Funding the current playing model is the key issue. Most clubs in the Premiership are on the verge of bankruptcy. Most grounds have limited space to increase attendance capacity. Smart executives have warned for some time that player wages will create a financial problem.
Already eyebrows are raised when you look at the playing roster of some clubs. Bath have done a “South Africa,” by having a first XV squad of the replacements bench. The warning, of course, is that top players do not want to sit on the bench!
The answer is to use football grounds that can accommodate bigger crowds. Enlightened football clubs are noting this, and for a price, their grounds can be hired. The fixtures between the Saracens and Northampton, and Gloucester and Leicester, drew crowds of 54,000 and 23,000 respectively at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Villa Park.
The days of a pie and a pint on a crowded, often wet terrace are nearing an end. The Premiership will be ring-fenced. Big money, mainly corporate-backed, will provide the financial support. For evidence, look at the Japanese rugby union league. Toyota Verblitz are a case in point. And let’s not forget the cash-rich individuals, tossing their Hollywood earnings into the pot.
Money talks, and, like the English Premiership in football, the same clubs will challenge for the honours each year.
Northampton, Bath, Leicester and Exeter top the Gallagher, and it may remain the same until the end of the season.
In the URC, Glasgow, Stormers, Ulster and Leinster head the list, while in the Top 14, Toulouse, Pau, Bordeaux, and Montpellier.
Players will gravitate to the big money and the big club; staying at the top is much easier.
Elsewhere, the review of England rugby union national team coach Steve Borthwick will rumble on until the end of April, Chief Executive Sweeney tells us.
My spies tell me a group of players approached Borthwick before the recent France game and were blunt in saying, “We don’t want to play your way!”
Maybe the RFU need time to find a replacement.
Wherever you live, enjoy your rugby.
The Global Rugby Coach, Mike Penistone, is a globally renowned professional rugby coach based in Phuket who is also an ambassador for the Asia Center Foundation, a charity for disadvantaged children. For more information visit: www.rugbycoachingconsultancy.com.