EXCLUSIVE: 'We have prepared the letters to take World Rugby to court'
England’s top clubs are paying 20 overseas players more than £350,000 a season which has triggered the legal action being taken against World Rugby which threatens to block release for World Cup training camps in the build up to next year’s tournament in Japan.
Phil Winstanley, Rugby Director at Premiership Rugby, has revealed to RugbyPass the financial facts behind their action which they insist is not aimed at hurting Tier 2 and 3 nations in World Cup year but is designed to force World Rugby to adequately cover all players when they are released by their clubs for international commitments.
England are not affected as player release is governed by the £220m Professional Game Agreement signed by PRL and the RFU.
World Rugby has been notified that papers will be lodged with the courts in England in three weeks with the action aimed at removing the current limit on insurance cover. Winstanley confirmed an agreement which lasted until the middle of this year, signed in the build-up to the 2015 World Cup, had no ceiling on insurance cover but World Rugby want to revert to their original position despite a significant rise in wages for the top players during the period.
Unlimited cover is in place in football, on the last four British and Irish Lions tours and for those Premiership players chosen for the Barbarians. Premiership Rugby wants that replicated for all nations with World Rugby picking up the bill, not the individual countries.
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Winstanley said: “A proposal was put forward to the regulations committee of World Ruby which was rejected but they offered to increase cover to from £225,000 to £350,000. The problem we have got is that there are 60 non-English players in the Premiership earning more than £250,000 and 20 players currently earning more than £350,000.
“We have prepared the letters to take World Rugby to court because we believe the regulation is unfair and inequitable. We wrote to them three das ago saying we will lodge papers with the court in three weeks. Because of Christmas we have made it three weeks and the bottom line is that in our view Regulation 9 and 23 are illegal in their current form because it forces us to release players without them being covered fully by insurance.
“World Rugby are trying make this about affordability for Tier 2 and 3 nations and that is not the issue. This is about World Rugby dealing with it on behalf of all unions and there is no reason why they cannot put a policy in place to centrally run this for all of the Unions and pick up the bill. With the current deal ending in June this year we have now been forced to escalate it. What isn’t understood is that what we have been seeking has been in place for the last three years and there was no limit. That has expired and now we are back into the original position and the ball is very much in World Rugby’s hands.
“It was put to me that we could let those players not earning more than the old limit be released but if you do that then it immediately identifies what individual players are earning and that is not right. It’s a private matter.
“World Rugby signed a side letter prior to the 2015 World Cup that took us up to June 30, 2018 that removed all limits. If you got injured for more than 12 months it was covered. I sat down with World Rugby at the start of 2018 and said this was an unacceptable situation and we need to incorporate this in regulations. We wrote to them in April with a letter which put on record that unless the position changed we were forced to take legal action.”
England’s top clubs are refusing to back down over the issue and want to distance themselves from suggestions they are harming the chances of smaller nations who cannot afford massive insurance bills in a World Cup year when they need to hold more training camps.
He added: “The challenge we have now is that we risk the club having the bear the liability of an injury that happens on test and training camp duty after we have been forced to release them and that is inequitable. It’s like if you had a new sports car and I used it and scraped all the sides of it and handed it back saying I can only afford to fix bits of the car but I want the vehicle again next week. The logic is just not fair and we need to change it.
“World Rugby says that we are damaging Tier 2 and Tier 3 Unions. This is not a T2 or T3 problem it is a World Rugby problem. A fraction of what is generated by international matches revenues will cover the costs of cover for a year but they are choosing not to do that. We want World Rugby to show some leadership and put insurance cover in place.
“It would be a nonsense for us to release players for World Cup camps knowing we would bear the cost if they got injured. Players will be released 35 days prior to the World Cup under Regulation 9 and we will do that in August. If Wales or Scotland asked to arrange something separately we would have a conversation but that is not the issue because its’s not right that if you can afford it you can do it. The answer has to be “No” because we want World Rugby to cover all nations.”
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
27 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
27 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
27 Go to commentsShould'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.
27 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.
27 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?
11 Go to comments