A Club Rugby World Cup is on the cards with the concept receiving the endorsement of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship.

Tournament dates, structure, format and exact participants are yet to be determined, but the URC’s backing for such an event is sure to count in favour of the initiative for clubs around the world battling for global supremacy.

It is believed that the concept of a 16-team tournament has been agreed upon in principle and that discussions between the URC and European leagues are already at an advanced stage.

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The plan is for eight northern-hemisphere clubs and seven from the southern hemisphere, plus a Japanese side, to be placed in four pools, each playing two matches against teams from the other hemisphere.

The winner of each pool would progress to the semi-finals ahead of a final to crown the best club side in the world.

The competition, which would take place instead of the knockout rounds of the Champions Cup, would happen once every four years, and is expected to start in 2025 ahead of the B&I Lions tour to Australia.

“I like the idea of creating big events and maybe we could do a double-header together in one stadium to create a festival of rugby, maybe in our territory,” URC chief Martin Anayi said.

According to Anayi, his league was fully behind the proposal, and revealed an aspiration to expand the tournament to the United States.

Anayi said he hoped that the URC, which is made up of professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa and Wales, could work with the English Premiership to create a “festival of rugby” featuring a double-header involving a match from both leagues played back to back in the same stadium.