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46
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: This Might have been missed - BT want Rebate
« on: June 11, 2023, 09:34:18 AM »
I can't see anyone investing in Rugby Union in England with the head trauma litigation in the background. For right or wrong, we may be litigated to oblivion.
47
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: This Might have been missed - BT want Rebate
« on: June 09, 2023, 04:50:05 PM »They didn't account for loyalty or human nature.
The classic problem with British management since the 1950s. I call it the 'accountant syndrome' (not wishing to cast all bean counters in this light, but ...). They collectively destroyed most of British industry.
And are continuing to do so.
With an annual output of ?183 billion, the UK is the ninth largest manufacturing nation in the world.
48
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: This Might have been missed - BT want Rebate
« on: June 08, 2023, 05:19:08 PM »Not to mention Wasps and Irish had high TV figures as the fanbase is more spread. Reduced fans with skin in the game. I am not watching any English rugby, many will watch less.
Plus Wasps had one of the biggest travelling fanbase due, in part, to our spread across the country. We were often told in Europe that we were their biggest visitors from England. All lost now.
Maybe we were just the noisiest and drank the most wine?
49
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Saracens
« on: May 30, 2023, 01:55:35 PM »
I don't think the Trump family is in the same league as the Bidens. You read the wrong newspapers!
50
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: I think I?ve found a new team to support
« on: May 24, 2023, 08:44:58 AM »
Sie sind ein Rottweiler
51
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Dublin
« on: May 20, 2023, 10:22:13 PM »
It was a very good game, but I have my reservations. It is dependent on having enough money to put 13 [8+5] enormously powerful men into the scrum, with two or three more for the backs. You then overwhelm the opposition. Yes there is more to it than that, but only a very few teams can hope to compete against the power they have. We saw it in the Toulon v Glasgow game as well, with a bit more finesse from Toulon against a weaker opponent.
52
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Salary cap warning
« on: May 16, 2023, 10:19:51 PM »
The Saracens financial corruption deserves a novel by Mario Puzo on its own.
53
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Worcester - Atlas have until 2nd May to complete purchase
« on: May 09, 2023, 09:24:29 PM »
New in the Times:
Wasps? new life in Championship at risk as RFU deadline looms
Club have no director of rugby, while Worcester Warriors supporters group say Sixways proposal would break regulations
new
Alex Lowe, Rugby Correspondent
Tuesday May 09 2023, 9.00pm, The Times
Rugby union
Former Wasps head coach Blackett has taken a role as assistant coach at Bath
Former Wasps head coach Blackett has taken a role as assistant coach at Bath
DENNIS GOODWIN/PROSPORTS/SHUTTERSTOCK
Share
Save
Wasps are in a race against time to secure a place in the Championship for next season ? and their future as a viable professional rugby club. At present they have no director of rugby and no players, while the chief executive, Andy Scott, left a month ago, with no replacement appointed. Wasps are a club who exist on paper only and the clock is ticking.
The new owners have until the RFU?s board meeting this month to demonstrate that they can fulfil up to eight criteria ? ranging from governance to building a competitive squad ? or their licence to compete in the Championship next season will be revoked.
Wasps, the champions of England on six occasions and twice conquerors of Europe, were suspended from the Gallagher Premiership by the RFU in October after going bust with ?95 million of debt, and then relegated to the second tier as punishment.
Halo22 Ltd, a company owned by Christopher Holland, lifted the club out of administration in December when it bought the intellectual property, history and memorabilia of Wasps RFC for ?150,000. The Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation, which includes Kenny Logan, Peter Scrivener and Mark Rigby, is thought to have provided working capital to the phoenix operation.
Jack Willis, who will remain at Toulouse next season, leaves the field against Northampton in October ? Wasps currently have no players on their booksJack Willis, who will remain at Toulouse next season, leaves the field against Northampton in October ? Wasps currently have no players on their books
Jack Willis, who will remain at Toulouse next season, leaves the field against Northampton in October ? Wasps currently have no players on their books
DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES
The RFU announced in December that Wasps would be permitted to take their place in the Championship after the governing body had conducted ?extensive due diligence?, including a background check on Holland, who already owned the club?s training centre at Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, and an examination of the business plan.
