Date set for 'the biggest decision in the history of professional rugby in England'
English rugby chiefs will be asked to support controversial plans for a 13 team Gallagher Premiership with an end to automatic relegation when they meet on September 13.
The proposal will go before the Rugby Football Union Council meeting that day and has been described by Damian Hopley, chief executive to the Rugby Players Association – which represents England’s professional players – as “the biggest decision in the history of professional rugby in England.”
The RFU Council will be presented with a plan, agreed by the Union’s professional game board, which represents the 12 Gallagher Premiership clubs, RFU and players’ union, that would mean no relegation at the end of the 2019-20 season with one team – most likely Newcastle – promoted from the Championship.
With no automatic relegation in the new regulations, the RFU would go back to the previously used system for their top flight with a play-off between the bottom club and the top team in the Championship with the victor over two legs winning Premiership status. That deals with fears the Premiership would be ring-fenced.
The most recent meeting of the Professional Game Board rubber-stamped the proposal and now it will be up to the Council to back the move. Hopley believes the proposal deals with many of the key issues, including the ability of Premiership clubs to invest in major infrastructure plans with more certainty about their place in the top flight. The arrival of private equity firm CVC, who paid more than £200m to become minority stakeholders in the professional club game in England, has changed the financial landscape and ending automatic relegation is seen as a vital move.
Hopley said: “This is the biggest decision to be made in the professional era in England and we have a very good relationship with the RFU and the clubs.
“There are ongoing discussions with the RFU, Clubs and the Championship and the decision will be with the RFU Council on September 13. The plan is for no relegation in the 19/20 season and going forward it would be a 13 team Premiership with a two-legged play-off between the bottom club and the top team in the Championship. In the 20 plus years of professional rugby, the sport hasn’t been too clever at joined-up thinking and this is the first time we have all the stakeholders aligned. While there is devil in the detail, we want to find a solution that produces viability at Premiership and Championships levels and gives players guaranteed game time.
“We want to make sure the players are protected within that new structure and with CVC coming in there is lot of excitement about where the game could go. I hope the Council understands that is a very important part of the evolution of the game in England.”
While a 13 team Gallagher Premiership is on the cards, Hopley does not expect to the abandoned World Rugby plan for a Nations Championship to unite the Hemispheres to be revived unless the players are fully integrated into the process.
He added: “I don’t see anything that is imminent to replace the World Rugby plan that failed to get enough backing. What we have seen with the demise of the idea is that you cannot just ignore the opinions of the players and ask them to just toe the line. That is at best a 20th Century attitude and at worst 19th Century. We didn’t understand how it got to the stage it reached without due process and the press release the International Rugby Players put out quoting leading players highlight this. Players from around the World who wanted to know how we had got to a point where player welfare was so far down the list.
“The fact is that the idea is dead in the water unless the players are part of the process. It is as simple as that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments