South Africa and Italy clubs snubbed in new URC-Premiership merger talks as British & Irish League favoured

South Africa and Italy are reportedly being excluded from the plans to merge the United Rugby Championship and Premiership in a new British and Irish League.

According to a report by Telegraph Sport, a proposal for a merger between the Premiership and the United Rugby Championship is being explored by the respective tournament organisers.

British and Irish League

The move from Home Nations – England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales – to create a new league is understood be centred around increasing the value of future broadcasting deals.

According to the publication, a proposal for an Anglo-Welsh League was also tabled as the Premiership looks to fill the fixture voids created by the collapse of London Irish, Worcester Warriors and Wasps.

The idea of an Anglo-Welsh League has been touted for several years now with many Wales fans unhappy with their teams featuring in the PRO12, PRO14 and URC competitions. However, the report states that the British and Irish League option is said to have attracted the most interest from the Premiership board.

This is due to the fact that it would garner the most commercial value but it would be the most complicated to achieve.

A British and Irish League would potentially feature 17 teams with another likely to be added to make it an even number.

Breakdown of the teams
English clubs: Bath, Bristol Bears, Exeter Chiefs, Gloucester, Harlequins, Leicester Tigers, Newcastle Falcons, Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks, and Saracens – possibly Ealing Trailfinders.
Irish clubs: Connacht, Leinster, Munster, and Ulster
Scottish clubs: Edinburgh and Glasgow Warriors
Welsh clubs: Dragons, Ospreys, and Scarlets

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South Africa and Italy excluded

Discussions over the possibility of a British and Irish league reportedly took place during the Rugby World Cup last year and have now resumed with exploratory work undertaken to determine whether the concept is viable both from a commercial and sporting perspective.

The findings were outlined to the Premiership clubs before the board meeting this week but the report adds that Premiership Rugby would only consider making any changes “if there was a guarantee of a significant uplift in revenues.”

A Home Nations merger of club competitions would leave Italian and South African clubs without international tournaments to participate in.

The Bulls, Lions, Stormers and Sharks joined the Irish, Italian, Scottish and Welsh teams to form the URC in 2021 following their departure from Super Rugby.

If the merger were to happen it is unclear what the South African clubs would turn to next with a return to Super Rugby unlikely. Perhaps SA Rugby would look to rebuild the Currie Cup and extend the tournament to cover more of the calendar year. This would however leave them without any international opponents unless they invited teams from the likes of Japan or Argentina.

As for Italy, they may also look more locally or even perhaps explore the option of Zebre and Benetton joining the French Rugby pyramid.

While there may be interest in completing the merger, the URC has enjoyed a major boost in viewership and attendance since the addition of the South Africa teams.

The league set new attendance and broadcasting records with an audience figure of 47.7 million in the 2023/24 season shattering the previous high mark of 37.4 million set in 2023.

Meanwhile over one million fans tuned in for the final between the Bulls and Glasgow Warriors.

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