'I'm hearing whispers about another Premiership club...'
Ex-Premiership club CEO Mark Evans will spend the next three seasons trying to ensure the Fijian Drua Super Rugby franchise becomes financially viable, insisting that the current audit of the Fiji Rugby Union – who own 51 per cent of the Drua – will not impact his ambitious plans for growth.
Instead, the former Harlequins, Western Force and Melbourne Storm chief executive (who was also director of rugby at Saracens), believes that whatever hurdles await won’t compare to the problems the Gallagher Premiership is currently facing in England with Worcester Warriors in danger of folding and Wasps unable to pay back a £35million bond debt.
Evans, who will move to Fiji in October, set out his plans as Drua CEO and his continuing fears for Premiership Rugby in a wide-ranging RugbyPass interview. He has repeatedly warned of a financial disaster for English professional rugby unless significant steps are taken to improve the running of the sport – check out his previous May 2020 interview.
His thoughts at the time were also laid out at great length in Unholy Union, the book he collaborated on with writer Michael Aylwin, and he has now given his latest take on the brutal financial situation unfolding in England with Worcester on the brink of disaster. “The regulatory authorities [RFU and PRL] have to look at what the hell they are doing to allow Worcester to happen,” said Evans.
“It was so avoidable. All it would have needed at Worcester is for an appropriate fit and proper person test and the Premiership clubs to agree to have central oversight of their finances on the grounds of transparency and none of this would have happened. Therefore you have to say the regulatory authorities – the Rugby Football Union and PRL (who run the Premiership) – have to bear responsibility for this.
The former Quins and Saracens boss has tweeted: “Looks as though I may be moving. Be a hell of a commute otherwise.”#SuperRugbyPacifichttps://t.co/Px7UJJELqy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 23, 2022
“Wasps is slightly different and I do think that underneath it all there is a decent business based at Coventry, but the rugby and the stadium complex have to be under one ownership. A club like Newcastle has done a remarkable job in a difficult market, while I’m hearing whispers about another Premiership club possibly having problems.
“Without the winter package of support from the Government, clubs would have been in even more trouble but it is real debt and must be repaid even with low interest and long terms. Heavily indebted clubs are even more heavily indebted.
“This is fixable and it’s not difficult but we have never had the political will or common agreement to do it. It is about the Premiership and it is in their gift, not the RFU. They don’t set the salary cap or have marquee players. It is all PRL. It comes down to getting costs in line with revenue.”
The 63-year-old Evans hopes that by the time he returns to England following his three-year contract in Fiji that the Premiership landscape will be different, although he isn’t holding his breath. “I hope there would be radical change by 2025 so that we can concentrate on growing the game. When I come back I hope we will be playing fewer games and have changed the regulatory structure in terms of fit and proper persons and financial oversights.
“Clubs will also have to open their books, not only for salary cap but also financial control so they are viable and avoid this sudden explosion. When I worked in the NRL (in Australia) we had four clubs in a terrible state but we got them all back stable and they didn’t leave the competition. We had the central control to do that but here in England, we have shied away from that because we are miles away from that kind of transparency.
“It was a ridiculous idea that the Premiership salary cap could be relaxed if Worcester or Wasps went bust. You would just load more debt onto clubs already losing £3m to £5m a year. That idea was a knee-jerk reaction but come on – you fix it by sorting out regulations and controls.
“If you run a club you have a duty of care and something like the current Worcester situation was bound to happen and it was just a case of not knowing when. Just look at the past record of some of the people involved and it doesn’t pass muster. “
While he remains passionate about the Premiership, Evans is aware of the negative publicity currently surrounding the Fijian rugby hierarchy as he heads into his new role there. The audit of the FRU finances is being conducted following the sacking of three employees while John O’Connor, the chief executive has agreed to take ‘annual leave’.
The FRU own 51 per cent of the Drua, who made their Super Rugby Pacific debut last season, and Evans is confident any fallout from the union can be sidestepped. Brian Thorburn was appointed as an interim CEO to help build Drua as a new franchise and Evans will now take over on a contract that takes him through to the end of the 2025 Super Rugby campaign.
“The FRU and the Drua have a completely separate board who I report to, and the financing is also separate,” explained Evans. “The FRU own 51 per cent but there is a significant degree of separation at an operational level. The Drua have had their first year mainly played off the islands because of covid, except for the last two matches, and it is an opportunity to them viable and successful.
“Why not give it a crack? With the right structures, Fiji has enough talent on and off the islands for a lot of growth. The Drua can make a significant difference and that is why I agreed to do it. The Drua have a good set of sponsors and I’m reasonably confident. They also have fantastic fans and I’m really looking forward to experiencing that kind of enthusiasm. However, I’m trying to manage expectation.”
Comments on RugbyPass
To me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
30 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
30 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
30 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
30 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
30 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
30 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
30 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to commentsI think he is right, SBW is respected in RSA. The guy who never stood up is a worm. Sseems lots of NZ SBW hate, you do the crime do the time.
17 Go to comments