The mouth-watering prospect of an annual Southern Hemisphere versus Northern Hemisphere rugby clash will be held for the first time next year.

The International Rugby Board announced in Melbourne today the match would finally come to fruition after been on the agenda for the past three to four years.

IRB chairman Vernon Pugh said rugby was unique in world sport in that it boasts a strong rivalry between northern and southern hemisphere nations.

A venue and date for the match next year is still under negotiation. The original idea had been to alternate venues between North and South, but there is interest from other parts of the world to host the game. Revenue from the match will go toward assisting developing rugby nations.

Pugh said the match would not necessarily be just a combined Australia, South Africa, New Zealand team against a European Six Nations combination team because both hemispheres had quality players from other countries.

Negotiations were also underway for an annual match between the Super 12 champions and the European club champions. Should it start next year with a match between current champions the Brumbies and Leicester, it will provide an interesting dilemma for Pat Howard.

The former Wallaby recently returned to Australia from a successful stint with Leicester, including the European championship, and signed with the Brumbies on his return.

Also dominating the agenda was the 2003 World Cup.

The 2003 World Cup will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and more autonomy will be given to the host nation than ever before.

Pools, venues and fixtures will be announced in August, and there will be a change in format from the 1999 tournament with matches being played from Tuesday to Sunday, to sustain interest throughout the week. The opening match and final will be played in Australia and each nation will host a semi-final.

"There is still a lot of fine tuning to do, as each tournament is very different to another," Pugh said.

John O'Neill, Chief Executive of the Australian Rugby Union said: "the tyranny of distance works in favour of the ARU, in terms of things we want to do regarding promotion, advertising and merchandise. We see it as another platform for growth and competitive advantage."

There will also be a World Under 21 competition hosted in Europe next year, following on from the success of the Under 19 competition.