All Blacks back Will Jordan dejected following defeat to England. Photo: www.photosport.nz
Former New Zealand Rugby chief executive David Moffett believes World Rugby's new Nations Championship will be a flop.
The 12 team tournament will be held every two years, with teams competing for points during the existing July and November windows.
There will be a finals weekend in London in late November, culminating in a title decider between the top ranked Northern Hemisphere team and the top ranked Southern Hemisphere team.
All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor in action against England. Photo: ActionPress
Next year, the All Blacks will host France, Italy and Ireland in July, before away tests against Wales, Scotland and England in November.
The venues for the All Blacks home tests are yet to be confirmed.
Moffett told RNZ it would not be the financial boon World Rugby hopes it would be.
"I'm not overly blown away by it," Moffett said.
"It's just another dressed-up competition that World Rugby has come up with. Let's not kid ourselves that this is going to be the solution to all of rugby's ills.
"I'm not so sure that too many people are going to care about it. International rugby today I liken to the Melbourne Cup. The Melbourne Cup is a carnival that comes around once a year and a whole lot of people go and watch with no real interest in racing.
"That's what we're seeing happening around the world with rugby events."
David Moffett. Photo: Photosport
Moffett believes the Nations Championship could lose money and used the Sevens World Series as an example.
"Look at Sevens, we don't have a (international) Sevens tournament in this country anymore because they (World Rugby) decided there was going to be nine rounds and they're going to be played in these great venues all around the world and everybody's going to race out and want to play Sevens.
"Well none of that's happened, the only thing that really happened is I think they've lost about 40 million euros this year on the Sevens tournament alone."
However, New Zealand Rugby's Cameron Good is confident fans will get behind the concept.
"I think it just means that every game in July and November matters," Good said.
"We're creating a competition that's played outside of World Cup and Lions years. It creates that real jeopardy around every fixture, building up to what will be a new final series at the end of November.
"New Zealand rugby, if you look at what we've built for the next five years, we're trying to introduce really fan-centric (games), what the fans want.
"We have the Greatest Rivalry Tour (2026 All Blacks tour of South Africa) and the Nations Championship, meaning there's no talk now of friendlies. Every single game in July and November will matter. You'll see it on a table. You'll be following your team and seeing who they'll match up against in that finals weekend.
"The All Blacks are now going to play every six-nations team, either home or away, in these Nations Championship years and then the final series is something completely new. So we've added a weekend to the international calendar."
And Good is confident it will be a financial success.
"The fact that you've got all Six Nations teams, all Sanzaar teams, and we've invited Japan and Fiji in, we think this will resonate with fans, but also with broadcasters and commercial partners.
"We're already pretty advanced with a lot of those conversations. It's something new and different, but we think it'll heighten what happens in those July and November windows and then give us something completely new with that finals weekend."
Photo: ActionPress
He believes the Northern and Southern hemisphere rivalry is something fans want more of.
"You will find out who the best team in the world was in that year and you'll also get to definitively decide or know which hemisphere is the better hemisphere," Good said.
"There's always a lot of speculation about North vs South in rugby. This will actually allow us to say who came through as the hemisphere in that year."
Moffett believes the Nations Championship could detract from the four yearly World Cup, but Good isn't concerned.
"Ultimately, in a World Cup, you've got to go through a round of 16, a quarter, a semi and a final, so there's a uniqueness about prevailing at a World Cup.
"This (Nations Championship) is quite a different format, obviously less teams involved. Certainly in those World Cup years, that will be the pinnacle event. There is no Nations Championship in those years."
One of the criticisms of the Nations Championship is that it only serves the world's top teams and isn't doing a lot to help grow the game or help tier two nations improve.
Good said a second competition which mirrored the Nations Championship was in the pipeline for the lower ranked sides.
"We're working with World Rugby to help them create, I guess, the second tier of the Nations Championship. That will include the next 12 ranked teams in the world and will run in the same July and November windows."
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