Rugby bosses are reportedly gathering to discuss overhauling the international calendar, including the addition of a biennial 'North v South' competition.
According to UK's The Guardian, representatives from Sanzaar, Six Nations and World Rugby will meet at Dublin on Wednesday (NZ time) to progress talks over a new tournament, poised to be a revamped version of the failed 2019 Nations Championship.
The concept involves the Six Nations teams - England, France, Ireland , Italy, Scotland and Wales - representing the north, while New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Fiji, South Africa and Japan comprise the south.
The format has reportedly been "broadly agreed by all parties", including the players, whose concerns over their welfare were one of the key reasons why the Nations Championship never materialised.
Newshub's sources said the compeititon was "closer than ever before" and there's "genuine desire" from all parties to make it work, when crunch meetings are held in the coming days.
The competition would see all the southern teams host the European teams in the July test window, then the southern teams travel north later in the year, coinciding with traditional year-end tours.
In November, the top two teams in each pool would then progress to play what would essentially be a semi-final, then a final the following week.
The main obstacle is the lack of available weeks to complete the round robin. There are only three weeks in the November test window and a final round would require a fourth.
There are also lingering concerns over the competition's impact on test matches between established and developing test nations.
