of the sport beyond its traditional and often self-imposed boundaries."
Meanwhile, Gilpin said the proposed Nations Championship which will have teams playing in a Southern and Northern hemisphere competition, will also be exciting.
"Yes, the idea is to have in the top division of 12 a European Conference made up of, in the first instance, the Six Nations teams, the Rest of the World Conference made up of the Rugby Championship teams and two additional teams to be brought into the competition.
"If you think about the flow of July and November, you play three of the teams in the other conference in July and three in November and the top two teams, the top team in the Rest of the World Conference and the top team in the European Conference, play a Grand Final.
"At the moment the intention is that as teams from the Rest of the World Conference travel in November to play in the European Conference destinations, that the Grand Final will take place in that European Conference destination."
The two teams expected to be brought into the Rugby Championship are likely to be Fiji and Japan.