The competition would involve the Six Nations – England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales – in the north while Australia, Argentina, Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa would be joined in the south by Japan, even though it is in the northern hemisphere. European teams would play three matches on their summer tours against three different opponents and face the remaining three southern nations at home in November. The top two in each pool would meet each other in a fourth week in November and it is understood there is some support for a finals day involving all teams, rather than a single fixture between the top two sides.