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RFU confirms 14-team Premiership expansion plan with no relegation until 2024
The RFU council have approved plans to expand the Gallagher Premiership to 14 teams for the 2022/23 season with relegation off the table until the end of the 2023/24 season when the bottom side in the 14-team top-flight will play off against the winners of the Championship.
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This moratorium on relegation from the Premiership was initially introduced for the recently finished 2020/21 season. It was known earlier this year in February that there would be no relegation for bottom club Worcester with the authorities instead deciding on a 13-team league for next season that will include the newly promoted Saracens, who easily defeated Ealing Trailfinders in a two-legged final.
Now the plan is to increase the top flight to 14 teams by accommodating the winners of the 2021/22 Championship and there will be no chance of relegation until the end of the second season when a playoff between the bottom of the Premiership and top of the Championship is introduced.
Following consultation between Premiership Rugby and their clubs, Championship clubs, The RPA, RFU board and RFU council, the changes that will now be introduced include:
- The expansion of the Premiership to 14 clubs at the end of the 2021/22 season through the promotion (subject to meeting the required minimum standards) of the winner of the Championship, while supporting player welfare by maintaining the maximum gameplay limits and guaranteed rest periods.
https://twitter.com/RugbyPass/status/1327943087025512448
- Revised minimum standards criteria for clubs wishing to be promoted to the Premiership with wider game benefits such as financial sustainability, governance, player welfare, stadium facilities, medical provisions, safeguarding and community plans.
- A 2022/23 season in which no side will be relegated from or promoted to the new 14-team Premiership, allowing clubs to plan with greater certainty and supporting the recently promoted clubs in making the transition between leagues.
- A play-off in the 2023/24 season between the club finishing bottom of the Premiership and the winner of the Championship (subject to that club meeting the required minimum standards), with the result to decide which club plays in the Premiership during the following season.
- From August 2024, the intention is to move to a position where there is a mandatory England Qualified Players (EQPs) system under which Premiership clubs must have a minimum of 15 EQPs in each match-day squad and the end of the foreign player rule to provide better England player development opportunities while giving greater flexibility for Premiership clubs to select non-EQP players of any nationality. There is further work to do to agree on the detail of this subject to a new Professional Game Agreement (PGA) and introduction into regulation.
- Increased preparation time for the England men’s squad ahead of the 2023 Rugby World Cup as a result of an earlier end to the Premiership season in May 2023.
- A commitment by the RFU and PRL to maintain current levels of funding to the Championship until the end of the PGA in 2024, providing a greater level of certainty for member clubs. Changes after season 2023/24 will be subject to the agreement of a new PGA and the approval of the RFU Council.
- Unless Council agrees otherwise, from season 2024/25 promotion and relegation between the Premiership and Championship will revert to being on an annual one up, one down basis.
RFU president Jeff Blackett said: “Council has carefully considered how to ensure a healthy professional game to support successful winning England teams that generate income to support the game at all levels while maintaining the integrity of future league structures. The changes will undoubtedly benefit the game of rugby in England as we recover from the effects of the pandemic.
“This is not ring-fencing the Premiership as some have suggested. In three of the four seasons covered by this and our previous decision, a Championship club will have the opportunity to be promoted. Council has control of what happens thereafter and is committed to maintaining the integrity of the league structure by ensuring that access to the Premiership will be retained in the future.”
An RFU statement continued: “The financial impact of Covid has led to a greater focus on the financial model of professional rugby clubs and the need to find a more sustainable solution to address financial losses while growing the game. In 2017 the collective losses across PRL clubs exceeded £40million, in 2018 this rose to £50m, with further significant losses caused by Covid.
“The extent of the financial disruption to the Premiership Clubs was such that they were required to obtain £88 million in loans through the Government’s winter sports survival package. Premiership rugby clubs are reliant on owners continuing to fund operational costs in the face of mounting losses. The fear of relegation and its significant economic consequences has in the past lead to short-term investment, further adding to losses. This is unsustainable and has been exacerbated by Covid.
