Exeter boss Rob Baxter has raised concerns about a proposed new international 12-a-side rugby competition being planned for 2022.
The World 12s hopes to have 192 of the world’s best players playing for eight franchises in England next August.
The tournament hopes to inject up to £250m into rugby union.
“The biggest thing that bothers me when these proposals are thrown around, and I don’t mind saying it, is player discontent,” said Baxter.
“Straight away from a managerial point of view if this goes ahead what’s the outcome going to be?
“It’s basically just going to be players being put in the middle, they’re going to be the jam in the sandwich again between clubs and unions because these people are going to offer, I’m assuming, quite a lot of money to try and attract them to play as they have to make it attractive for them to play, and the player’s going to turn around and he’s going to have to ask to be released from contractual obligations.
“How does it fit in to any player’s contract because most of them will be under contract for 12 months of the year.”
Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen is backing the new venture, which is being run by ex-Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie.
It is intended that most players will be selected from Tier One nations but every franchise will be required to select at least two players from Tier Two nations and one under-20s international player.
World 12s also said “informal” conversations with World Rugby, clubs, unions and players had been “constructive”.
But Baxter says he is unsure how the new format would attract a new audience:
“I can see how it works at certain times with cricket and I can understand the attraction.
“What are you creating? You can come to a game of rugby and spend two or three hours at a game of rugby and have a thoroughly good time and be thoroughly entertained by it, whereas with games of cricket previously to really partake in the game you had to be there for a day.
“Even in Twenty20 you’ve got to put quite a lot of time into that and if you go to a Test match or 50 overs you have to invest whole days at least.
“So I see why the short form works for cricket because you change the whole watching environment.
“But that doesn’t need to change in rugby, so I don’t know what the change in audience is going to be.
“I can’t quite see what the experience or the time input or the time sacrifice you have to make as a spectator, that bit I don’t get, and I think that’s probably why personally I don’t think it’s going to be quite as attractive as people think it’s going to be.”
