GETTY Eddie Jones wants the Six Nations format to change

The tournament organisers meet today under pressure to open up the closed shop which thwarts the ambitions of sides like Romania, who won this season’s Rugby Europe Championship on points difference from Georgia who won the previous six editions. The England coach wants the status quo done away with and a more meritocratic system introduced. “Georgia and Romania have enormous potential. They have good gene pools for rugby and Georgia in particular has the infrastructure to push forward,” said Jones. “What they should ideally do is have a proper Six Nations B division and then have a play-off game against the bottom side from division A. Wouldn’t that be exciting? Imagine playing Georgia in front of 60,000 in Tblisi to keep your place.”

GETTY Eddie Jones believes countries like Romania deserve a chance in the tournament

Italy have won just one of their last 20 matches in the championship and have yet to finish in the top half of the table since they were admitted in 2000. In those 18 campaigns, they have finished bottom 12 times. But tournament organisers have been reluctant to put the Italians’ place at risk. “We think they have been a good addition to the championship since they have entered,” claimed chief executive John Feehan earlier this year. “They have improved dramatically but other teams have improved dramatically – it’s a relative thing.”

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