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Six Nations urged to expand

Could more captains be posing with the Six Nations trophy in the future?
Image: Could the Six Nations be expanded to accommodate two more teams?

The Six Nations has been urged to consider expanding to give emerging nations such as Georgia and Romania the platform to develop their game.

Octavian Morariu, president of the governing body responsible for the sport's promotion, development, organisation and administration across Europe, insists the promise shown by Georgia and Romania at the World Cup means they should be given the opportunity to play tier one nations.

Rather than seeking promotion and relegation to and from the Six Nations, Morariu will suggest more teams be added when World Rugby's congress meets in London later this week.

"Teams like Georgia and Romania proved themselves able to compete at the World Cup and need regular fixtures against top European teams," Morariu said.

"We can all see the progress Argentina have made since entering the Rugby Championship.

"Argentina have added value to the game and we believe Georgia and Romania could do the same if they get more games.

Argentina celebrate their famous 43-20 victory over Ireland
Image: Argentina have featured in two semi-finals in the last three Rugby World Cups

"The greatest legacy of this World Cup could be opening the game up to more countries.

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"It's not just about promotion and relegation to the Six Nations, it's about opening the competition to more countries, so the competition could become a seven or eight nations.

"We need to see how this can be done because we don't want to damage the Six Nations. The idea is to make it more interesting, competitive and productive."