However, this licence approval was subject to a series of specific conditions being met and there is understood to be some concern at Twickenham over the progress Wasps have made. The RFU wants to be certain that the club will be able to participate next season so it can push ahead with restructuring the Championship, hence the looming deadline.
? Jack Willis: Staying in France was right decision despite England rule
The Championship this season comprised 12 clubs; it was won by Jersey, with Richmond set to be relegated and replaced by Cambridge. The inclusion of Wasps would make it a 13-team league. Some provisional fixture lists show the division could feature 14 teams, which would mean a stay of execution for Richmond.
On a sporting front, Wasps have much to do. They must demonstrate to the RFU that a new director of rugby is at least close to being appointed and provide evidence of a recruitment plan that would deliver a squad capable of competing in the Championship.
Wasps made initial inquiries about rehiring Lee Blackett, who was head coach when the club went bust, but he has now joined Bath as an assistant coach. With no director of rugby in place, Wasps have not recruited any players. The board have not been responding to inquiries from agents. The club will need to sign upwards of about 30 players before pre-season training begins in August.
? Stephen Jones: Losing Wasps and Worcester makes this the worst season ever
It is uncertain at present what the club?s playing budget would be. Having had to sell their Premiership share back to the league for ?9.8 million after going into administration, Wasps no longer have access to those top-flight revenue streams and Championship funding from the RFU is about ?100,000.
Meanwhile, Ealing Trailfinders, who finished second in the league to Jersey Reds, have strengthened for next season with the recruitment from Gloucester of Billy Twelvetrees, the former England centre, and Jordy Reid, the flanker.
Wasps have made progress on a potential stadium, although that tale exposes further the cruel and continuing mismanagement of Worcester Warriors, the first club who went into administration this season.
The best location in the country for the establishment of a new professional rugby club would be Canterbury in Kent, according to research, because of the potential for converting a strong rugby community into followers of a Premiership team.
However, Wasps are set on remaining in the Midlands, near the training centre, and they have requested permission from the RFU to play at Sixways, Worcester?s home ground, for the next three years.
The Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at SixwaysThe Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at Sixways
The Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at Sixways
DAVID DAVIES/PA
Last week it emerged that Holland, via another of his companies, Loxwood Holdings Ltd, had loaned Worcester?s new owners, Atlas WWRFC, ?1.15 million.
The arrangement was described by Wasps as ?a means of securing our agreement to enter a three-year lease for Sixways?.
With the Wasps training centre being rented by Birmingham City FC at present, the club could relocate fully to the Sixways site ? using it for matches, training and as a headquarters for all rugby operations at a cost of ?600,000 a year.
But the whole arrangement has provoked strong opposition from the Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust (WWST), which has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at Sixways.
The WWST claimed the tenancy proposal and the loan arrangement breached multiple RFU regulations, including rules that state no party can hold direct or indirect influence over a second club.
?It would be unforgivable if a club without any stadium or facilities, which has left behind vast debts and misery in Coventry, was given preferential treatment over our long-established club,? the WWST said in a statement to the RFU.
?Wasps have no history in our local area; we believe they are intent on effectively poaching a ?ready-made? fanbase.?
If the Sixways plan is rejected by the RFU ? or if Atlas WWRFC cannot pay back the loan and the stadium has to be sold ? then Wasps will play their home games next season at Solihull Moors FC, which has already been signed off.
To be granted their provisional licence back in December, Wasps had to commit to settling all debts with rugby creditors, including players, club employees and agents who went unpaid before the previous incarnation of the club hit the wall.
This is believed to be one of the bigger stumbling blocks, especially if Derek Richardson, the former owner, who is owed ?28 million from loans to the club, is also considered a rugby creditor. The club are understood to be arguing that the image rights portion of a player?s income should not be included.
The RFU has governance demands too. Under the terms of the insolvency agreement, Wasps must demonstrate that the majority of the board is independent. There has been no public confirmation of appointments but it was reported in December that the Wasps board includes: Dame Inga Beale, a former chief executive of Lloyd?s of London, Simon Morris, chief creative officer worldwide at Amazon, and Chris Braithwaite, a former head of Apple?s global real-estate division.
