A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME
Now we are in the third week of the new season and still there is more bad news for the game I played and love. Not only do we have constant bad press involving our senior league but also Australia threatening the end of Super Rugby. What is the common denominator? Yes, you guessed it, money.
If we are honest it's not unusual for the Premiership to hit the headlines over a lack of financial stability as we all know it's been a competition with only one winner when it comes to making a profit and that is Exeter. The issue is, the Premiership doesn't actually keep to a wage cap even though it has one and is spending far too much on players' wages as a portion of club income.
All clubs have been said to have ‘tightened their belts' but many are still buying star players and paying high salaries under the guise of the marquee player system, which is outside the salary cap.
Premier Rugby Ltd (PRL) had a gross turnover of around £189 million before the pandemic, with many clubs spending well over 60 per cent of turnover on wages (Exeter were the lowest at 51 per cent). However, Worcester – who last year brought in Scotland wing Duhan van der Merwe – spent over 100 per cent of turnover, which indicates why they now look almost certain to face suspension and probably relegation, which could lead to liquidation.
Some clubs like Wasps actually generated almost as much if not more money from their stadium's other activities than their rugby, which could actually be a life saver for the club as long as they are given time. This is why Wasps have taken the unusual step of appointing an administrator even though this, under current RFU regulations, should see them relegated at the end of the season.
Obviously, this creates a problem for the RFU as they have allowed the Premiership to ring-fence themselves meaning currently there is no relegation or promotion, which quite frankly doesn't make sense.
What is the point in keeping a regulation bought in to maintain standards in the professional leagues if they can only be enforced against the grassroots of the game?
Although Wasps don't appear to be in as much trouble as Worcester, they have still failed to meet their financial obligations. As much as I hate to say it as a former Wasps player for well over 10 years, the RFU must show the strength of character to enforce its regulations and if Wasps do break the rules they should punish them in some way. Not to do so would be grossly unfair on all the teams, Richmond, Rotherham, London Scottish, Wakefield and many more that were sanctioned in the past.
There are many that believe that the RFU is controlled by PRL and do not have the courage to challenge them, but I don't agree. The working relationship between the union and PRL may not be perfect but is one of mutual give and take to allow both to make the best out of an imperfect contracted agreement that really suits neither party.
Meanwhile, in the southern hemisphere all hell is breaking loose as first South Africa made noises suggesting it is open to joining the Six Nations, while Rugby Australia threatens to go it alone if New Zealand don't agree a fairer split of the money made in the Super Rugby games. Previously money was split evenly between SANZAAR countries but not any longer with the All Blacks now taking a significantly larger sum than Australia.
With Australia hosting the 2027 Rugby World Cup, Rugby Australia (RA) chairman Hamish McLenmam, below, wants to make sure that Australia are in the best position to make the most of that opportunity. Australia are unhappy that New Zealand Rugby have decided that both South Africa and Argentina should be cast aside and have suggested that the Australians will have just two sides in the Super Rugby Pacific competition. RA have said that they will honour all agreements for the 2023 season but all bets are off for the 2024 season, meaning that walking away from the competition is a distinct possibility unless things Sunday, September 25, 2022 TheR change. If that happened the advances made in the southern hemisphere in trying to develop the game, especially in the Pacific Island nations, could easily be derailed, thereby increasing the decline in participation in those countries. On top of that there are now concerns raised regarding player welfare over the number of hours players are spending on flights between games. This seems only to have raised its head because of the South African clubs, who are now competing in the United Rugby Championship and European Cup competitions. The Rugby Championship between the SANZAAR nations also involve a number of long flights as teams transit the world from South Africa to New Zealand, Australia and Argentina with all flights taking between 11 and 14 hours and crossing many time zones.
For South Africa it makes sense to compete in Europe as the flight time is 11 hours but as they are on the same time line as Europe it means there is no jetlag. With careful planning, South Africa would only have to fly north once every two years to play in the Six Nations if they play all matches at home one year and away the next, which explains why they are keen to join.
All in all, there seems there is nothing but bad news with the men's game just as Simon Middleton announced his squad for the Women's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand starting on October 8. Coming off the back of a 25-game winning streak with fingers crossed, the Red Roses look certain to be bringing the Cup home.
