THE LAST WORD

CANCEL the strike action and hang out the bunting. Premiership Rugby’s attempts to create an 11-month season from 2020 are destined to fail. In the face of overwhelming opposition from the Rugby Players’ Association and strike threats, led by England stars, common sense will prevail, in the interests of welfare. The RFU’s director of professional rugby, Nigel Melville, told The Rugby Paper: ‘There was talk about the Premiership season starting in September and ending in June (with Test tours in July) but that’s not where we are going to land. The season will probably end in June but it won’t start at the beginning of September, it will start later.’ This response to the calendar-grab bid by PRL should be celebrated. It turns out that their chief executive, Mark McCafferty, is not lord and master of the whole sport, as he appears to think.