The board must hold its first meeting by May 31, to which an RFU observer must be invited to attend. Wasps must also demonstrate they have established an audit and risk committee and provide their most recent accounts.
?We have been given certain criteria to meet a deadline set by the RFU and will submit a detailed written response to them by the due date,? a Wasps spokesperson said.
The future of Wasps rests on whether the RFU board is satisfied by that submission. The clock is ticking.
Wasps? new life in Championship at risk as RFU deadline looms
Club have no director of rugby, while Worcester Warriors supporters group say Sixways proposal would break regulations
new
Alex Lowe, Rugby Correspondent
Tuesday May 09 2023, 9.00pm, The Times
Rugby union
Former Wasps head coach Blackett has taken a role as assistant coach at Bath
Former Wasps head coach Blackett has taken a role as assistant coach at Bath
DENNIS GOODWIN/PROSPORTS/SHUTTERSTOCK
Share
Save
Wasps are in a race against time to secure a place in the Championship for next season ? and their future as a viable professional rugby club. At present they have no director of rugby and no players, while the chief executive, Andy Scott, left a month ago, with no replacement appointed. Wasps are a club who exist on paper only and the clock is ticking.
The new owners have until the RFU?s board meeting this month to demonstrate that they can fulfil up to eight criteria ? ranging from governance to building a competitive squad ? or their licence to compete in the Championship next season will be revoked.
Wasps, the champions of England on six occasions and twice conquerors of Europe, were suspended from the Gallagher Premiership by the RFU in October after going bust with ?95 million of debt, and then relegated to the second tier as punishment.
Halo22 Ltd, a company owned by Christopher Holland, lifted the club out of administration in December when it bought the intellectual property, history and memorabilia of Wasps RFC for ?150,000. The Wasps Legends Charitable Foundation, which includes Kenny Logan, Peter Scrivener and Mark Rigby, is thought to have provided working capital to the phoenix operation.
Jack Willis, who will remain at Toulouse next season, leaves the field against Northampton in October ? Wasps currently have no players on their booksJack Willis, who will remain at Toulouse next season, leaves the field against Northampton in October ? Wasps currently have no players on their books
Jack Willis, who will remain at Toulouse next season, leaves the field against Northampton in October ? Wasps currently have no players on their books
DAVID ROGERS/GETTY IMAGES
The RFU announced in December that Wasps would be permitted to take their place in the Championship after the governing body had conducted ?extensive due diligence?, including a background check on Holland, who already owned the club?s training centre at Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, and an examination of the business plan.
However, this licence approval was subject to a series of specific conditions being met and there is understood to be some concern at Twickenham over the progress Wasps have made. The RFU wants to be certain that the club will be able to participate next season so it can push ahead with restructuring the Championship, hence the looming deadline.
? Jack Willis: Staying in France was right decision despite England rule
The Championship this season comprised 12 clubs; it was won by Jersey, with Richmond set to be relegated and replaced by Cambridge. The inclusion of Wasps would make it a 13-team league. Some provisional fixture lists show the division could feature 14 teams, which would mean a stay of execution for Richmond.
On a sporting front, Wasps have much to do. They must demonstrate to the RFU that a new director of rugby is at least close to being appointed and provide evidence of a recruitment plan that would deliver a squad capable of competing in the Championship.
Wasps made initial inquiries about rehiring Lee Blackett, who was head coach when the club went bust, but he has now joined Bath as an assistant coach. With no director of rugby in place, Wasps have not recruited any players. The board have not been responding to inquiries from agents. The club will need to sign upwards of about 30 players before pre-season training begins in August.
? Stephen Jones: Losing Wasps and Worcester makes this the worst season ever
It is uncertain at present what the club?s playing budget would be. Having had to sell their Premiership share back to the league for ?9.8 million after going into administration, Wasps no longer have access to those top-flight revenue streams and Championship funding from the RFU is about ?100,000.
Meanwhile, Ealing Trailfinders, who finished second in the league to Jersey Reds, have strengthened for next season with the recruitment from Gloucester of Billy Twelvetrees, the former England centre, and Jordy Reid, the flanker.
Wasps have made progress on a potential stadium, although that tale exposes further the cruel and continuing mismanagement of Worcester Warriors, the first club who went into administration this season.
