Paying players will hurt women’s game, warn Richmond
Club chief fears chasm will open between clubs Exeter plan to have £1m budget per season
Richmond have warned that a chasm will develop between the teams who are paying players and the rest of the Premier 15s, which could impact the growth of women’s rugby in England.
Yesterday, The Daily Telegraph revealed that for the first time clubs would be paying players. Saracens are introducing retainers (£12,000£15,000) and match fees (£200£250), while Worcester will pay match fees (£150-£250). Harlequins do not pay players but offer benefits, such as accommodation.
Steve Hill, the Richmond director of rugby, told The Daily Telegraph he feared a gap was growing, particularly between those who pay and those not affiliated to men’s Premiership sides.
“The women’s game in England is dominated by two clubs, Saracens and Harlequins, even though the England players are centrally contracted,” Hill said. “I wouldn’t have thought it was in the interest of the women’s game or the Rugby Football Union to have a league which is fought between two teams before the season even starts.”
On Monday, Exeter Chiefs announced they were setting up a professional women’s franchise closely aligned to the men’s team.
Hill said: “The playing field is going to be so different between Saracens, Harlequins and, if Exeter come in, the likes of us and Waterloo. It will be like if, in the men’s game, you had Sutton and Epsom in the same league as Saracens. They play the same game and the same number of players on the team but are you ever going to beat them? Never.
“Whilst we heard that these things were happening, clubs were not being particularly open about it. We, as a club, have some serious concerns about the women’s game going down this route at this particular time. I am surprised that the RFU are happy with this.”
Richmond do not pay players but provide medical and strength and conditioning on a par with what their men’s side received before they were relegated from the Championship.
Hill added: “We haven’t got the funds to pay players. I think half the league is going to be at a massive disadvantage. You are potentially going to have more games of 65-0 because players are going to go where the money is. I don’t see how that is good for the betterment of the women’s game.
“With clubs like Saracens and Harlequins, their third and fourthchoice scrum-halves could be playing at clubs like Richmond or Wasps. But they are playing in the development side or not at all. That is no good for developing future players.”
At the moment, most clubs just have player agreements, meaning players can leave at any time in the season. Despite the introduction of match fees, Worcester’s players are free to move during the season, as are those of Harlequins, but Saracens players must stay until the end of the year. Bristol Bears have also implemented contracts, providing travel expenses, gym membership and sponsorship towards rugby costs.
The Premier 15s was set up in 2017 and, for the first two seasons, there was no promotion or relegation. However, The Telegraph also revealed last month that the RFU was introducing relegation and promotion, which would not be based on on-field results but a set of off-field “minimum standards” including medical, strength and conditioning and other infrastructure, such as media and marketing capabilities.
Exeter Chiefs would be tendering for one of the Premier 15s slots and Tony Rowe, the owner, has set out ambitious plans that the side would have a budget of £1million per season.
It is understood that a majority of Premier 15s clubs had been operating on budgets of £100,000 per year, with £75,000 funded by the RFU.
Hill says that Richmond have met these criteria set out by the RFU but fears the yardstick could be changing. “If it becomes a minimum standard to pay your players, whether it is an official minimum standard or it becomes the only way to exist, that is a very different model to when we went into the Tyrell’s Premier 15s two years ago,” he said.
“It was made clear that, for the first three years, the players were not going to be paid, it was to do with developing the women’s game, developing England squads and England winning a World Cup. It wasn’t based on players jumping from club to club to be paid more.”
Nick Ponsford, the RFU women’s head of performance, said: “Our main aim is to ensure Tyrrells Premier 15s is sustainable.
“We’ve got to make sure commercial revenues are driven up first before we fully professionalise. We want this league to be here in 20 years’ time.”