The Rugby Paper

RFU must stamp authority by ruling out ring-fencing

- Michael Troon

I AM saddened at the numerous TRP reports regarding the ‘ring-fencing’ of the top tier.

Do the current executives of the Premiershi­p ‘cartel’ really believe their huge financial losses are down to Covid-19? Let’s see, which Premiershi­p teams have lived within their means over the past few years, importantl­y pre-Covid-19?

Just one I believe, all of the others have been guilty of spending a fortune on wages time and time again, and the ‘poor’ relegated team start life in the Championsh­ip with a large cash bonus! Who is suffering now? Thanks to the agreement with the RFU, it is the Community Game!

These same executives are now saying there are ‘insufficie­nt Championsh­ip clubs with the necessary finance and facilities to make a go of life among England’s elite’. Codswallop!

Pre-Covid-19, I have no doubt the finances of most of the Championsh­ip clubs were in less of a state than those of ‘the elite’. The facilities ‘required’, if not already past the planning stage (e.g. Cornish Pirates) can be obtained on a shared basis, just like some elite teams!

How dare this mismanaged elite deny vast swathes of the country the ambition to rise to the top, in particular the rugby loving people of Cornwall and Yorkshire.

The RFU must clip the wings of the Premiershi­p cartel, otherwise I am sure there will be another split in the sport.

RFU must find some muscles to flex in order to stop this talk of ‘ringfencin­g’ once and for all.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Kingdom