The best location in the country for the establishment of a new professional rugby club would be Canterbury in Kent, according to research, because of the potential for converting a strong rugby community into followers of a Premiership team.
However, Wasps are set on remaining in the Midlands, near the training centre, and they have requested permission from the RFU to play at Sixways, Worcester?s home ground, for the next three years.
The Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at SixwaysThe Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at Sixways
The Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at Sixways
DAVID DAVIES/PA
Last week it emerged that Holland, via another of his companies, Loxwood Holdings Ltd, had loaned Worcester?s new owners, Atlas WWRFC, ?1.15 million.
The arrangement was described by Wasps as ?a means of securing our agreement to enter a three-year lease for Sixways?.
With the Wasps training centre being rented by Birmingham City FC at present, the club could relocate fully to the Sixways site ? using it for matches, training and as a headquarters for all rugby operations at a cost of ?600,000 a year.
But the whole arrangement has provoked strong opposition from the Worcester Warriors Supporters Trust (WWST), which has told the RFU it would be ?unforgivable? to grant Wasps permission to play at Sixways.
The WWST claimed the tenancy proposal and the loan arrangement breached multiple RFU regulations, including rules that state no party can hold direct or indirect influence over a second club.
?It would be unforgivable if a club without any stadium or facilities, which has left behind vast debts and misery in Coventry, was given preferential treatment over our long-established club,? the WWST said in a statement to the RFU.
?Wasps have no history in our local area; we believe they are intent on effectively poaching a ?ready-made? fanbase.?
If the Sixways plan is rejected by the RFU ? or if Atlas WWRFC cannot pay back the loan and the stadium has to be sold ? then Wasps will play their home games next season at Solihull Moors FC, which has already been signed off.
To be granted their provisional licence back in December, Wasps had to commit to settling all debts with rugby creditors, including players, club employees and agents who went unpaid before the previous incarnation of the club hit the wall.
This is believed to be one of the bigger stumbling blocks, especially if Derek Richardson, the former owner, who is owed ?28 million from loans to the club, is also considered a rugby creditor. The club are understood to be arguing that the image rights portion of a player?s income should not be included.
The RFU has governance demands too. Under the terms of the insolvency agreement, Wasps must demonstrate that the majority of the board is independent. There has been no public confirmation of appointments but it was reported in December that the Wasps board includes: Dame Inga Beale, a former chief executive of Lloyd?s of London, Simon Morris, chief creative officer worldwide at Amazon, and Chris Braithwaite, a former head of Apple?s global real-estate division.
The board must hold its first meeting by May 31, to which an RFU observer must be invited to attend. Wasps must also demonstrate they have established an audit and risk committee and provide their most recent accounts.
?We have been given certain criteria to meet a deadline set by the RFU and will submit a detailed written response to them by the due date,? a Wasps spokesperson said.
The future of Wasps rests on whether the RFU board is satisfied by that submission. The clock is ticking.
54
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: French lessons ? attracting people (to rugby)
« on: April 20, 2023, 05:21:54 PM »
I don't think Charles Richardson mentioned the token issue in France.
You queue to exchange your cash for tokens.
You queue to exchange your tokens for beer/food.
You get no change, and you cannot exchange your unused tokens for cash.
It is the equivalent of having a 20-50% increase in the cost of goods unless you attend regularly - to the same club, as the tokens have the clubs name on them, - which would mean a less severe increase.
It is completely unnecessary in the days of cards. It has been introduced presumably to raid your piggy bank for the World Cup. Lets hope it dies out soon after.
You queue to exchange your cash for tokens.
You queue to exchange your tokens for beer/food.
You get no change, and you cannot exchange your unused tokens for cash.
It is the equivalent of having a 20-50% increase in the cost of goods unless you attend regularly - to the same club, as the tokens have the clubs name on them, - which would mean a less severe increase.
It is completely unnecessary in the days of cards. It has been introduced presumably to raid your piggy bank for the World Cup. Lets hope it dies out soon after.
55
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Ex Wasps signing for new clubs
« on: April 12, 2023, 12:18:11 PM »
Jacques le chacal
56
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: ERC 1/4s
« on: April 10, 2023, 07:56:58 PM »
I don't think Itoje's real estate deal with Wray has been included.
