According to the articles in the publications, this league will last 14 weeks. The notion is that it will allow rugby’s pinnacle, Tests, to continue uninterrupted.

That’s all well and well, but it ignores the possibility that entire rugby ecosystems in England, South Africa, Ireland, France, and New Zealand would collapse.

Test rugby needs to be underpinned by strong domestic leagues and, if this breakaway league actually gets off the ground, it will rip a layer of players out of systems that are already struggling. In terms of players, South Africa could be able to survive if 20-30 elite Boks joined this league. More than 20 of the 50 players chosen by Bok coach Rassie Erasmus this year make their living elsewhere. From a practical standpoint, the Boks would suffer significantly less than other countries.

World Rugby, the game’s governing body, would also not likely sanction the renegade league, so any players signing up would not be eligible for their nation’s top sides.

Comparisons to the IPL are being made, but despite the Indian league being a huge success, it was launched in a country of more than a billion people, most of whom are obsessed with cricket. The same strategy might not work in the US, where we seriously doubt if a handful of international rugby legends are going to cause people to flock to Las Vegas for rugby.

Players, though, might benefit. A 14-game season in the new league and perhaps 10 Test matches (assuming they won’t be banned) is great from a player welfare perspective.

If there is one area where rugby in its current form is failing, it’s in the area of player welfare. South African players, for instance, are capped at 32 games a year. For top players, playing about 22 games and earning in excess of R20 million per season must surely sound attractive.

Three years ago, the World 12s launched an aggressive marketing effort promoting their smaller version of rugby as the future.

World 12s may still exist as a concept, but no one has gotten an email from them in two years. That is not to suggest that this new league will not take off and attract a bunch of talented players tempted by big pay cheques and improved working circumstances.

We’d like to think that putting on the green and gold means more to our top players than just the money, but we’ll have to wait and see.