Gallagher Premiership teams will not be punished for fielding weakened teams
Gallagher Premiership clubs will have flexibility to select whatever team they want during the final nine rounds of the 2019-20 season and will not be punished for fielding a side full of academy players. The league will resume on August 14 when Harlequins host Sale at the Twickenham Stoop, with the campaign concluding with the final on October 24.
Given the tight schedule, clubs will have to play midweek fixtures and with only four days between some matches.
Phil Winstanley, rugby director at Premiership Rugby, was asked about the possibility of teams fielding academy players and whether the league would do anything to guard against that to ensure the integrity of the competition.
He said: “No, we will not. We have to protect some player welfare. We need to leave that flexibility to directors of rugby to select the right team for the right game.
“I think we will see broader squads and looking at the number of players that we have had into stage two training, we have to assume everyone who is in there is capable of playing Premiership rugby.
“We have to look at the positives and I think it will give opportunities to some young players that might not have had otherwise.”
November 21 has been mooted as the start date for next season, which would give players just four weeks off.
Internationals could be faced with the prospect of playing consistently for 12 months given the British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa next summer.
Winstanley was adamant Premiership Rugby would find a solution with the Rugby Football Union and the Rugby Players Association.
“It is incumbent on everyone in the game to make sure we manage players appropriately,” he added.
“We will continue to work as three organisations and be collaborative in that sense and come up with a solution because it is in everyone’s interest to have a fit playing group.”
Premiership Rugby chief executive Darren Childs insisted all 12 clubs understand why they have made the decision to finish the season with the schedule proposed.
He said: “Everyone I talk to at club level absolutely understands their number one asset is their playing squad and they will not do anything which will put their number one asset at risk.
“We all acknowledge this is an exceptional year and we have had to make decisions that in normal circumstances would be difficult to make, but we are doing it for the right reasons.
“The clubs and everyone else agrees with that. We have to move on, manage it carefully and as Phil said there are detailed conversations going on right now to make sure we protect those players for the long-term future of their careers.”
Childs did warn it could be a “year or two” before the league returns to normal, especially if there is a second wave of coronavirus in the UK.
He was satisfied, however, that the announcement of the resumption of rugby had helped provide a positive mood at clubs again.
“Restarting and restarting safely and efficiently has been best vote of confidence that we can get back to normal,” Childs added.
“It may take a year or two, or longer if there is a second spike, but mood has changed now we see that first game is looming into focus and the ability to end the season.”
When the Gallagher Premiership returns it will be 159 days since the last fixture in March and during the ensuing months a number of disputes have transpired.
Clubs recently voted to reduce the salary cap from £6.4million to £5million for next season and it has resulted in player departures.
Quizzed on whether those cuts could damage the reputation of the Gallagher Premiership, Childs responded: “It is still the best league by a long way and that is a huge pulling power from the top talent around the world and that will always continue.
“There will always be people who want to go off and do something else. It’s been a regular occurrence players finishing their careers in other countries, but the impact we have dealt with is not unique to UK.
“I saw the French league have announced cuts to their salary cap and similar things are being discussed in Japan because we are all facing serious economic issues.
“It will level out and hopefully we will continue to be the most attractive league where the best players want to play their rugby.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I hope Leinster’s proud of themselves fielding a poor team. They should decide if they’re all in or not.
1 Go to commentsJordie is looking at 16 games maximum if Leinster reach both the URC and champions cup finals. Thats not guaranteed. Some of those home URC fixtures will be cakewalks as well for Leinster and there is not much doing during the 6 nations in Feb and March so he can probably get a decent rest then. He will have to really put in it for maybe 7 or 8 games max. It should be a good move for both.
13 Go to commentsThe game was a quarter final, not a semi final. Barrett will be here for 6 months, he is no one's replacement at 13. That mantle will most likely ultimately go to Jamie Osborne, though Garry Ringrose has at least 4 more years in him. The long term problem position (in the next 3 years) for Leinster is tighthead prop, though there are a couple of prospects at schools level.
23 Go to commentsSo much for all that hype surrounding the ‘revival’ of Aussie rugby. The Blues were without the likes of regular starters Perofeta, Sullivan, Christie etc… This was a capitulation of the highest order by Australia’s finest. Joe Schmidt definitely has his work cut out for him.
2 Go to commentsYes they can ignore Sotutu. Like Akira Ioane plays OK at Super level but gets lost in tests. Too many chances too many failures.
2 Go to commentsA wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
13 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
13 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
6 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
25 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
6 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to comments