Always a Wasp

British and Irish ?super league? plan discussed ? and could include South Africa and Italy

Exclusive: The competition could be created within the next three years as executives attempt to fight against the current financial climate
By Gavin Mairs, Chief Rugby Union Correspondent, in Paris 18 October 2023 ? 6:54pm

Talks to establish a British and Irish ?super league? that would also include clubs from South Africa and Italy have taken place between executives from the home unions and the leagues, Telegraph Sport can reveal.

It is understood that initial discussions have already taken place at the World Cup and the catalyst is a shared sense to capture and recreate the atmosphere, colour, and drama of the tournament in France by exploring what would be the most radical overhaul of the club game since the sport turned professional in 1995.

It is understood there are also moves for greater collaboration between the URC, Premiership Rugby, the Six Nations and British and Irish Lions to pool back-room resources to dramatically reduce the costs of running the competitions and increase shared revenues and attractiveness to investors by centralising resources.

?There?s an energy to create a better future for the club game,? said one leading executive at the World Cup.

?We?re all flatlining, surviving, and making ends meet, whereas if you?re really serious about growing the game, we need to look at what formats are open to us and what would it take to be brave enough to step into that new world??

One of the previous sticking points to the concept of uniting the English Premiership and the URC ? which features teams from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and more recently South Africa ? has been the detrimental impact it would have on the European Champions Cup.

However, one solution has been put forward for an ?FA Cup-style? knock-out competition involving clubs from the French Top 14 to ensure it retains its point of difference within a revised European domestic structure.

Further talks are set to resume following the World Cup next month, which are expected to dive deeper into the detail of how a new league would be structured, with the aim of establishing a new competition within the next three years, to coincide with the introduction of a ?world club championship?.

?For the first time it seems that Premiership Rugby, who had previously said ?no, no, no? to any such talks are open to the idea of looking at a way of creating a kind of super league,? added another source close to the talks.

The Premiership currently consists of 10 clubs following the financial demise of Worcester, Wasps and London Irish last season, while the URC has 16 clubs. The next stage of the negotiations is to look at how integration of the two leagues would work.

?It is complicated, but one proposal would be for two leagues based on merit, and promotion and relegation between the two, or two conferences ? a Premiership and URC one, to qualify for knockout stages,? said another source close to the talks.

?Currently it is quite difficult for one broadcaster to invest in three or four competitions,? said one leading executive at the World Cup. ?Whereas if you form a British and Irish league, it makes the conversations with broadcasters much easier. You could have one rugby channel that increases the value of the broadcasting deal and clubs could grow their attendances. There is validity in it.?

The Six Nations already aggregate their broadcasting and commercial revenues as part of a deal known as ?Project Light? and there is an expectation that a similar arrangement would bolster club finances.

Underpinning the desire for change is also to create more invigorating and attractive domestic club fixtures, including reviving the historically great Anglo-Welsh clashes, as a solution to the challenging financial climate.

?When you get it right, like at this World Cup where you are getting very good teams playing against very good teams and great jeopardy, we should not have to wait four years for that to happen,? a source added.

?Every year there should be unbelievable games. In fairness the European final this year was incredible, but we need to get more moments like that.

?This is a leadership issue thing as well. We are seeing executives who are no longer the traditional ?blazers? but more forward-thinking people who are trying to really grow the game but also in some respects, bring back some of the great stuff we?ve lost: the great derbies and rivalries of yesteryear.?

The prospect of an Anglo-Welsh league was first tabled in Jan 1999, when the Welsh Rugby Union were offered five places for Welsh clubs in the English league system. The offer was turned down, however, with the WRU instead forging ahead with a link with Scotland and Ireland to establish the Celtic League, which evolved into the Pro 12 and now the URC.

An Anglo-Welsh Cup was established in 2005, involving 12 Premiership and four Welsh clubs, as a knockout tournament but was replaced by the Premiership Rugby Cup in 2018.

