Rugby dreamed of its own global tournament, in football’s image. It will probably have to wait. Planned for June 2028, the Club World Cup driven by EPCR is already in the balance, with a postponement to 2029 gaining ground. Behind the ambition, two familiar obstacles: time and money.

A 2028 launch already compromised

The project had everything going for it. Bring together sixteen teams, eight from the Champions Cup and eight from Super Rugby and the Japanese league, to finally crown the best club on the planet at the end of a month-long tournament held every four years. A statement of intent set for 2028.

But according to The Times and City AM, relayed in France, the landscape has changed too much since. “The project appears to be on hold for at least a year following a meeting of EPCR decision-makers held this week,” the London daily writes. A first edition in 2028 now looks to be off the table.

An international calendar that has become unmanageable

The first stumbling block is the schedule. Since the project was announced, international rugby has acquired a major new competition, the Nations Championship, launched by the Six Nations Committee and SANZAAR. Enough to congest an already full season further still.

And fitting four extra weekends into June without blowing up the domestic leagues is a puzzle. To make the window work, leagues such as the Top 14 would have to bring their calendar forward and play their final as early as May. A prospect that has drawn strong reservations.

Money, the other big issue

Then there is the awkward question: financial viability. While sponsors and broadcasters back the idea, the costs of intercontinental travel and of staging such an event weigh heavily. Enthusiastic in 2025, EPCR chief executive Jacques Raynaud declared: “Who would not want to find out who the best club in the world is?” At the same time, he was already setting out the need for a solid business model. That is precisely what is still missing.

A scaled-down plan B?

If a 2029 edition, envisaged just before the Lions tour of New Zealand, were not to happen either, a fallback is already doing the rounds. It would take the form of a reduced tournament bringing together only the champions of the Top 14, the URC, Super Rugby and the Premiership. Enough to save the idea of a world title, but on a markedly more modest scale. Proof that, from dream to reality, club rugby is still looking for its formula.