Eastwood calls for ring-fence debate

WASPS chief executive Nick Eastwood insists no decisions around ring-fencing the Premiership can be made until all available options have been assessed.

The tightness of this season’s Premiership and proximity to the relegation trapdoor of English rugby giants Leicester, Northampton and Bath has re-opened the debate over whether the top-flight should be ringfenced.

Directors of rugby such as Bristol’s Pat Lam and Gloucester’s Johan Ackermann have been vociferous in their support of ringfencing. However, Eastwood has queried that stance, blasting the lack of any clear evidence to support a change of structure.

Eastwood, a former RFU finance director, told The

Rugby Paper: “I’ve been in professional rugby for 20 years and ring-fencing has come up every single season.

“But I have never seen a proper, thorough and comprehensive analysis with all the pros and cons – commercial, financial and playingwise – of ring-fencing.

“People talk in simplistic terms about player development and player welfare, but my view is it’s a much more multi-faceted decision.

“For example, if we had a 13-team league the directors of rugby and S&C staff might say we need another three or four front rows to cover additional games. That’s 50 or 60 across the league, so where do you get all those Premiership level players from?”

Barring London Irish failing to win the Championship, a team will be relegated this season.

Longer-term changes to promotion and relegation will require the approval of the RFU but Eastwood insists nothing can happen until an impartial report is commissioned that looks at the structure of English rugby from top to bottom.

He added: “I’ve heard everything from a singleleague of ten teams to two conferences of eight. Each has different implications.

“What happens below the Premiership? If you change promotion and relegation, what will the domino effect be down the leagues?

“We’ve got a club down the road from us, Coventry, who have ambitions of their own, so what happens there? What are the timeframes to be?

“Until you see any of that real detail, you can’t pin your colours to any mast – I certainly won’t.”