Memo to BT: Rugby’s not all about try-fests
Did you watch last Sunday’s televised game between Bath and Sale? It was played in horrendous conditions on a Rec pitch that can be notoriously muddy, and it finished in a 7-7 draw.
I thought both teams put in serious defensive shifts, and, in the circumstances provided a decent spectacle, but it didn’t seem to please BT Sports, and that’s a worry – three days later on Rugby Tonight they were still having a dig. Their reaction typified the shallow view that some have of modern rugby – unless it’s a tryfest then it’s a target for cheap shots.
Well, I’m a fan who thinks that the eight forwards are the most important players on the pitch, and that scrums, line-outs and rolling mauls are at the very heart of the game. Given the choice between a maul that trundles 20 metres, or a show-pony sprinting the length of the pitch, I’ll always opt for the former – that’s what proper rugby is about!
Not only is rugby a game for all shapes and sizes, it’s a winter game, and sometimes the pitch will be muddy, the rain will be falling, and the wind blowing. It’s also in England part and parcel of an incredibly competitive league where, whatever the weather, the result really matters.
Bath and Sale got stuck in, and, instead of snide comments, deserved huge praise for providing the entertainment they did. Steve Diamond said you’ve got to be a proper rugby fan to turn out in those conditions, and the Bath faithful did, sitting in the horrific uncovered stand getting soaked to the skin. Respect to them, and shame on the BT team for not being more appreciative.
The issue of promotion and relegation in the Premiership is rugby’s equivalent of Brexit – supporters are divided on the subject, and it refuses to go away. This week it was raised again amid the possibility a bigname club could end up facing the drop.
The first thing to say is that changing the rules in the middle of the season would be utterly wrong, and completely against the spirit of the game. When promotion and relegation are banished – and I have believed for a while that it is now ‘when’ and not ‘if ’ – it needs to be done in a considered way, with due notice being given rather than as a knee-jerk.
If the rumours are true, the Premiership owners will shortly vote on whether to accept a huge investment for a minority stake in the league.
Having sensibly rejected a £275m offer for a majority stake, it now looks, as chief executive Mark McCafferty put it, ‘highly likely’ that a deal will go ahead. For that to happen, all 12 Premiership clubs would need to accept it, as would London Irish, the latest club to experience the drop. Irish will almost certainly be back in the Premiership at the end of the season, either on merit, or by default because none of their rivals could make the leap into the big time. The problem is that another club will get relegated, and then come back 12 months later. It’s a joke.
People get doctrinal about promotion and relegation, just as they do about Brexit, and once they have a view, it’s hard to shift them. It’s all Exeter’s fault! If they’d had the decency to stay in their proper place in the Championship we wouldn’t be having this debate, but now we keep being told that there could be another ‘Ex’ out there waiting to make it in the big time – the sad fact is that there isn’t.
That’s why we should announce a halt to promotion and relegation from the end of the 2019-20 season, and plan properly for a 13-team league – my suggestion is that each club are given a guarantee that they will have fiveyear tenancy in the Premiership, to be reviewed thereafter. I would ask them each to sign a contract that says they will accept a twothirds majority vote at the end of that period to decide whether they stay for another five years, or are replaced.
Some rules should be set about minimum squad size – that will give opportunities for the best Championship players to step up – an increased EQP percentage, and more rigorous rules on minutes played. The salary cap would be increased but only by enough to accommodate the additional players each squad will have. That would be good for England, and a positive step forward in terms of player welfare.
“Bath and Sale got stuck in and deserved huge praise for providing the entertainment they did”