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RPA issue statement amid bombshell England players' decision
The Rugby Players Association (RPA) has expressed disappointment over the England men’s team decision to terminate their role as exclusive commercial representatives.
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This change, effective at the conclusion of the current Elite Player Squad (EPS) agreement in June 2024, marks the end of a two-decade partnership. Since 2004, the RPA has represented the commercial negotiations of Team England LLP, including the team’s contracts, image rights payments and bonuses.
According to The Times, the motion to drop the RPA was followed by a landslide vote in favour of parting company with the RPA by Team England LLP members. It is understood that negotiations over the Netflix documentary deal – which saw the streamer film during last year’s Guinness Six Nations – played a significant role in the bombshell decision.
A statement from the RPA reads: “The RPA are disappointed to announce that Team England LLP have chosen to end the RPA’s status as exclusive commercial representatives at the end of the current EPS agreement in June 2024.
“The RPA have proudly represented the England Men’s squad since 2004, consistently positioning them as the best rewarded in global Rugby Union.
“We will continue to support, promote, and protect all elite players in the English game via RPA representation, including those selected to play for the England Men’s side. A current EPS men’s representative has placed on record that the squad give the RPA their full backing in supporting players across the English game.”
RPA Statement on Team England LLP#ForOurPlayers pic.twitter.com/zn4eZi9n0a
— The RPA (@theRPA) January 3, 2024
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Cracks had begun to appear in the relationship during the pandemic when Gallagher Premiership players were forced into heavy salary cuts in the face of fixture cancellations and a ban on attending matches. With the RPA partly funded by the RFU, question marks had been raised around conflicts of interest, most notably voiced by England loosehead Ellis Genge, who in 2020 voiced a campaign for the players to establish their own union separate from the RPA.
Comments on RugbyPass
The Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
2 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
2 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
2 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
2 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to commentsHarlequins doing their best to do as little damage as possible with all the possession. Looks like they skipped catch and pass drills this week.
7 Go to commentsSeeing pictures of Jacques high-fiving it with Irish players breaks my heart. Too soon. I need more time.
1 Go to commentsquins is all over the place. The minute they get the ball they panic. Quins can still win tho just need to win all rucks otherwise just don't bother.
7 Go to commentsGreat wins for the male & female kiwi sides. Ireland not far away..
1 Go to commentsWhy is this dude getting so much coverage? Usually knobs like this get cancelled.
2 Go to commentsWow. What was that? A 3 million word meandering article about what exactly?
2 Go to commentsNice piece of writing. And yes the Sharks pulled a rabbit from the hat and were a little lucky with that penalty try that wasn’t given… however the Sharks (with their resources) should be way more consistent and should be putting teams like Claremont away for breakfast. I expect more from them and hope they kick on now.
8 Go to commentsJust what the Sharks needed to get things going in the right direction Defence on the outside really creates havoc for the whole team and needs to be addressed.
8 Go to commentsWell done guys both teams will be ready to play knockout rugby.
1 Go to commentsSurprised that Ramos isn't starting at 15. But what a squad of galacticos!
2 Go to commentsWhy is it a snub? What journalistic garbage is that? Sure the guy is a great player, but there are plenty of loose forwards and not all of them can be Springboks. Also, I know of no-one who doubts Rassie’s judgment. South Africa has a conveyor belt of loose forwards that just keeps producing, so the competition is intense. I certainly wish him well, but there is no entitlement and there is no snub.
17 Go to commentsSkelton may be brought back for the Wallabies so that would be the only reason that may hinder Wilson. Easily the form, most skilful and game IQ of any Oz 8. Valentini’s best and favourite position is 6, but lineouts may be an issue with Skelton, Valentini and Wilson. Will be interesting what Schmidt goes for but for me Wilson should be picked on form. Schmidt rewards work rate, skill and consistency. All that glitters every so often won’t be in contention. Greely is one of those players that has a knack of making the right decision. A coach is going to love him because he knows week in week out he’s going to get the job done. The second try Greely wasn’t the guy who made the initial break it was Flook, Greely was at the bottom of the ruck when Flook was off along the sideline. Greely got up and made the effort to catch up with play but also read the play nicely and hit the pass from Campbell at pace and then held the pass beautifully to Ryan.
6 Go to comments