Revelations about talks over new domestic league structure come just a week before the World Rugby council is due to sign off a new ?Nations Championship? tournament involving teams from the Six Nations and Rugby Championship, set to start in 2026, which will be held every two years to avoid clashes with the World Cup and Lions tours.

https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/rugby/jack-willis-england-rfu-toulouse-rugby-news-2023-b1112604.html

Article in Telegraph suggests this is part of the new PGA coming into being from next season.
If no-one posts article in the meantime will do so after dog walk.

English rugby at war as Jersey becomes latest club to fall

Club blame lack of clarity over future of English rugby's second tier, but RFU points finger at investors
By Charlie Morgan, Senior Rugby Writer 28 September 2023 ? 6:29pm


English rugby union is at war after Jersey Reds, last season?s Championship winners, became the fourth team in a year to be plunged into financial disarray after it ceased trading.

At the start of another day of sorrow and finger-pointing across the sport, Jersey staff were told that their salaries could not be paid for September and that liquidation seemed inevitable. In response, the Rugby Football Union criticised the timing of their investors? withdrawal as ?extremely disappointing?.

Senior sources within English rugby union labelled the developments on the Channel Island as a ?bolt from the blue? and Rob Webber, the Jersey head coach, articulated the internal confusion in a post on X in which he wrote ?we were led to believe we were in a position of strength?.

Later on Thursday, though, Simon Halliday, the chairman of the Championship clubs, insisted that the RFU had been ?repeatedly warned? that the Jersey government was concerned about the second tier?s lack of robust financial support.


The back-and-forth could come to a head on Friday during what could be an explosive meeting of the RFU Council as powerbrokers discuss the new professional game agreement (PGA), and specifically future plans for the second tier.

In their own statement on Thursday morning, Jersey explained that they had ceased to trade the previous evening and took aim at ongoing uncertainty surrounding the structuring of the game in England.

?We had been able to start the season and maintain sufficient funds to cover the summer, but regret that our conversations with potential new investors as well as existing ones have been unsuccessful,? said Jersey chairman Mark Morgan.

?At one stage at the end of last season it appeared there was a viable way forward for the second tier once the new professional game agreement (PGA) was implemented from summer 2024, but Championship clubs have been left in the dark since that point and this led to a growing fatigue among those who may have invested, but could not be given any concrete assurance about when the new structure would come in, or how it would be funded.?

Jersey players were informed of their club?s plight at a 7.30am meeting. Within hours, they were being offered to other professional teams, in scenes grimly reminiscent of those at Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish over the past 12 months.
Club had hoped to push for promotion

Last season, Jersey held off Ealing Trailfinders to top the Championship table. While they could not win promotion to the Premiership for this season because their facilities did not meet the competition?s minimum standards criteria, the achievement was still a significant one for a club that has progressed over the past decade under the stewardship of Harvey Biljon, their director of rugby.

The club landed a statement result at the start of this campaign by beating Bath 34-10 in the Premiership Rugby Cup, but have now had to cancel Friday?s fixture against Cornish Pirates in that competition. It is understood that the RFU, via its financial viability group, will determine the next steps with regard to Jersey?s insolvency over the coming days. The governing body has already voiced its frustration at the situation.

?It is extremely disappointing that investors would take decisions at this early point in the season to place the club in such a position,? read a statement from the RFU on Thursday.

?Championship clubs had clear confirmation from the RFU on funding for the 2023-24 season and we have been working with the Championship and Premiership Rugby on the new professional game partnership and shape of Premiership 2 with funding levels to be confirmed at the end of this calendar year. The Championship has been fully involved in these discussions since February which are aimed at stabilising and strengthening the professional game.
 
?This news will clearly impact the season for the Championship league and Premiership Rugby Cup competition, which was introduced this season as a way to offer a new format to supporters, bringing with it the experience of playing Premiership sides and the opportunity to welcome new fans into Championship clubs and assist them to grow new audiences. Further information on the impact of this to the Premiership Rugby Cup and Championship league season will follow.?

Halliday?s open letter referred to Jersey?s situation as a ?tragedy? and a ?disaster?.

