by The Rugby Union has told Championship clubs it will not budge on their vision of starting a franchise-based Premiership 2, including a reformed Wasps.
The bidding process for the new second tier, which starts in the 2025-26 season, will close in February despite Championship clubs indicating they will not apply to join. Last month the clubs issued a statement opposing the potential “non-meritocratic entry” of phantom clubs such as Wasps, London Irish and Worcester Warriors, who all went into administration last season along with Jersey Reds.
The RFU insists it wants to work with the Championship to create minimum operating standards covering everything from stadiums to player welfare. The governing body believes that would create a more sustainable and marketable second tier as well as a more certain path to promotion to the Premiership. However, the RFU, which has slashed funding for the Championship from £600,000 to £160,000, is adamant it will only open the purse strings if clubs accept its offer to quit or leave.
“What they’ve said is that if they don’t accept it, they’d rather be at the top of the community game pyramid,” said Bill Sweeney, chief executive of Rugby Football Union. “I’m not entirely sure why they would say that, and why you wouldn’t want to be a part of it. If you’re from Coventry or Ealing, why wouldn’t you want to be part of this? If you prefer to be at the top of the community game pyramid with your usual promotion and relegation, that’s not really the performance model we’re investing in.
“If we didn’t have enough clubs to form Prem 2, we wouldn’t have Prem 2. If we get two clubs interested and everyone says no, you go back to the status quo and lose this opportunity. . But we are not going to invest in something that cannot be invested.”
Part of that vision includes allowing a reformed club such as Wasps to jump from the bottom tier of the pyramid up to the second without the promotion process. However, any phantom club would have to repay its rugby creditors. Former Worcester boss Steve Diamond, who has been appointed as an adviser to the RFU, says other clubs should welcome their entry. “Why wouldn’t you want those brands into your league?” Diamond said. “Why wouldn’t you want wasps?” Sweeney also indicated that the RFU would reject any proposal to incorporate Wasps, who are set to build a home in Sevenoaks in Kent, or London Irish into the United Rugby Championship.
The complex negotiations over Premiership 2 are taking place at the same time as the proposed Professional Game Partnership between the RFU and Premiership Rugby, which is seen as vital to building a winning team in England and improving the development of young players. The RFU readily admits the pathway needs to be rebuilt after it was “torn apart” between 2016 and 2019, and wants to ensure game time for under-18s and under-20s at club level.
As revealed by Telegraph Sport, the PGP will introduce hybrid contracts, with England head coach Steve Borthwick able to select an Enhanced Elite Squad of up to 25 players who would provide an “enhanced level of support” for their top internationals.
These contracts would be between one and three years, paying players a flat rate of around £160,000 per year to encourage them to stay in the Premier League. This would give Borthwick and England’s backroom team greater control over a player’s medical and conditioning plans, as well as enabling them to draw up an Individual Player Program with the club. However, Borthwick would not be able to determine the position of a player such as Marcus Smith, who was deployed as a goalkeeper in this year’s World Cup but returned to play at fly-half with Harlequins.
The contract model appeared to have hit its first hurdle when winger Henry Arundell chose to stay in France with Racing 92 rather than return to the Premier League, although Conor O’Shea, the RFU’s executive director, says the governing body was on his peace. this development. “He hasn’t played a lot of rugby because of various circumstances because of the Covid and being young players and injury,” said O’Shea. “He’s a high-profile player so it feels like a couple of years, not in the spotlight so to speak, will be good for him, and he’ll be back in 2026. But we want the best players here, full stop .”
With Owen Farrell retiring from international duty and Kyle Sinckler citing concerns about the support system, O’Shea admits more can be done to help players in the spotlight. “We just want to support him [Farrell] all the while looking to improve the comprehensive care of players,” said O’Shea. “That’s the most important thing. It’s getting harder and harder to operate in some of these environments, so we have to look at it carefully to make sure we’re best in class when it comes to that.”
As part of the PGP, RFU and Premiership clubs will implement a centralized strength and conditioning program so that they all have the same metrics. O’Shea also confirmed that the RFU intends to implement a regular series of England A games after the match against Portugal on February 25 at Welford Road.
