Jamie says rugby stars must have say in saving game

ENGLAND hooker Jamie George insists senior players must be consulted as rugby chiefs look to restructure the game in the wake of the financial crisis gripping the Gallagher Premiership.

Wasps followed Worcester into administration on Monday when all 167 players and staff at the club were made redundant and they are expected to join the Warriors in being relegated to the Championship.

Other teams are thought to be in similarly precarious positions and officials from the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby will face a parliamentary committee next month to answer questions about the league’s troubled finances.

The RFU favours a reduction of the top flight and will even assess the feasibility of central contracts among a range of proposals being examined amid the consensus that an overhaul is vital.

Whatever is decided, George believes it is essential that experienced players are also involved in reshaping the game.

“What’s happened has opened the eyes of a lot of players. It’s made people realise that rugby isn’t in the place we thought it was,” said the Saracens and Lions front row.

“We thought we were comfortable and that Wasps would never go down, Worcester would never go down.

“Now Joe Launchbury doesn’t have a job and Dan Robson doesn’t have a job. And 167 people at Wasps don’t have jobs.

“It’s been the darkest week in English club rugby history. That is a concern. What I want is to look at the global picture and say, ‘how can we fix this?’ Maybe it took something like this to create some form of change. It’s horrific that it had to be this way, but if we can channel this into English rugby becoming a lot more secure then that’s probably the only thing we can hope for.

“The players need to be at the forefront of it. Players are going to want certain things and how it works logistically and financially might be two separate things. But why would you not have them in the room? I think that’s absolutely vital. I’d love to be in the room.”