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“Relegation from the Premiership costs a club at least £5m which has a very material effect on the ability of that club to finance its operations and has a significant impact on long term commercial partnerships. Over the past 17 years, 14 teams that have been relegated from the Premiership have been immediately promoted the following season. The only years when this didn’t happen were 2009/10 (Bristol/Exeter), 2011/12 (Leeds/London Welsh), and 2015/16 (London Welsh/Bristol). This trend has further strengthened in recent years with eight teams over the past nine seasons winning immediate re-promotion.
“London Welsh became insolvent chasing the Premiership ambition. Exeter is the only club from outside the Premiership in twelve years that has successfully been promoted to the Premiership and maintained its position there. Everyone across the game would like to encourage more Exeter examples and avoid another London Welsh situation that significantly damaged that club.
“The financial and performance gap between Gallagher Premiership Rugby and Greene King IPA Championship rugby is significant. Despite funding to the Championship increasing by 67 per cent to its peak in 2016/17, a non-PRL shareholding team has not been promoted to the Premiership since 2014, that team was relegated the following season.”
"When the relegation was confirmed anything could have happened, people could have left, people had an excuse to go"
– The view from Saracens where they are now just 160 minutes away from Premiership promotion if they get the better of Ealing #EALvSAR
https://t.co/VrIpdT4DDa— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 10, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
What was the excuse for the other knockout blowouts then? Does the result not prove the Saints were just so much better? Wise call to put your eggs in one basket when you’ve got 2 comps simultaneously finishing.
27 Go to commentsReally hope Kuruvoli and his partner rock the Canes.
1 Go to commentsI wonder what impact Samson has had on their attack, as the team seems less prone to trundle it up the middle, take the tackle and then trundle it up again. I lost faith in the coach last year as the Rebelss looked like a 2nd/3rd rate South African team. I also disliked Gordon standing back, often ignored as the forward battle went on and on. Maybe its our Aussie way of not getting off our A***’s until the enemy is at the gate.
83 Go to commentsThanks for the write up. Great to see the Rebs winning, I am a little interested in how they will go against the remaining kiwi teams, I think they’ve only played Hurricanes and Highlanders but how great to see these players performing!! I also see Parling has a job beyond June 30! A good move by RA? Also how do you fix the Rebels previously scratchy defence?
83 Go to commentsbe smart - go black
13 Go to commentsNext week the Crusaders hopefully have Scott Barrett back. Will be great to have the captain back. Hopefully he will be the All Black captain as well.
12 Go to commentsExciting place to be for the young fella. I expected he was French Polynesian when I saw him included in the France 6N squad (after seeing him in NZs), and therefor be strong grounds we might loose him to rugby down here. Good, in that he is good enough to warrant such a profile, and from a journalism’s fan interaction aspect, to finally get a back ground story on the fella. Hope he has settled into NZ OK and that at least one rugby country will fit with him to help his development, which, if so, he should surely continue for a few years, and then that he can experience France to it’s fullest with a bit more maturity and less reliance on family than you would have at his current age. A good 3 or 4 years before he would be ready for International duty if he wanted to wait. Of course he already sounds good enough to accept a call up, and to cap himself, in the more immediate future (he’d have to be very very good in the case of the ABs), and he’ll get a great taste of that being with the Canes who have a bunch who are just a few years further into their career and looking likely Internationals themselves.
13 Go to commentsI remember towards the end of the original broadcasting deal for Super rugby with Newscorp that there was talk about the competition expanding to improve negotiations for more money - more content, more cash. Professional rugby was still in its infancy then and I held an opposing view that if Super rugby was a truly valuable competition then it should attract more broadcasters to bid for the rights, thereby increasing the value without needing to add more teams and games. Unfortunately since the game turned professional, the tension between club, talent and country has only grown further. I would argue we’re already at a point in time where the present is the future. The only international competitions that matter are 6N, RC and RWC. The inter-hemisphere tours are only developmental for those competitions. The games that increasingly matter more to fans, sponsors and broadcasters are between the clubs. Particularly for European fans, there are multiple competitions to follow your teams fortunes every week. SA is not Europe but competes in a single continental competition, so the travel component will always be an impediment. It was worse in the bloated days of Super rugby when teams traversed between four continents - Africa, America, Asia and Australia. The percentage of players who represent their country is less than 5% of the professional player base, so the sense of sacrifice isn’t as strong a motivation for the rest who are more focused on playing professional rugby and earning as much from their body as they can. Rugby like cricket created the conundrum it’s constantly fighting a losing battle with.
