Italian call to expand the Six Nations

Italian rugby commercial director Carlo Checchinato prefers the option of expanding the Six Nations over introducing promotion and relegation to the competition.

Calls for promotion and relegation have grown since Italy, who have finished bottom in every Six Nations since 2016, lost in Georgia over the summer – and both sides beat Wales this calendar year.

Georgia play in the second tier Rugby Europe Championship, which they have won every year but one since 2011.

Speaking on The Rugby Paper podcast, Checchinato said: “I have a lot of respect for Georgia, they are a very proud people and they’re fighting hard for their future and to do the best they can.

“From my point of view I don’t think you can consider a Six Nations where teams are going up and down, by giving a chance to one team you’ll destroy another union.

“I hope in the future there can be a system where we can enlarge the competition but I don’t see the commercial and financial possibility to have a promotion-relegation system.”

Checchinato won 83 caps for the Azzurri between 1990 and 2004 and scored 21 tries, which at the time of his retirement made him the highest-scoring forward in the history of Test rugby.

Having finally seen young players coming through for Italy that were inspired by the success of the national team during his era, he is wary of the damage that could be done by relegation.

“It’s not an easy solution,” Checchinato added. “I don’t just say that because Italy often finish last or second last, because I’m sure that in the next three or four years we’ll be able to be consistently competitive and be able to get good results.

“It’s a question of building a sustainable situation than relegating anyone. The reason why the Six Nations is such a sustainable and strong competition is because it’s a stable competition.”

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