RFU ‘should fund welfare’ for Championship players

Nottingham legend Dave Jackson reckons it is high time Championship professionals were properly represented by the Rugby Players’ Association.
While Premiership players receive a full range of services from the RPA, who last month signed a new £7m, five-year funding deal with Premiership Rugby and the RFU, the Championship’s estimated 350 professionals have little assistance in respect of contractual advice, terminations, player development and post-retirement welfare.
Tier two players earn a pittance by comparison with the Premiership and Jackson, who was forced to quit the game through concussion in 2013, believes the RFU and RPA are failing in their duty of care to a large group of players.
Jackson told The Rugby Paper: “The Championship has been a full-time league for many years now and just because guys aren’t at the top level, it doesn’t mean they don’t need the same representation and help with their careers.
“Once rugby becomes your full-time job, the same issues arise whether you’re getting loads of money or not – and wages in the Championship are the same as the national average, sometimes less, so there’s little or no security there.
“I was lucky, I’d been at Nottingham for a long time and when I had to retire they looked after me, helping with my transition, financially and mentally and all that comes with it, but it’s not like guys can build up a big reservoir of cash. Lads in the Championship need more support from the RPA and RFU and if they’re full-time professionals, let’s treat them as such.”
RPA boss Damian Hopley agrees Championship players deserve representation, but insists there are no resources at his disposal.
He believes there are wider issues in respect of the second tier, telling The Rugby Paper: “We’re having discussions with the RFU and now we’ve locked off our funding deal with the Premiership clubs, what we want to look at is where the Championship fits in with the overall strategy for professional English rugby.
“We need a strong second tier and we need those players to be protected, valued and looked after, but that’s not the case at the moment. We want to represent those players, but right now there is no resource available to us.”
Hopley added: “The Championship has an incredibly valuable role to play, whether that’s players graduating to the Premiership and on to England, players on loan or players coming back down from Premiership clubs.
“There has to be a strategy in place that brings the whole professional game into a healthier position. The RFU made plenty of money from the World Cup so let’s use some of that here.”