4 Go to commentsOh wow… “But as La Rochelle proved in winning in Cape Town this season, a cross-continental away assignment need not spell the end of days.” La Rochelle actually proved quite the opposite. After traveling to Cape town and back they (back-to-back and current champs) got mercilessly thumped the next week. If travel is not the reason, why else would a full-strength powerhouse like La Rochelle get dumped on their @r$e$ one week later?
27 Go to commentsYou know he can land a winning conversion after the full time siren is up. (Even if it takes two attempts.)
5 Go to commentsA very insightful article from Jake. I would love to know how South African’s feel about their move to Europe. Do you prefer playing in Europe or want to go back to Super Rugby?
4 Go to commentspure fire
1 Go to commentsA very well thought out summary of all the relevant complications…agree with your ”refer the Cricket Test versus 20/20 comparison”. More also definitely doesn't necessarily mean better!
4 Go to commentsMust be something when you are only 19 y.o and both NZ and France want you. Btw he wasn’t the only new caledonian in french U20 as Robin Couly also lived in Noumea until 17. Hope he’s successful wherever he chooses to play.
13 Go to comments“Several key players in the Stade Rochelais squad are in their thirties” South Africans are going to hate the implications of that comment!
5 Go to commentsI know Leinster did a job on La Roche but shortly after HT Leinster were 30-13 ahead of them and at a similar time Toulouse were trailing Exeter. At 60 mins Leinster were 27 ahead but after 67 mins Toulouse were only 19 ahead before Exeter collapsed. That’s heavier scoring by Leinster against the Champions. I think people are looking at Toulouses total a little too much. I also think Northhampton are in with a real chance, albeit I’d put Leinster as favourites. If Leinster make the final I expect them to win by more than ten and with control.
5 Go to commentsHey Nick, your match analysis is decent but the top and tail not so much, a bit more random. For a start there’s a seismic difference in regenerating any club side over a test team. EJ pretty much had to urinate with the appendage he’d been given at test level whereas club success is impacted hugely by the budget. Look no further than Boudjellal’s Toulon project for a perfect example. The set ups at La Rochelle and Leinster are like chalk and cheese and you are correct that Leinster are ahead. Leinster are not just slightly ahead though, they are light years ahead on their plans, with the next gen champions cup team already blooded, seasoned and developing at speed from their time manning the fort in the URC while the cream play CC and tests. They have engineered a strong talent conveyor belt into their system, supported by private money funnelled into a couple of Leinster private schools. The really smart move from Leinster and the IRFU however is maximising the Irish Revenue tax breaks (tax relief on the best 10 years earnings refunded at retirement) to help keep all of their stars in Ireland and happy, while simultaneously funding marquee players consistently. And of course Barrett is the latest example. But in no way is he a “replacement for Henshaw”, he’s only there for one season!!! As for Rob Baxter, the best advice you can give him is to start lobbying Parliament and HMRC for a similar state subsidy, but don’t hold your breath… One thing Cullen has been very smart with is his coaching team. Very quickly he realised his need to supplement his skills, there was talk of him exiting after his first couple of years but he was extremely shrewd bringing in Lancaster and now Nienaber. That has worked superbly and added a layer that really has made a tangible difference. Apart from that you were bang on the money… 😉😂
5 Go to commentsNot sure exactly what went wrong for him at Glasgow but it’s pretty clear he ain’t Franco’s cup of tea. Suspect he would have been better served heading out of Scotland around the same time as Finn, Hoggy and Jonny!
1 Go to commentsBulls disrespected the Northampton supporters and the competition. Decide quickly, fully in or out.
27 Go to commentsI wonder if Parling was ever on England’s radar as a coach? Obviously Borthwick is a great lineout coach, but I do worry he might be taking on too much as both head coach and forwards coach.
1 Go to comments