Club World Cup: A gimmick, or true test for rugby’s best?

Ruck&Maul Column

The journey to a possible rugby version of the Club World Cup got off to a shaky start last week.

The Telegraph newspaper in London, who has previously reported on the progress of such a tournament, wrote last Friday that a 16-team event was set to be held at the end of the 2027-28 season.

Those developments came out of talks in Cardiff ahead of the Challenge Cup and Champions Cup finals in Cardiff last weekend.

Then the organisers, the EPCR (European Professional Club Rugby), sent out a belated media statement on Saturday, with the headline: “EPCR Chairman Dominic McKay confirms Rugby World Club Cup to launch in 2028, with support from all unions and both hemispheres.”

McKay went on to add that the EPCR have been speaking about a Club World Cup for the last two to three years, and that everyone was “unanimous” about the new competition.

It is envisaged that the tournament would include eight teams from the Champions Cup, and eight from across Super Rugby Pacific and Japanese club rugby.

SA Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer then told Afrikaans newspaper Rapport that while he does support the venture, the “announcement is somewhat premature” as there was a lot of details missing, and that the financials must be sorted out, and that “no broadcasting rights or sponsorships have been sold” as yet.

At the moment, I am not convinced.

The idea of a Club World Cup is romantic, and we all wanted to see whether the Crusaders or the top club in Japan – the Toshiba Brave Lupus Tokyo won the league last season, and will face Malcolm Marx’s Kubota Spears in Sunday’s final – could knock over European giants like Toulouse, Leinster, La Rochelle and now Bordeaux.

But that was when Super Rugby was still a revered tournament, and the South African franchises were also involved.

Now that the Stormers, Bulls, Sharks and Lions are up north, that cross-hemisphere appetite for a Club World Cup is not quite the same.

The Australian teams have battled to stay competitive in Super Rugby Pacific, while the addition of Moana Pasifika and Fijian Drua hasn’t made a significant difference to the quality of the rugby being played.

The standard has dropped so much that even the Blues won the competition last year!

But, to be honest, is the Club World Cup a gimmick, or a true test to prove which team can be regarded as the best in the world?

Firstly, the name mentioned in the EPCR press release – Rugby World Club Cup – doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, as it sounds clumsy and unwieldy.

Then, it is mooted to take place every four years, starting in 2028. Is that the right way to go? I’m not so sure.

With club squads changing almost every year and the dynamics and demands of the Champions Cup in particular, having it only every four years reduces the gravitas of the event somewhat.

Perhaps every two years would be a better solution, if every year is not possible?

The EPCR may also have inadvertently shot down this new idea in their press release when they wrote “We believe the fans of the future want to see the greatest clubs come together. They already have that in Europe and South Africa for the Investec Champions Cup and EPCR Challenge Cup, so we want to broaden the family a bit further”.

We all know that the Champions Cup is the best club rugby competition in the world, so what is the point of a Club World Cup then?

As the youngsters say on social media, “it’s giving” Fifa Club World Cup, which does not come close to being held in the same high esteem as the Uefa Champions League.

The South African teams haven’t even properly prioritised the Champions Cup up to now, so even thinking of another tournament is a bit much.

The EPCR also mentioned that the Club World Cup “promises to be absolutely box office”.

But can you see a Bordeaux versus Crusaders clash coming close to last weekend’s titanic Bordeaux-Northampton Champions Cup final in any respect?

I don’t think so.

But let’s see what the organisers come up when they thrash out the details over the coming months, and whether a Club World Cup is actually worth the trouble of being held in place of the Champions Cup playoffs in 2028 and 2032.