57
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: ERC 1/4s
« on: April 09, 2023, 01:01:48 PM »
Just watching the Toulouse game.
In all the justified applause for Dupont, Ramos [an extraordinary player] gets a bit forgotten.
In all the justified applause for Dupont, Ramos [an extraordinary player] gets a bit forgotten.
58
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Time for positivity.
« on: April 09, 2023, 10:45:26 AM »
Domestic game?s rulers have woken up at last ? renewal is in the air
Stephen Jones
This is a ludicrous time to start hailing a revival ? but I am going to do so anyway. It will seem to many that professional rugby in England is close to rock bottom, with collapsed clubs and poor international results. Last week the trickle of elite players leaving to play their club rugby outside England ? and therefore withdrawing from contention to play for their country ? was in danger of becoming a flood.
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marchant, David Ribbans, Sam Simmonds and Jack Nowell have all committed to French teams. Anthony Watson is examining Castres, Courtney Lawes has spoken about a foreign contract, and Jack Willis has decided to re-sign with Toulouse. Frighteningly, it seemed last week that Maro Itoje was leaving too, although friends told us that he was merely expressing his own frustration at the sight of decamping friends.
But with the club salary cap in the Gallagher Premiership reduced from ?6.4 million to ?5 million, English rugby?s contract market is weak and cash-strapped ? and the horrible effects of Covid are still afflicting it.
Understandably, Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, is desperate for his men to stay. He has called for the RFU to lift the ban on players who go abroad.
But the RFU and Premiership Rugby (PR) appear to be immoveable. As the RFU said on Friday: ?It is important to all rugby stakeholders to have the best English talent playing in England.? But not for England? The downfall of Wasps and of Worcester Warriors, ejected from the Gallagher Premiership, meanwhile, has been agonising.
So with that little lot to depress our souls you may be surprised by a view that the upturn is beginning. But it is. After today?s La Rochelle vs Saracens Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final, the whole of the Premiership will be basking in an unashamed luxury. And a rare one ? every fit player will be available.
Looking at the remaining matches in a league that can still thrill you to bits, the chances are that, after a compelling battle, the top four will be Saracens, Sale Sharks, Leicester Tigers and London Irish ? that observation alone is, no doubt, enough for the chasing teams to gatecrash. But at the moment the semi-finals will be Saracens vs Irish and Sale vs Leicester, and any combination could still serve up one of the grandest of grand finals staged.
And just look who has woken up. For years, PR has made Rip Van Winkle look like an insomniac. But all of a sudden, it has kicked out the old and driven in the new. From now on, the valiant group of club owners who tended to grumpily refuse anything not directly and immediately beneficial to themselves have voted away some of their own powers, and good for them.
The PR and the tournament itself will now be run by a Sporting Commission, the kind of multi-talented body with independent members for which rugby has been crying out at all levels for decades. The body will be in charge of minimum standards, standard player contracts, player loading (the total stressors and demands on players in training and matches), season structure, salary-cap negotiations and Premiership regulations.
It includes: Simon Massie-Taylor, the newest chief executive, who has impressed; Phil Winstanley, the old warrior prop; then there are three independent members who are now being sought, plus one distinguished former player. So PR will no longer be sitting in judgment on itself as judge and jury and prison warder. The independents will help it clean out of sight.
Furthermore, the idea that the top players will be on central contracts has also been dismissed from within PR this week. Good. Given the RFU?s track record in running professional rugby, the idea that it would be out there employing the latest talent and sifting it would be hilariously funny if it were not so horrible.
But there will also be far stricter supervision, and independent supervision, of the financial standings of all the clubs.
There is progress too on the vexed question of promotion and relegation, which has been in abeyance. From the end of next season, the bottom team in the Premiership will have to play the top team in the Championship to stay up.
There was a time when the club pushing for promotion would have to reveal, from out of thin air, a stadium that could hold 12,000 people. The promoted club will now only have to accommodate 5,000 spectators at first, and 10,001 thereafter. Much more fair.