?Anyone who loves rugby should listen very carefully to the message being sent by the investors in Jersey Reds, through their decision to withdraw support, about the funding of the crucial second tier of the game,? it read.

?The message is that persistent uncertainty over central financial support has made it impossible for them to carry on. In essence, they have said: if the governing body won?t commit to you, why should we? The owners of and investors in all the Championship clubs have indeed taken note.

?The Rugby Football Union has been repeatedly warned that the government of the island of Jersey was concerned at the lack of financial commitment to the league in which the Reds played.

?The Championship?s owners and investors will also have also noted that the Rugby Football Union?s response to this tragedy was to issue a statement blaming the investors in Jersey Reds and which includes the claim that the Championship has been ?fully informed? of ongoing financial discussions about the future of the professional game.?

Halliday promised that owners and investors of the Championship clubs ?will have more to say on this point and other aspects of today?s disastrous developments after the meeting of the RFU Council.?

?Premiership 2?, essentially the revamped second tier of professional rugby in England, is viewed as a vital pillar of professional game agreement negotiations. It is understood that mooted proposals have included fluid promotion and relegation between ?Premiership 1? and ?Premiership 2?, Thursday night fixtures to bolster any offering to broadcasters and maximum squad sizes across the two divisions to stop players being stockpiled.

In 2022, Jersey separated the amateur arm of the club from its professional one in order to safeguard the organisation, a move that Morgan believes has been vindicated. Jersey RFC are currently top of Regional 2 South Central, a sixth-tier league that features sides such as Guildford and, ironically, London Irish Wild Geese.

?There are a large number of players, coaches and other members of staff who have made huge contributions to the club in recent seasons, and we regret the massive effect this will have on all of them ? it?s a very sad day,? Morgan said.
Jersey?s fate puts spotlight on RFU?s planned changes

The plight of Jersey, described by one senior source as ?a bolt from the blue?, seems to have blindsided everyone and follows the unravelling of Worcester Warriors, Wasps and London Irish last season. It comes amid huge friction within the English game and its timing, on the eve of what is expected to be a fiery meeting of the Rugby Football Union?s council on Friday, is fascinating.

Jersey topped the Championship last season and, despite standards criteria denying them promotion to the Premiership, were optimistic about pushing on. A fortnight ago, Harvey Biljon?s side even thrashed Bath at The Rec in the Premiership Rugby Cup to underline their potential. That win can now be used to demonstrate the qualities of hapless players who have been thrust into the job market.

As we have had to become used to, these situations have horrible human costs. On a broader scale, they also hold a mirror up to governance. This is hardly likely to dissuade anybody calling for Bill Sweeney and Tom Ilube to leave their respective roles as chief executive and chairman of the RFU.

Championship clubs had needed to deal with decreased funding from the RFU since 2020. Before this development, it appeared as though many had cut their cloth accordingly. It made the exploits of Ealing Trailfinders, Coventry and Bedford Blues more impressive because they seemed to be building in a sustainable manner ? or as sustainably as a professional rugby union team can, and more sustainably than Premiership outfits that have more support from central revenues. Jersey?s apparently inevitable liquidation indicates that they have overreached as well.

The club?s statement on Thursday morning blamed ongoing uncertainty over league structure. It is understood that a pillar of the new professional game agreement will be a strong second tier, probably ringfenced from divisions below that. The third tier would therefore be separated as the top of the community game.

Spots in the second tier, provisionally labelled as ?Premiership 2?, would go out to tender, which has been seen as the way back for Worcester, Wasps and London Irish. Theoretically, of course, Jersey could return via that avenue, too. The competition, with more fluid promotion and relegation to and from ?Premiership 1?, would ideally feature established clubs as well as phoenix franchises.

It has been suggested that ?Premiership 2? could bolster the offering for a broadcast agreement with games staged on Thursday nights, following the example of Pro D2 in France. There have been noises about maximum squad sizes in ?Premiership 1? and ?Premiership 2?, as well, which would spread talent and stop top teams from stockpiling players.

In short, there does seem to be a desire to covet the second tier and achieve safety in numbers. Jersey?s fate, though, complicates a landscape that is already fraught.

