By Nick Cain - Read his expert opinion every week

If 200 of the world’s highest-paid players are about to join the rugby union version of a breakaway league – similar to the cricket’s IPL – then a significant slice of the financial pressures on the game would go with them.
It is a blurred projection given a bit of definition by reports of a new global “Mega-league”, which features eight franchise teams playing in major cities around the world.
It is based on a format similar to the F1 Grand Prix circuit, with speculation that it is well advanced, with a launch date in 2026.
The contracted ...