Always a Wasp

Its start to look like a death spiral:

Smaller league means fewer games leading less revenue from gate receipts, F&B, replica kit sales, matchday sponsorship etc as well as reduced revenue from TV deals. It also means fewer games for players to the point where some may feel they're not getting enough game time in a game they love.

The clubs are becoming more reliant on the RFU for funding through the professional game agreement.

The response of the Premiership is to reduce the salary cap and widen the gap between what players are paid in comparison to other leagues, especially the French.

The smaller squads will also lead to being less competitive in Europe, reducing the incentives for top players to stay here.

As players leave and make themselves unavailable for England the national team will suffer. If conversations here are to be taken as a guide then there's already a problem with long standing rugby fans not being interested in England or at least going to Twickenham. If England's performance starts to decline the fair weather fans are going to be less likely to put their hands in their pockets and paying for exorbitant ticks and match day experience.

If the RFU starts losing revenue then that means less to feed back in to the professional game and crucially the lower leagues and game development, from where the talent they need is nurtured.

We've seen this story played out in Wales and it hasn't been pretty.

The further rugby declines the more likely players are to sacrifice a call up to a second rate national team in search of a better lifestyle and more money in France.

I don't know the answers, but I do know that special pleading from DoRs isn't one of them.

And a quick look at the final games of the season gives lie to the claim that a smaller league would give rise to closer, more entertaining, games: 90:0 makes a mockery of a that claim and in the same round Chiefs beat Quins by 32 points.

When Wasps were a Premiership club I agreed with the Overseas Player rule. I'd be a bit of a hypocrite
if I now decided it was a crap rule just because my team wouldn't be disadvantaged by it.

I could, of course, be wrong on this but my immediate reaction to the  above is a vision of English rugby sliding slowly down the waste pipe.   

Jack Willis addresses England return post-Toulouse win
By PA
19 hours ago

Jack Willis has developed an emotional attachment to Toulouse that indicates a prompt return to England is unlikely.

Willis added a Investec Champions Cup winners? medal to the Top 14 honours he claimed last season after Leinster were defeated 31-22 in extra time at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.

The 27-year-old flanker was magnificent in defence, emerging as the most prolific tackler by a distance with 30 in a match that was widely considered Test-match standard.


But he remains off limits to England head coach Steve Borthwick, who is only permitted to select players competing for Gallagher Premiership clubs in a rule that for the time being leaves Willis stranded on 14 caps.

It was assumed that joining Toulouse was a short-term solution to Wasps? financial collapse in 2022, but as the silverware rolls in his bond with Europe?s most successful team grows stronger.

?For me there?s lots of things to consider when you talk about a move,? Willis said.

?After leaving Wasps, there were a lot of emotions. Trying to deal with joining another club in England is a hard thing. No one probably realises how difficult that is.

?I probably escaped a little bit being out at such a great club where we have had a chance to win a Top 14 and a Champions Cup.


?The emotions I feel right now is that I am incredibly grateful. I have been welcomed into a group that have shown nothing but respect to me and have welcomed me with open arms. That?s all I am thinking about.

?I have just won the Champions Cup. If you had told me two years ago that I would be winning a Champions Cup, I would have thought that you were mental.

?There were a lot of lows with Wasps and I was not playing as much as I would have wanted in certain games, so to be welcomed in Toulouse ? I can?t tell you how grateful I am.

?My family have been welcomed and there are so many good blokes here. I?m just so grateful to be a part of this group and to be able to try to add to it.?

Even Willis? outstanding shift in defence was overshadowed by the all-round brilliance of Toulouse star Antoine Dupont, who was named player of the match and then European player of the year.

?Antoine made 4 turnovers! He can do everything! Hell of a player. He added a hell of a lot,? Willis said.

?As far as I have seen, he?s probably the best rugby player of all time. He has helped me win two trophies.?

I thought Jack made over 40 tackles, not 29 as stated in the article.