Changes for World Cup

The battle to tweak global rugby fixtures and attempt to harmonise the differing demands in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere is manifest in a change in the qualification process for the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.

The number of automatic qualifiers for the 2011 tournament will be increased to 12, thereby effectively guaranteeing the teams that finish in the top three in the four pools at the 2007 Rugby World Cup automatic qualification for 2011.

The decision came following a meeting of the Rugby World Cup Board. IRB chairman Sid Millar confirmed: "In recognition of the amount of rugby now being played and the implications of the establishment of an integrated season the RWC Board has decided that there should be 12 automatic qualifying places for future tournaments.

"This will serve to reduce the potential number of international matches that would have to be played in the years before a tournament by those teams who did not make the quarter-finals of the previous RWC.

Reports out of the IRB's meeting in Dublin are suggesting the pending new agreement regarding the Heineken European Cup may also lead to a scheduling revamp which could include the Six Nations being played at the same time of the year as an expanded Tri Nations tournament, possibly opening the way for Argentina and a composite Pacific Islands team to join the competition as early as 2008.