Rugby union’s first Club World Cup is set to be staged in June 2028 after the major men’s leagues in both hemispheres agreed key principles on the project, the Guardian can reveal. The plans also mean the Champions Cup will have no winners that year as the global tournament will replace its knockout stages.
Eight teams from the Champions Cup will qualify for the new global event, six from Super Rugby and two more, probably from Japan’s Rugby League One, most likely competing in a knockout format across four weekends of June.
