From The Times :
The sense that a revolution is brewing in world rugby gathered strength yesterday as the Rugby Players’ Association warned that the professional game is “on the brink” and joined calls for a radical restructure of the sport.
The global lockdown has exposed financial fault lines in the game, with longstanding professional clubs and major international unions under serious threat of going bust.
Agustín Pichot, the former Argentina scrum half, is running for election as chairman of World Rugby on a platform that the coronavirus crisis presents an opportunity to “redefine the future of rugby” by redrawing the global calendar.
Sir Clive Woodward endorsed Pichot’s position, urging World Rugby to grab this “extraordinary moment to fundamentally change and become economically viable and a truly world game”.
Damian Hopley, chief executive of the RPA, agrees that change is inevitable and he demanded unions and clubs build the future of the game around the players, instead of viewing them as assets to generate revenue.
“We have had an extraordinary three weeks trying to come to terms with the financial freefall we are in.
“The most important thing is marrying up the playing and commercial challenges,” Hopley said in a wide-ranging conversation on The Ruck, the rugby podcast from The Times and Sunday Times.
“From a catastrophic situation we are all in, that is where the opportunity may arise to take survey the landscape and say, ‘Where do we need to be in five, ten years’ time?’ The game is on the brink in many ways. The definition of madness is doing the same things time and again and expecting a different outcome.
“The quart into a pint pot argument we have had for a long time in terms of length of season and number of games.
“Sometimes player welfare is, ‘Let’s play another international and raise some more money for the game’. It is always that great thing [for organisations to say] that player welfare is the No 1 priority. I am not convinced it always is, to be honest with you.”
Ben Youngs, the Leicester Tigers and England scrum half, spoke out this week against Premiership Rugby’s (PRL) plan to play midweek matches to complete the season and fulfil its broadcasting deal with BT Sport.
“There is no way we could play two games in a week,” Youngs said. “We don’t have the squad size. You would be putting players at risk.”
Hopley held up Youngs’s stance as an example of how players are finding their voice and why they must be represented in every discussion.
“Players are becoming aware of their welfare, looking at the number of games, the psychological, physical and mental toll being placed upon them,” Hopley said. “We have to be in those rooms, it is as simple as that.
Hopley said he had spent years battling to be allowed a seat at the table but he had been encouraged by recent conversations with PRL and the RFU, while “a good dialogue is starting to rebuild” with World Rugby.
Bill Beaumont, the incumbent World Rugby chairman, reissued his manifesto on Twitter last night and insisted he was the man to “guide rugby through the Covid-19 crisis and to shape and build the strongest future for the global game”.
• Scotland’s higher-earning players have been asked to take pay cuts amid fears of a £12 million shortfall caused by the potential postponement of the autumn internationals.
Mark Dodson, the Scottish Rugby Union chief executive who has volunteered to take a temporary 30 per cent wage cut, confirmed that the SRU would be furloughing employees while consulting with players and staff on a “salary reduction programme focused on our higher-earning employees”.
I must admit I would like to see Pichot get a decent crack at running WR. For too long the 'establishment' have run it to the detriment of all below the top tier countries.
Always a Wasp
Topic: RPA chief executive Damian Hopley warns rugby is ‘on the brink’ (Read 2479 times)