IRFU open to British and Irish League merger with English Premiership

A new combined league could come into effect as early as 2026.

According to The Telegraph, English clubs are also understood to be leaning towards a new league and see it as an opportunity to broaden their revenue base and increase future television deals.

The initial discussions involved the idea of an Anglo-Welsh league, but the conversation developed into the inclusion of Irish and Scottish clubs into the fold.

The proposed British and Irish league would come into effect for the 2026 season, after the newly-signed two-year deal between TNT Sports and the Premiership expires.

The IRFU previously confirmed that discussions around a new tournament took place with the RFU during the 2023 World Cup.

Speaking last November, chief executive Kevin Potts said: "We, as administrators, are always looking at ways to make our tournaments more valuable.

"You are asking about the potential of a British and Irish scenario, yeah, that’s something we are open to looking at.

"We are looking at these things at the moment because the game needs to generate more money. Us as unions and CEOs, I guess it is driving us to be more collaborative and more innovative which we need to be to get more money into the game.

"It can’t sustain itself without increasing revenues."

The British and Irish league idea has the potential to drive the greatest commercial value, which would be a big incentive for the IRFU who recorded a loss of almost €10 million at the end of last year.

The clubs are already tapping into the Welsh market, with Bath and Bristol due to play their Gallagher Premiership fixture at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff next May and Cardiff were also buoyed by attracting a sell-out crowd for their Investec Champions Cup defeats by Harlequins and Bath last season.

An Anglo-Welsh league was first proposed in 1999, when the Welsh Rugby Union controversially turned down the offer of five places in the top two divisions of English rugby.

Rugby’s international calendar is already set to change in 2026 when the Nations Championship gets under way, with European teams playing their Southern Hemisphere counterparts away from home in July and the second round of games taking place in November before a grand final weekend.