According to World Rugby chairman Sir Bill Beaumont, the sport must do everything it can to give tier-two nations more certainty and opportunities.

The only team outside tier one to reach the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals was Fiji.

A new global calendar is being discussed, which emerging nations hope will offer more competitive games.

The tier-two nations are “central to our discussions about reimagining the international calendar”, Beaumont said.

First, there are the European teams competing in the Six Nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, and Italy), and then there are the four teams competing in the Rugby Championship in the southern hemisphere (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Argentina).

Other nations that play at the World Cup but don’t participate in these top-level tournaments are from tier two.

In France, Tier-two nations have had different fortunes; Portugal won the Rugby World Cup for the first time in their history against Fiji on Sunday, while others like Japan, Samoa and Uruguay showed creditable performances against higher-ranked teams.

Romania conceded over 70 points in three consecutive Pool B defeats, Namibia suffered heavy defeats on three occasions in Pool A, and debutants Chile allowed over 40 points in all four of their Pool D losses.

As a result of their upset win over Australia, Fiji qualified for the quarterfinals against England, despite narrow defeats to Wales and Portugal.

“We are saying goodbye to 12 teams at this stage of the competition,” said former England captain Beaumont.

The likes of Portugal, Samoa, Tonga, Uruguay, Chile and Georgia may be gone, but they are certainly not forgotten.

In order to provide these teams with greater certainty and opportunities for regular high-level competition, we will do everything in our power to do so.