Eight of rugby’s leading unions have released a shared statement in which they state any player who joins rebel circuit R360 will be banned from playing for their country.
England, Ireland, France, Scotland, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia have joined forces to make clear anyone who takes part in the proposed rebel rugby union tournament will be unable to play Test rugby.
Wales and Argentina are the only Tier 1 nations not included on the statement.
“As a group of national rugby unions, we are urging extreme caution for players and support staff considering joining the proposed R360 competition,” the statement read.
“Each of the national unions will therefore be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection.”
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What is R360 and what are its critics saying?
The new competition has been developed by a group including England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winner Mike Tindall.
R360 has been dubbed a divisive concept by critics because it wants to tempt leading players from their current clubs into a new franchise league, consisting of 12 teams based in major cities around the world.
Critics have also pointed to a lack of detail around key elements of the competition, including player welfare and its fixture schedule, and the fact that it has not been ratified by World Rugby.
Tindall is reported to have informed players last week that funding had been secured, but without disclosing the names of R360’s backers.
The funding of R360 has been organised by Oakvale Capital, a specialist sports and gaming corporate finance advisor.
The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is among those to confirm players who join R360 will not be able to represent England
In a statement released after the multi-union one, R360 organisers said they are confident it will be launched next year despite the unions’ display of power.
“So many players love what R360 can do for them and the game and we can’t wait to kick-off next year,” said a statement from R360 organisers, who will apply for sanctioning to World Rugby next summer.
“We want to work collaboratively as part of the global rugby calendar. The series is designed with bespoke schedules for men’s and women’s teams and R360 will release all players for international matches, as written into their contracts.”
Multi-union statement on R360 in full
“As a group of national rugby unions, we are urging extreme caution for players and support staff considering joining the proposed R360 competition.
“We all welcome new investment and innovation in rugby; and support ideas that can help the game evolve and reach new audiences; but any new competition must strengthen the sport as a whole, not fragment or weaken it.
“Among our roles as national unions, we must take a wider view on new propositions and assess their impact on a range of areas, including whether they add to rugby’s global ecosystem, for which we are all responsible, or whether they are a net negative to the game.
“R360 has given us no indication as to how it plans to manage player welfare; how players would fulfil their aspirations of representing their countries, and how the competition would coexist with the international and domestic calendars so painstakingly negotiated in recent years for both our men’s and women’s games.
“The R360 model, as outlined publicly, rather appears designed to generate profits and return them to a very small elite, potentially hollowing out the investment that national unions and existing leagues make in community rugby, player development, and participation pathways.
“International rugby and our major competitions remain the financial and cultural engine that sustains every level of the game – from grassroots participation to elite performance. Undermining that ecosystem could be enormously harmful to the health of our sport.
“These are all issues that would have been much better discussed collaboratively, but those behind the proposed competition have not engaged with or met all unions to explain and better understand their business and operating model.
“Each of the national unions will therefore be advising men’s and women’s players that participation in R360 would make them ineligible for international selection.”