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RFU plan £220m investment in ten-year Premier 15s strategy
The RFU have announced today a ten-year strategy to turn the Premier 15s into “the most competitive, progressive and sustainable domestic competition in the world.”
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The objective is to help grow and develop the women’s game in England from grassroots level to the Red Roses.
The priority of the RFU’s is to create a new company that will have its own Chief Executive that will report to an independent Board of Directors. The Chief Executive will run the league and will employ other executives in key positions. This will be in place from the 2023/24 season onwards.
In terms of investment, the RFU outlined in their plan that “the overall cost of the league will total £222m over a ten year period, with projected revenues expected to be £174m. From 2023/24 the RFU and clubs will invest the remaining £48m.” This will help make the league the first fully professional club rugby competition in the women’s game.
The initial plan is for the league to consist of ten teams, just like the current Allianz Premier 15s, with the aim of expanding the competition over the coming years.
The eight objectives of the new league, according to the RFU’s strategy, are:
“1. Become the first professional women’s club rugby league across all aspects of the game
2. Improve the overall quality of play and produce sufficient world class talent for the Red Roses by investing in high quality training environments and prioritising player welfare
3. Be part of a coherent player pathway from grassroots through to elite competition across England
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4. Increase commercial revenue to drive long-term financial sustainability of the league
5. Grow audience engagement through both live and digital products, reaching new fans and deepening relations with the existing audience
6. Lead the way in rugby by aligning with the international calendar and by creating a high-quality, innovative product
7. Develop and retain a world-class workforce of players, coaches, officials and operational staff
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8. Collaborate with the rugby community to drive the growth of the women and girls game across England”
Sue Day, RFU Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer commented: “We’re extremely excited about the next iteration of the Premier 15s, which has been developed as part of a collaboration with Allianz Premier 15s Clubs, Premiership clubs and the RFU.
“Our collective intention is to create a league which will be the leading domestic league in the world and will ultimately be the first professional women’s domestic league globally.
“We have worked hard to devise a ten-year strategy which will serve to deliver a financially sustainable league, whilst simultaneously accelerating the growth of the women’s game in this country to provide further opportunities for players of all abilities. We want to create a league which inspires both players and fans and continues to drive competition and provide talent for the Red Roses.
“We also recognise our wider purpose within society and therefore the league will go beyond purely being a platform for elite women’s rugby matches in order to influence positive change in key areas.
“The first two cycles of the Allianz Premier 15s competition to date have been hugely successful, providing great drama and competition on the pitch as well as producing a wide pool of talent for the Red Roses, which has resulted in one of our most successful international periods. Elite women’s rugby has never been stronger and so now is the time to capitalise and make significant change so we can continue to make strides in the game to ensure its future is secured.”
Comments on RugbyPass
What a dagg in more ways than one
5 Go to commentsRegroup come back next year but sack some of the coaching team and don't be like the ABs last minute sacking. If Crusaders don't do well ABs don't do well.
5 Go to commentsProctor Definitely inform again this year had a hell of a season last year and this year is looking even better. Still mixed feelings about Ioane tho.
4 Go to commentsDagg is still trying to get enough headlines to make himself relevant enough to get a job. The Crusaders went back to square one at all levels. Shelve this season and nail the next one.
5 Go to commentsHe was in such great form. Sad for him but only a short term injury and it will be great to see him back for the finals.
1 Go to commentsAfter their 5/0 start, I had the Crusaders to finish Top 4 only…they lost the plot in Perth but will reload and back themselves vs 4th placed Rebels…
5 Go to commentsBoth nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
3 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
4 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
38 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
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