How many teams will there be in the Premiership? At the moment PR says this is up for grabs. There are 11 this season, but there is a move inside PR to reduce that to ten, with this increasing the slice of pie that each club will take away. But the Premiership needs more teams to stamp their personality right across the English season, autumn, winter and spring. If there are only ten, it will be impossible to keep the whole competition in the public eye.
Finally, the revival can be declared official if the English clubs (and others across Europe) flex their muscles and refuse to staff such a preposterous number of Test matches.
Here is a great example of present thinking. There is a comprehensive survey on player loads ? it concerns how players can be protected in mind and body. But every single one of the measures investigated concerns about training, and how loading can be decreased by tinkering with training sessions.
It is a disguise behind which union concern melts away into rapacity. It cannot admit that player welfare is harmed by Tests and you will be safe as houses if you call off the match. International games have been ferociously devalued, while remaining dangerous to life and limb. Clubs, reclaim your employees.
There is no sense of revival among elite English players as there is still panic about the next contract. But gradually, and at a price, the ruling bodies have kicked their own backsides into gear.
What of Wasps? They have reformed under the businessman Chris Holland, along with former club greats Peter Scrivener and Kenny Logan, to a point where Holland is ?increasingly confident? that Wasps will be on the start line, probably at their new Sixways home, to begin a campaign in the Championship next season.
Amazingly, the First5 Media group has followed them through their tearful demise, and the first shoots of their recovery, for a documentary. What a show that could be. For Wasps and English rugby, renewal is in the air.
Stephen Jones
This is a ludicrous time to start hailing a revival ? but I am going to do so anyway. It will seem to many that professional rugby in England is close to rock bottom, with collapsed clubs and poor international results. Last week the trickle of elite players leaving to play their club rugby outside England ? and therefore withdrawing from contention to play for their country ? was in danger of becoming a flood.
Luke Cowan-Dickie, Joe Marchant, David Ribbans, Sam Simmonds and Jack Nowell have all committed to French teams. Anthony Watson is examining Castres, Courtney Lawes has spoken about a foreign contract, and Jack Willis has decided to re-sign with Toulouse. Frighteningly, it seemed last week that Maro Itoje was leaving too, although friends told us that he was merely expressing his own frustration at the sight of decamping friends.
But with the club salary cap in the Gallagher Premiership reduced from ?6.4 million to ?5 million, English rugby?s contract market is weak and cash-strapped ? and the horrible effects of Covid are still afflicting it.
Understandably, Steve Borthwick, the England head coach, is desperate for his men to stay. He has called for the RFU to lift the ban on players who go abroad.
But the RFU and Premiership Rugby (PR) appear to be immoveable. As the RFU said on Friday: ?It is important to all rugby stakeholders to have the best English talent playing in England.? But not for England? The downfall of Wasps and of Worcester Warriors, ejected from the Gallagher Premiership, meanwhile, has been agonising.
So with that little lot to depress our souls you may be surprised by a view that the upturn is beginning. But it is. After today?s La Rochelle vs Saracens Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final, the whole of the Premiership will be basking in an unashamed luxury. And a rare one ? every fit player will be available.
Looking at the remaining matches in a league that can still thrill you to bits, the chances are that, after a compelling battle, the top four will be Saracens, Sale Sharks, Leicester Tigers and London Irish ? that observation alone is, no doubt, enough for the chasing teams to gatecrash. But at the moment the semi-finals will be Saracens vs Irish and Sale vs Leicester, and any combination could still serve up one of the grandest of grand finals staged.
And just look who has woken up. For years, PR has made Rip Van Winkle look like an insomniac. But all of a sudden, it has kicked out the old and driven in the new. From now on, the valiant group of club owners who tended to grumpily refuse anything not directly and immediately beneficial to themselves have voted away some of their own powers, and good for them.
The PR and the tournament itself will now be run by a Sporting Commission, the kind of multi-talented body with independent members for which rugby has been crying out at all levels for decades. The body will be in charge of minimum standards, standard player contracts, player loading (the total stressors and demands on players in training and matches), season structure, salary-cap negotiations and Premiership regulations.
It includes: Simon Massie-Taylor, the newest chief executive, who has impressed; Phil Winstanley, the old warrior prop; then there are three independent members who are now being sought, plus one distinguished former player. So PR will no longer be sitting in judgment on itself as judge and jury and prison warder. The independents will help it clean out of sight.
