IRB plan World Series Championship

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From planetrugby.com

New Zealand captain Richie McCaw has praised plans for a World Series championship to provide top-level international competition between Rugby World Cups.

The tournament would offer the All Blacks, whose domination of world rugby seems to come unstuck every four years at the World Cup, with the opportunity for competitive recognition in the intervening seasons.

But McCaw believes it would not only be good for New Zealand but for the game globally.

"If it's done right it could add something to world rugby, it could be a real spectacle," he said.

The International Rugby Board (IRB), concerned at the lack of intensity shown by weakened European countries who head to the Southern Hemisphere at the end of a long, hard domestic season, are anxious to give the games real meaning to boost their commercial value.

They are proposing a biennial tournament with all Six Nations matches and some Tri-Nations games counting towards the World Series along with other matches involving Argentina.

Ten countries would be involved - New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, Wales, France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Argentina.

The project will be up for discussion next month and McCaw, in at the start when it was first talked about at last year's IRB convention, is a convert already.

"I was at the IRB's big thing they had in Woking last year and that was something that was talked about," he said.

"Instead of guys just turning up at the end of the season to play Tests with nothing riding on it, it might add something and keep the excitement up for both fans and players.

"If they can work something out it could be good - as long as they don't want to take anything away from the World Cup as the real pinnacle."

If the scheme is approved it could result in a £10m final in front of a 92,000 capacity crowd at Wembley as early as 2010.

McCaw was hugely impressed with the new Wembley which he visited for the first time on Friday in the build-up to Olympic Centenary match between the Barbarians and Australia on Wednesday, December 3.

"I was blown away at the size of Wembley and can't wait to run out there. It's a fantastic stadium," he continued.

"Playing a game there in front of a huge crowd will be something that doesn't come around all that often.

Some of the proceeds from the match, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1908 Olympic Games in London where Australia won the rugby gold medal with a 32-3 victory over Great Britain at the White City Stadium, will go towards Team GB's preparations for the 2012 London Games.

The Barbarians have already lined up an array for stars, including McCaw, fellow New Zealanders Jerry Collins, Joe Rokocoko and Carl Hayman along with the nucleus of South Africa's 2007 World Cup-winning side.

The Springboks will be represented by Percy Montgomery, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Fourie du Preez, John Smit, Bakkies Botha and Schalk Burger, with their triumphant coach Jake White in charge of the side.