Changes to RWC schedule

TOP TEAMS have agreed to play midweek games at the 2015 Rugby World Cup after complaints were made about the schedule at this year’s tournament.

Some tier two and three nations usually had four-day turnarounds between their pool games, while the tier one teams mostly had a week between their matches.

But at the next RWC, to be held in England, the Six Nations and Tri Nations teams plus Argentina have agreed to play midweek matches in order to achieve "better balance" for the tier two and three nations.

“The tier one union delegates at the meeting committed to playing midweek matches during RWC 2015 in order to help achieve a better balance for tier two and tier three unions,” said the International Board in a statement following a meeting of tier one union chairmen and chief executives in Auckland yesterday.

The World Cup's current format of splitting 20 teams into groups of five was also endorsed at the meeting.

It was also agreed the RWC commercial model, revenue distribution and 2015 start date would be reviewed, after New Zealand last month threatened to pull out of the next tournament, claiming it could not afford to put a team out because of the IRB’s strict commercial regulations.

The key recommendations will be put forward to the IRB executive committee and/or the IRB council for consideration.