James Haskell believes the Premiership should be ring fenced and rebuilt using a franchise style NFL model, including a draft system that creates the superstars that the game is desperately crying out for.
Former England international Haskell believes the sport is stuck in its old school mentality and a victim of the ‘tall poppy syndrome' that no one is greater than the badge.
He said: “No one's getting promoted from the Championship as none of them fit the criteria, so it's pointless. Ring fence it, if you want jeopardy then you can make that happen through derbies and hyping those games up. You can make bigger squads in the Premiership with 60 odd players and then raise the salary cap if you can.
“Bigger squads will allow more of a chance to showcase players. Make it more of an entertaining offering, the product on the field is good but off the pitch the men in blazers clearly don't know what they're doing.
“I would look at franchise models like they do with NFL teams and look at the American sport model to implement a draft. Try to go to universities and hype up the varsity nature as that's where you can capture players. The club rugby scene is fine but there's a lot of tribalism among students and I think that can be harnessed well.”
Haskell, right, who made 133 Premiership appearances for Wasps and Northampton Saints between 2003- 19 and won 77 England caps, is eager for radical change including making rugby a summer sport so players at grassroots level can watch games on a weekend with increased entertainment value.
He added: “It would be more entertainment, bigger corporate opportunities, promote players and a global season. It's not hard but they'll never do it. It took them eight years to change the eligibility laws to get all those players to go back and play for the likes of Tonga.
“It's so simple to change, you just have to present it in the right way. The top level of the game needs to be separated from the grassroots. All the boys in blazers, the old school mentality, the six or seven values or whatever they pride themselves on need to go. This is ruthless top level sport played in the summer with live music, good weather, hyping up players. Let's showcase big collisions, big runs and stop pretending it's not a contact sport.
“You need to make the game simpler and explain rules to people. Rugby is an amazing game when it's good but at the moment it's all over the place.”
Rugby's lack of individual stars is illustrated in players' social media followings that are dwarfed by most other sports.
Haskell, 38, is hoping that Netflix's documentary on this year's Six Nations will help bring the sport a much needed new audience and is therefore bemused at reports that teams shut the cameras out during periods of the tournaments.
He said: “Louis Rees-Zammit should be plastered all over Cardiff, Marcus Smith all over London. We're the only sport that refuses camera access, look at what Drive to Survive has done to Formula One in creating more fans and it's now booming. Our mentality is awful. We can't have cameras in changing rooms but rugby league does it all the time, look at State of Origin matches.
“Fans want to see someone lose it, they want to see someone cry, get fired, have a fight because that's what rugby needs to be about. This Netflix documentary will hopefully showcase rugby by portraying all of its emotions. It could be amazing and just what the game needs.”
James Haskell, represented by Under Armour, supports the Sports Slam Campaign led by Sports Direct