Furthermore, the idea that the top players will be on central contracts has also been dismissed from within PR this week. Good. Given the RFU?s track record in running professional rugby, the idea that it would be out there employing the latest talent and sifting it would be hilariously funny if it were not so horrible.
But there will also be far stricter supervision, and independent supervision, of the financial standings of all the clubs.
There is progress too on the vexed question of promotion and relegation, which has been in abeyance. From the end of next season, the bottom team in the Premiership will have to play the top team in the Championship to stay up.
There was a time when the club pushing for promotion would have to reveal, from out of thin air, a stadium that could hold 12,000 people. The promoted club will now only have to accommodate 5,000 spectators at first, and 10,001 thereafter. Much more fair.
How many teams will there be in the Premiership? At the moment PR says this is up for grabs. There are 11 this season, but there is a move inside PR to reduce that to ten, with this increasing the slice of pie that each club will take away. But the Premiership needs more teams to stamp their personality right across the English season, autumn, winter and spring. If there are only ten, it will be impossible to keep the whole competition in the public eye.
Finally, the revival can be declared official if the English clubs (and others across Europe) flex their muscles and refuse to staff such a preposterous number of Test matches.
Here is a great example of present thinking. There is a comprehensive survey on player loads ? it concerns how players can be protected in mind and body. But every single one of the measures investigated concerns about training, and how loading can be decreased by tinkering with training sessions.
It is a disguise behind which union concern melts away into rapacity. It cannot admit that player welfare is harmed by Tests and you will be safe as houses if you call off the match. International games have been ferociously devalued, while remaining dangerous to life and limb. Clubs, reclaim your employees.
There is no sense of revival among elite English players as there is still panic about the next contract. But gradually, and at a price, the ruling bodies have kicked their own backsides into gear.
What of Wasps? They have reformed under the businessman Chris Holland, along with former club greats Peter Scrivener and Kenny Logan, to a point where Holland is ?increasingly confident? that Wasps will be on the start line, probably at their new Sixways home, to begin a campaign in the Championship next season.
Amazingly, the First5 Media group has followed them through their tearful demise, and the first shoots of their recovery, for a documentary. What a show that could be. For Wasps and English rugby, renewal is in the air.
59
Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: Ex Wasps signing for new clubs
« on: April 07, 2023, 05:31:39 PM »
I don't mind so much Dan going to France, for example.
I absolutely hate Tom Willis going to Sarries, who will no doubt claim that he was very average but they were able to turn him into a great player.
The worst though is someone like Greg Fisilau going to Exeter. A really fine player already, the potential is enormous.
I absolutely hate Tom Willis going to Sarries, who will no doubt claim that he was very average but they were able to turn him into a great player.
The worst though is someone like Greg Fisilau going to Exeter. A really fine player already, the potential is enormous.
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Wasps Rugby Discussion / Re: England today
« on: March 15, 2023, 09:22:51 AM »Is it a result of the 8 man rugby perpetrated by the EAs and Chiefs that is dominating the Premiership meaning we can't compete at International level if we can't dominate up front?Yep.
Agree too.
The EA's influence in particular is now so deeply embedded within the Prem and RFU, to the extent that I think English rugby is facing a long time in the wilderness. The forwards based kick, chase and smash strangulation tactics work when you've cheated the salary cap to assemble a star studded super squad to give you a massive advantage, but you can't do that at International level.
Jones and Borthwick have both come through the EAs set-up, as have Sanderson at Sale and Wigglesworth at Tigers - they're now the top three in the Prem. The rise of the EAs blueprint in the GP has coincided with the last two fifth place finishes in the Six Nations. Exeter have functioned off well executed eight man rugby but it looks like the pre-latching rule has put a spoke in their game.
The RFU has signed up to the EAs blueprint now too so I can see Sanderson being lined up as next cab off the rank if it doesn't work out with Borthwick, or maybe Wigglesworth stepping up.
Whoever is coach though, it doesn't explain the lack of test match intensity on Saturday. That's a fundamental requirement but England just didn't have it, mentally or physically.
It is worse than that.
Borthwick has doubled down and is bringing the EA scrum coach Ian Peel into the England Coaching squad.