RFU plan National League shake-up

RADICAL plans to salvage lower league rugby in England could see National One and Two sides pooled in a regionalised 48team competition with no promotion or relegation.

The Rugby Paper understands a tournament that would initially see sides placed in eight groups of six, playing each other home and away before a second pool stage and then a series of knock-out rounds to decide a champion, is among a number of proposals under discussion.

Others include keeping the individual leagues as they are with sides playing each other just once in a truncated 15-match campaign, or splitting leagues into two with sides competing on a regional basis before entering play-offs to decide promotion and relegation issues.

Cash-strapped clubs are desperate to play, but any plans remain dependent on sides getting the go-ahead for full-contact – or at the very least an acceptable form of the 15-man game – and crowds being allowed, as they are now across most of non-league football.

Reacting to the idea of bringing National League clubs together, Rams chief executive Gary Reynolds said: “We’d be more in favour of just playing other National One clubs, even in a diluted form, because we’d rather keep promotion and relegation.

“But if a joint competition is what the majority vote for, then we’d go for it. With this pandemic going on you don’t want to be obstinate or quarrelsome about

things. If promotion and relegation is put on hold for a season, I suppose that will have to be, but we would prefer to retain the competitive element if we get back playing.”

Blackheath head coach James Shanahan also wants promotion and relegation retained, but offers an alternative suggestion of how a truncated National One campaign could look.

Shanahan, right, explained: “We obviously want rugby back and I know the RFU are working hard to deliver that, but if we are to potentially start again in January, I would rather see

15 games in National One, then split into top eight/bottom eight for another seven to make it 22 games in all.

“That way you retain the integrity of promotion and relegation and we could run through into June and start the 2021/22 season in October.

“If the RFU are looking at reducing the leagues from 16 clubs to 14, which we’re told they are doing, then that could work out pretty well.”