Talks have reportedly been held between executives over forming a new “super league” that would include clubs from the Premiership and Vodacom URC.
According to the Telegraph, the Premiership is now open to greater collaboration with the URC, to pool resources and reduce the costs of running the club competitions.
MORE: Your URC team-by-team guide!
In what could be the biggest overhaul of the club game since rugby went professional in 1995, talks have taken place at the World Cup of forming a new league that would include British, Irish, South African and Italian teams.
“For the first time it seems that Premiership Rugby, who had previously said ‘no, no, no’ to any such talks are open to the idea of looking at a way of creating a kind of super league,” a source told the Telegraph.
A previous sticking point with the concept of a Premiership-URC merger has been the potential impact it could have on the European Champions Cup, which also includes teams from South Africa.
However, a potential solution has reportedly been put forward to make it a knockout-style competition – similar to English football’s FA Cup – which would also include clubs from the French Top 14.
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