EXETER director of rugby Rob Baxter welcomes plans for a new club world championship providing it is financially viable.
Slated to start in June 2028, the new tournament would pitch the top eight sides from Europe against six teams from Super Rugby and two from Japan’s Rugby League One.
The format of the Champions Cup could be changed to make room in the calendar for the new event.
“If someone says to me that in four years’ time they’ve got the finances in place that cover everyone’s travel costs and there’s a TV deal that means all the clubs involved in it get millions of pounds, and it helps all the clubs be viable, thriving businesses, I would say it’s exactly what the game needs,” Baxter said.
“If what, as normal happens, is, ‘let’s try and give it a go and see if we can make it work and see if we can create some interest,’ I’d be very hesitant about it because you can easily create bigger issues in the game trying to solve issues, as we have seen numerous times.”
Baxter, whose side face Toulouse today in the last eight, led the Chiefs to the 2020 Champions Cup title and they have reached the quarter-finals in eight in three of the four subsequent campaigns.
He would want assurances that travel is sorted before the event starts, with the prospect of flights to places like New Zealand a lot tougher on players than trips to
