If Sale win it could be a real game-changer

JEFF PROBYN

A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME

Sale Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson was close to tears after last week's semi-final win against Leicester. Not because of the win, but the difference it could make to the north of England Rugby Union.

If they win next week's final against Saracens, it will be only the third time a northern team has won the Premiership title since the leagues began in 1987. In many ways this shouldn't be a surprise with just two teams now representing the whole of the north of England – Newcastle and Sale – even though the north probably has more club sides than any other region of the country.

The advent of the professional game saw the demise of a number of great northern clubs; Orrell, Liverpool St Helens, West Hartlepool, Rotherham, Headingley, Wakefield and Waterloo to name but a few which were regular fixtures for all the top clubs across the rest of the country.

Clubs in the north produced some outstanding players like Sammy Southern, Martin Hynes, Bob Kimmins, Dave Cusani, Peter Winterbottom (all forwards), and some backs too like John Bentley.

The north also provided a number of international players, some from the lesser clubs as well, notably Wade Dooley from Preston Grasshoppers.

In the amateur days a lot of players migrated to the south where there were better job opportunities and still made it to international level. These included my fellow Wasps players Rob Andrew, Fran Clough, Kevin Simms and Mark Bailey. However, despite the best efforts of a number of people, the ability to form a number of professional clubs while competing against Rugby League for players seemed to be beyond them, and a number of clubs became shadows of their former selves.

That said, there's a possible answer for the north. Mike Hogan, right, a former chief executive at Sale and former managing director of Newcastle, recently explained to The Rugby Paper his idea to reintroduce what would be a combination side that would represent the north in the Premiership.

Effectively, it would combine players from Sale and Newcastle and maybe Doncaster and Leeds, reforming a team similar to the Divisional North team of old that took part in the Divisional Championship played between 1985 and 1995.

The North were a successful divisional team, winning three championships and coming second twice in the ten years that the competition was played. This highlighted the talents of a lot of players outside the favoured clubs and put them in line for international selection.

If Hogan's proposal happened, it could potentially create a pathway to the international game and Premiership selection from the groups of players who will combine with those from other clubs, while raising the possibility of the clubs merging to save money.

However it poses the question: Who will the clubs play while the combination side is playing in their place in the Premiership, and where will they get players to take the places of those selected to play for the North in the combination team?

The irony of all this is that it was a previous owner of Sale rugby club who effectively destroyed the concept of County and Divisional rugby while negotiating on behalf of the RFU and agreeing there would be no level of rugby between the Premiership and the international game. This effectively removed all pathways for players outside the Premiership and the ability to climb the ladder to the international game.

However, if this combination team were to get the go ahead, it could well be considered as a level of rugby between the Premiership and the international game, even though it would be playing in the Premiership. If it were to become a successful winning team of both the Premiership titles and games in Europe, it could either create friction within PRL or between the clubs and the RFU.

In some ways it could solve the problem of creating a 10-team Premiership and what happens to the Championship. If a number of Premiership clubs combined with clubs in the Championship, this may be seen as a model for the future of the club game in England with combination teams playing in the Premiership and the other players playing in the Championship as a pathway to the combination team and potentially England.

As for promotion and relegation, that would have to stop at the Championship but with the best players in those club games being selected for the combination sides. Of course, only EQPs would be allowed to play in the combination sides which would reduce costs to clubs with no marquee players and a reduced number of foreign players.

The only issue would be who controls this new limited regional structure and more to the point would owners still finance it? As for next week's final itself, I must admit I am a little fed up with the idea that it will only be a duel between Owen Farrell and George Ford which decides who will win the game – nothing could be further from the truth. Both Farrell and Ford are great players but unless they get the type of ball and time that allow them to make the right decisions, they will have little impact on the game.

Rugby is a team sport and not just about individual players. Don't forget, when a team's set of forwards deliver quick clean ball to their scrum-half at the breakdown and set piece, it allows their fly-half the chance to play the game that will enable his team the best chance of winning.

The news of Wasps' sudden demise is a shock for an ex-player like me who had been filled with hope that they would survive and possibly be back at the top of the game in a couple of years. With both the new owners and the RFU blaming each other, I will try to get further information before saying too much but, whatever the reason, I can't help thinking this is the end of the club I knew and loved.