rightFU, PRL, PGP, PRB, IDP, TNT, CVC, RPA – drowned in the alphabet soup? Welcome to the new realm of English rugby, where there seems to be no big problem that an acronym can’t solve. It’s perhaps not entirely a coincidence that the Premier League’s director of rugby has recently undergone language lessons, given the additions made this summer.
They were all said to have been called into a conference room and encouraged to be more strident in public opinion next season. Embrace and celebrate the gladiatorial nature of the sport instead of shying away from it. In short, make things sexier.
It is believed that there is a joke that the Rugby Football League habitually hits his wallet whenever he speaks his mind, but as we know the recently agreed Professional Game Partnership (PGP) kicks off an unprecedented era for the club and the national team, so you hope there will be some leniency from the disciplinary authorities.
The point here is that as the Premier League season finally kicks off on Friday, five weeks after the Premier League ended, there is an acute awareness that the battle for eyeballs has never been fiercer. France’s top 14 tournament kicked off last week with much fanfare and a host of England’s biggest stars, seeking a head start in the Premier League, where most players have not played a game since May.
The salary cap has returned to £6.4m but most clubs have chosen not to spend too much and although the appointment of Michael Cheika as Leicester City manager is expected to bring in box office, the club have struggled to recruit first-team players. It’s past. The arrival of Fiji captain Waisea Nayacalevu to Sale may be the exception that proves the rule, but overall the club has released far more players than they have signed.
At last count, 37 players were sacked at the end of last season without joining the club, and although this is the inevitable result of a 10-team Premier League – and therefore fewer games – squad sizes have been reduced. It would be nice if it meant members of the England Under-20 squad that won the Junior World Cup this summer get the game time they often crave, but it won’t be the attraction of overseas stars selling tickets.
It’s also the result of an ongoing post-pandemic recovery, when government bailouts are still expected to be repaid and financial conditions saw clubs like Harlequins sell out all but two of their home games last season Light, staging two games a year at Twickenham with great success and considering break-even is within £500,000 is a reason for optimism.
As outgoing Northampton chief executive Mark Darbon said: “We and other clubs are working hard to achieve this financially sustainable model and many of our clubs have achieved good results. Progress, but we’re not yet on track to be consistently profitable on the P&L, so we have to continue to work hard to make sure we have a model that can thrive in the future. Challenges posed by the loss of some clubs.
With most clubs cutting back accordingly, this has made the Premier League extremely competitive – so much so that it has now become a selling point for the league. But if the club has stabilized after three players struggled, then there is an awareness of the need for growth. Extending the title sponsorship deal with Gallagher for a further three years is a positive development, but it requires explanation of language lessons and TNT Sports’ commitment to pushing boundaries this season.
“We have to continue to grow our audience and make it more attractive,” Darbon added. “Only then can we monetize this proposition and we can get media and broadcasters to invest appropriately to help us sustain our future. We need broadcasters to be willing to invest in our sport because there are viewers who care about it; we need major Corporate partners invest at league level because they want to be involved in the Premier League.
Earlier this year, TNT’s contract was extended for a further two seasons but at a reduced price, further attracting the attention of the Premier League board. This also explains why talk of the Anglo-Welsh League and British and Irish Leagues continues to disappear, especially as the Champions League has been moved to Premier League Sport as TNT sees no value in retaining it – a decision some insiders believe is The once proud rivalry has sounded its death knell.
The RFU has long believed that the best way to develop the club game is to have a successful England team. The league’s chief executive, Bill Sweeney, has often lamented that England have won the Six Nations just four times since lifting the World Cup in 2003 and only managed one Grand Slam, and the RFU has made no secret of its PGP targets , which gives Steve Borthwick more control over a select group of players.
“Anyone who looks at the age profile of the England squad, the profile of the squad, the growth of the squad at the moment, the players who are likely to make the England squad, is just looking at it and saying: ‘England can only go one way,'” the RFU’s Conor O’Shea said. “The proof is always on the pitch and we have to deliver on that, but the protocol allows us to deliver on that on a consistent basis.”
This view is echoed in the Premier League, albeit less enthusiastically. “It’s a much better deal for the international game going forward, which brings most of the support, resources and funding to the sport,” Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson ) said. “[But] It’s definitely more intrusive in terms of how I manage these players.
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Exeter director of rugby Rob Baxter expressed his concerns about the PGP but was excited about subsequent conversations with Bostwick. However, it remains to be seen whether it will make Britain look better. “I didn’t think it was that bad before,” Baxter said. “The most important thing rugby can do is stop changing every time it thinks it needs to change.
“The salary cap came down post-Covid and is just coming back. People are even now debating whether it should come back and the RFU always say they don’t have enough money, they haven’t supported the club through Covid at all and that’s one of my pet peeves. Now, in order to get a little extra revenue, the club has to give up more control in a country where it doesn’t sound like a completely consistent game, and that’s probably what it will feel like for the time being.
Ultimately, it is up to Borthwick whether the PGP can achieve the RFU’s goals. For all the detail contained in the agreement, for all the Individual Development Plans (IDPs) put in place for players, how he manages his relationship with the club to ensure he gets the best out of his players without turning rugby directors against him will be key. “I have a good relationship with Eddie. [Jones] I’m in the same boat as Steve now,” Sanderson said of the former and current England manager. “I’m not going to get on with everyone all the time and when those disagreements arise then there are players who get into trouble. If Steve isn’t here and I don’t get along with the next England Rugby chairman, that’s what I’d be worried about. .
The hope is that, for clubs at least, having multiple England internationals is no longer an unattractive proposition and the flow to France will slow down. It helps that Premier League matches no longer clash with test weekends, but the player cap has been reduced to 30 games, meaning clubs must plan when to rest internationals before Bostwick tries to tell them exactly when.
Next up is a tour of Australia for the British and Irish Lions next summer. There are no hard-and-fast limits on player benefits for those selected – which is concerning given there are an extra 10 games before the end of the season – but perhaps more concerning is the Wallabies’ recent performance. It doesn’t fit the kind of narrative the Lions tour needs to thrive – a newly formed team traveling to the ends of the earth to take on one of the world’s leading Test teams.
Tour selection will run throughout the season, starting with Bath hosting Northampton Rec on Friday. Would Andy Farrell like Finn Russell as his replacement? Maybe Fin Smith, who is 22 but can play with authority beyond his years, can replace him. More pressingly, ticket sales for Friday’s opener are said to be slow, which is a concern as the Rec is typically a popular venue under the Friday night lights, not to mention it’s a repeat of last season’s final.
It gave Bath the chance to seek early revenge for a four-point defeat in June, as Benoit Obanor was sent off in the 21st minute for a dangerous tackle. Whether the red card ruined the game or moved Bath just one step away from one of the most famous victories in recent memory is open to debate, but Premier League finals and Champions Leagues do the sport no favors. There were red cards in last season’s final and the World Cup final.
These decisions were correct from the letter of the law, but none of them addressed blatant violence. Instead, they punish minor mistakes in an era of zero tolerance in the context of concussion litigation and amid the increasingly difficult task of prioritizing safety and spectacle. It would be nice if there was an abbreviation for it.
