[Scratch_Perry]

I’m not sure that there’s actually a story there, other than World Rugby doing what every sporting body does with broadcast rights, which is to tender them. Of course that means there’s a possibly ITV might lose them. That doesn’t necessarily translate into “the tournament is going behind a paywall”.

But it may be time for ITV to bite the bullet and get the BBC to come on board to ensure the events under the World Rugby umbrella remain on free-to-air television (these would include men and women's 15-a-side and 7-a-side World Cups and the junior equivalent of those genders, as World Rugby bundle all their rights together, similar with the ICC for cricket).