The organisers of rugby’s rebel league have set a target of September 2025 to activate millions of pounds worth of player contracts for a competition that could upend the sport.
Ambitious promoters are hunting some of the game’s biggest stars for the competition that will be staged around the world like a touring circus.
Pre-contracts have already been offered to headline players, which will involve complicated buyouts from their existing club deals.
Mail Sport understands that three conditions must be met by next September in order for the pre-contracts to kick in.
The conditions are to have eight franchises sold in the fundraising process, an international TV deal and 200 players signed up.
If successful, the first competition could be staged in the summer of 2026. Organisers are hoping to secure funds from the USA and the Middle East, with hundreds of millions of pounds required to recruit the sport’s front-line stars.
Former England centre Mike Tindall is understood to have been consulted in the concept-planning stage
The World Cup winner has been openly critical of rugby’s existing structures in the past
Former England international and 2003 World Cup winner Mike Tindall is understood to have been consulted during the concept-planning stage.
Tindall has been critical of rugby’s existing structures, recently talking up the value of franchise systems on his The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.
‘I know you can’t change the past but the problem is that no one went to the NFL in 1995 and said, “We’re thinking of doing this, how would you do it?”
‘They’d have probably said your main body has to run everything, selling all its franchising and all its sponsorship under one thing and it distributes it evenly throughout the clubs. Now we’re just trying to patch up.
‘We’ve been here (since rugby went professional) because it was never set up properly in the first place. It was a lot of shuffling of decks and people going, “Oh my god, I can make money off this”. If you look back now, the only way it would have really worked is having that central league type of thing, where you sell the rights to the whole league.’
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney is yet to comment on the competition, keeping a low profile after England’s disappointing autumn campaign and calls for him to resign after his seven-figure pay cheque was revealed.
Ex-England coach to make rare appearance
The lesser-spotted former England defence coach Felix Jones – who continues to work from home under a strict agreement with the RFU – will be back inside an international stadium this weekend when he attends Ireland against Australia in Dublin.
Jones shocked the RFU and national coach Steve Borthwick this summer when he announced his intention to quit the England setup just seven months after joining.
He has worked remotely on long-term projects for England since, but not been with the team this autumn after being replaced by Joe El-Abd.
Jones’ status in limbo means he hasn’t been seen publicly for months, but Rugby Confidential understands he will be a guest speaker in the hospitality boxes at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday for Ireland’s meeting with the Wallabies that completes the Autumn Nations Series.
RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney (right) is keeping a low profile following calls to resign after his seven-figure pay cheque was revealed
Felix Jones will return to an international rugby stadium for Ireland’s clash with Australia
Gloucester target All Blacks star
Gloucester are interested in recruiting English-qualified No 8 Hoskins Sotutu after he was left out of the All Blacks squad for their autumn tour.
Sotutu has been capped by New Zealand but he could become eligible for England next November if he completes a 36-month standdown period.
Sotutu is eligible for England through his mother and he could replace Toulon-bound Zach Mercer at Kingsholm.
Japan pranked on media call
Japan’s apprehensive media team were left in a panic on Friday night when a Zoom account claiming to be Danny Care logged into their pre-match media conference.
The JRFU have shut down their media schedule since Care accused Eddie Jones of overseeing years of toxic culture during his time as England coach.
Jones, now with Japan, pulled out of his pre-match press conference at the last minute and was replaced by his assistant Neal Hatley. An independent moderator seemed to be unaware of the backstory when she invited Care to ask a question after raising his virtual hand.
In the background, a member of the support staff was overheard saying: ‘Care is on conference?’ Hatley was left in a state of confusion, saying: ‘DC… is that you? Is that really Danny?’
Care insists he had nothing to do with the online profile and suspected Owen Slot, the Times’ chief sports writer, as the man behind the profile. Rugby Confidential understands that Slot was not behind the prank.
Hoskins Sotutu has been capped by New Zealand but he could become eligible for England next November
Eddie Jones pulled out of a pre-match press conference that saw a fake Danny Care account attend the Zoom session
Care has recently accused Jones of overseeing a toxic culture while England’s head coach
Springboks forward goes without shower
South Africa’s latest star Cameron Hanekom was forced to board his team’s bus back to their Cardiff hotel still wearing full kit after being selected for a post-match drugs test following victory over Wales.
Back-row forward Hanekom, 22, made his Springbok debut in the 45-12 hammering, playing against the team he could have represented given he has a Welsh grandmother.
World Rugby’s doping testing sees players selected on a random basis to provide post-match samples and Hanekom was one of the ones chosen at Principality Stadium.
However, by the time he emerged, his team-mates had already changed and were heading home meaning Hanekom was forced to go without a post-match shower on site.
Franco Mostert, player of the match in Cardiff, started South Africa’s celebrations after their final game of the year by walking to the bus carrying a huge crate of lager.
Italian legend attends All Blacks Test
Italian football legend Alessandro Del Piero was among the guests at Italy’s Test against the All Blacks on Saturday.
The fixture was held at Juventus’ home stadium and Del Piero was presented with an Italian No 10 rugby jersey after the match.
