All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen has proposed an annual match between the Rugby Championship winners and the winners of the Six Nations.

Officials have been in talks over an alignment of the global rugby calendar and the scheduling of Test matches after the 2019 World Cup.

The Six Nations is unlikely to be moved and Super Rugby could be played without a break in June with Test matches being pushed back to July.

Hansen has told the Daily Mail that if all parties can agree on the dates for when matches are played it would send the game “through the roof”.

“It’s a no-brainer,” said Hansen.

“You’ve got to say, ‘What’s best for our product so we can keep attracting people to come and watch it?'”

“First, our players need a decent pre-season. You’d play club competitions simultaneously. We could have the European Cup winners play the Super Rugby winners and the Six Nations winners play the Rugby Championship winners. We need some goodwill to sort it out.”

This year’s Six Nations winners England will not play this years Rugby Championship winners until 2018.

Under the new proposal the Northern Hemisphere want mid year Tests in the year after a Rugby World Cup scrapped due to player welfare.

British and Irish Lions tours will remain in the slot that they currently occupy between Rugby World Cups.

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