A new 'European Championship' that could replace the Six Nations

Thursday, 14 July 2022 at 10:33

byRugby Rucker

worth the trip, especially if there just magically happens to be a game rugby going on at Murrayfield on the same weekend."

A concept for a 'European Championship' has emerged with eight teams set to compete in what could be a newly formatted tournament.

Despite the new tournament featuring eight teams, countries would still only play five matches, which is the same as the current Six Nations format.

Two pools of four would be followed by a semi-final and grand final to crown the champions of Europe.

There would also be a relegation play-off with one team dropping out of the tournament each year.

The groups for the first year would be based on current World Rankings.

POOL 1

France
England
Wales
Italy

POOL 2

Ireland
Scotland
Georgia
Spain

If the groups ended like this the following round would be:

Semi-finals:

France vs Scotland
Ireland vs England

Relegation play-off

Wales vs Spain
Georgia vs Italy

And then the final day would be:

Final: France vs England

Third place play-off: Scotland vs England

Fifth place play-off: Wales vs Georgia

Relegation play-off: Spain vs Italy

EDITORS PICKS:

Ranking Each Six Nations Team’s Fanbase

The guys over at Host A Fan have attempted to rank the home nations fan bases.

They've based their ranking, from most important to least, on six different categories:

Home Stadium Atmosphere
Passion
Away Support
Online Public Vote
Anthem & Other Songs

Read their full analysis and ranking by CLICKING HERE.

Or check out the brief ranking below:

#6. France - 4.3

They said: "

Oh non, non, non! C’est un fixe! Zose bastards voted for Brexit anyway!

"Romance, liberty, enlightenment. Let’s face it, there are lots of things we associate with our continental neighbours, France, but rugby just isn’t one of them."

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#5. Italy - Score: 4.4

They said: "We can see the hand-waving mamma mia, the margherita pizza throwing and the endless Italian rant now but come on, it’s not that you’re not passionate, patriotic and dedicated, it’s just that maybe not quite as much as the other patrons here. Oh and come on, rugby is nowhere near your main sport - you’re much better at football!"

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#4. England - 6.15

They said: "They may have created the game, be the only side on the list to have won the World Cup and boast the largest stadium on the list but England's fans can only scrape a fourth place in our list"

Nigel Slater (no, not that one) from Facebook said: "Twickenham is a 'place of corporate knobs in chinos, blue shirt and tweed"

#3. Scotland - 7

They said: "Quite simply, no one matches the Celts for rugby and kicking off our top 3 are England's oldest enemies, the Scots. A spring visit up to the beautifully exquisite Edinburgh is always

#2. Ireland - 7.15

They said: "Guinnesses on tap at the home of the black stuff, the hum of Irish music whistling into the spring air from almost every pub and the world famous friendliness of the locals. There's nothing quite like a 'cultural' trip to Dublin on a Six Nations weekend."

#1. Wales - 9.05

They Said: "Topping our list of the best supporters with a mightily impressive score of over 9, are the Welsh. Quite simply, no one does it better. On a Six Nations matchday, eyes up and down the country from rural farmyard to remote rural pubs are fixed on the green, green grass of the national stadiums and the XV men wearing their country's red with pride. "