George Williams and Maro Itoje, England rugby league and union captains respectively, could meet in a hybrid match [Getty Images]Mike Henson - BBC Sport rugby union news reporterTue, December 2, 2025 at 3:02 PM UTC·2 min readThe Rugby Football League has been approached about staging an exhibition cross-code match combining league and union rules.
Hybrid Rugby, an Australian company which has been attempting to get its combination of the sports off the ground for more than a decade, reportedly wants England's rugby league and union teams to meet next year.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, it would need to convince the RFL, make a similar approach to union equivalent the Rugby Football Union and strike an agreement which finds space in conflicting calendars.
England's rugby league team have been told that an expanded Super League has squeezed out the possibility of playing a mid-season game in 2026, while England's rugby union side are embarking on the first edition of the Nations Championship, which has filled their usual Test windows.
The RFU also has an agreement with Prem clubs over the use of top players, designed to ensure they are in peak condition for England's big games.
"We have received an enquiry about Hybrid Rugby," said Rhodri Jones, managing director of RL Commercial.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"We have not assessed this specific approach yet. There are a multitude of things we would need to consider.
"However, if we believe there is some tangible benefit to the sport, we will."
The advent of professionalism in rugby union in the mid 1990s heralded cross-code matches between Bath and Wigan - the two sports' domestic superpowers at the time - with a league match at Maine Road in Manchester before a game of union at Twickenham.
Wigan, featuring Andy Farrell, Shaun Edwards and Va'aiga Tuigamala, won the league encounter 82-6 and lost the union game 44-19.
Sale beat St Helens in 2003 in a match made up of one half played under league rules and the other under union.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe annual 745 game - to raise funds and awareness to combat motor neurone disease - began in 2024 and features composite rules and retired star players.
Hybrid Rugby, whose most notable match pitched fabled Sydney union club Randwick against league side Western Suburbs Magpies in 2015, features a 60-second limit for sides to get over the halfway line.
When the team in possession are in their own half the game is conducted under league rules, with union rules taking over when they cross into opposition territory.
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