McCafferty Looks At Pros And Cons Of New Global Season

Premiership Rugby chief executive, Mark McCafferty has discussed the impact and opportunities presented by the new global season at a launch event this week including the shortening of the Lions tour period, a northern hemisphere against southern hemisphere club tournament in June, South African clubs joining the Anglo-Welsh Cup and at the same time protecting the welfare of the players.

The British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand this summer will be the last in its existing six-week format, McCafferty confirmed echoing the stance of his Rugby Football Union counterpart, Ian Ritchie, that the tours must be shortened as part of the new global season that comes into effect in 2020.

The ten-game, six week tour looks likely to be reduced to eight games in five weeks.

“We have been fairly outspoken. At the start of the season we said we were unhappy about the intensity of the schedule that had been signed up several years ago and it needs to change,” McCafferty said.

The Daily Telegraph reported that discussions around an eight-team north versus south tournament that would happen in June every four years in a neutral venue like Dubai or Singapore after the new global schedule has started in 2020 were in early stages.