Championship clubs' fury at 'secret' plan sparked RFU revolt

Writing on behalf of the 'grassroots' game, Alistair Bow says the World Cup being used as cover for the unnecessary acceleration of a reform
By Charles Richardson, Rugby Reporter 22 September 2023 ? 5:29pm


The Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby stand accused of ignoring the wishes of the Championship and ?working against the interests of the game? beneath international and top-tier level by clubs in the second tier.

In a letter to the editor of the Telegraph, which can be read in full below, Alistair Bow, vice-chairman of the Championship and chairman of Nottingham, claimed that his clubs have ?had enough? of the lack of consultation from those discussing the new Professional Game Partnership (formerly known as agreement), the contents of which remain a ?secret? to clubs in the second tier of English rugby.

Earlier this week, Telegraph Sport exclusively reported that 30 RFU council members had revolted against the leadership of chief executive Bill Sweeney and chair Tom Ilube. The group cast doubts on the governing body?s ability to afford a new Professional Game Partnership - a multi-year deal between Premiership Rugby, the clubs and the RFU in relation to how the professional game is managed - worth ?128 million over the next four years.

In response to a Telegraph Sport column from former England and Nottingham hooker Brian Moore bemoaning the timing of the rebellion, Bow claims that the ineptitude of the RFU?s Executive forced a revolt to occur at the earliest opportunity.

?In your columns, Brian Moore, a man of whose playing record my club is immensely proud, takes to task those who have dared to challenge the powers that be in English rugby,? Bow wrote. ?He says they should not have made this challenge at the time they did - during the World Cup.?

?The RFU Executive has dictated the timing of any rebellion... by attempting to push through a new eight-year Professional Game Partnership - in league with Premiership Rugby - that would reform the professional game precisely as they want, but not as Championship clubs, nor the bulk of the community game in leagues below tier two, desire.

?Unconsulted and ignored, the grassroots of the game have called ?enough?! They were not prepared to sit back politely to watch the Rugby World Cup being used as cover for the unnecessary acceleration of a reform that - to the extent that any of its secret contents can be known - appears to work against the interests of the rest of the game below the elite level of the national team and the Premiership.?

Bow highlighted that ?neither the Championship nor any of its representatives have signed the letter? which was submitted by almost half of RFU council members outlining concerns over the leadership of Sweeney and Ilube but that his understanding of the letter was to call ?for an explanation of the motives behind the actions of the Executive and for the type of transparency and accountability that is expected of a representative body such as the RFU?.

?Those representing the interests of the rest of the game are fed up with being treated as unimportant and inferior,? Bow added.

?They have spoken up.?

In response, the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the Professional Game Board said in a joint statement: ?There have been regular meetings with representatives from the Championship executive, which includes Mr Bow. We have been openly discussing the strategy and direction of the Professional Game Partnership; including the delivery of the Premiership Cup involving Championship clubs and the discussions around the creation of Prem 2 as well as discussions with the National Leagues. We welcome all constructive contributions to this partnership which is seeking the best solutions for both the community game and the top two tiers of rugby in England.?

Alistair Bow?s letter to the Telegraph in full

The grassroots of the game has been unconsulted and ignored?

Sir,

In your columns, Brian Moore, a man of whose playing record my club is immensely proud, takes to task those who have dared to challenge the powers that be in English rugby.

His complaints were against the 30 members of the RFU Council who signed a letter calling for greater accountability of the union?s Executive, a body that has presided over a financial crisis that has become a playing crisis as evidenced by the performance of the England national team.

He says they should not have made this challenge at the time they did - during the World Cup - nor in the way they did, without, in his view, providing any alternative answers.

Brian may not be aware of the actual situation at HQ, but the fact is that it is the RFU Executive that has dictated the timing of any rebellion by the rank and file of rugby union - and I should quickly point out that neither the Championship nor any of its representatives have signed the letter complained of.

But we do know that it is the Executive that determined the timing: by attempting to push through a new eight-year Professional Game Partnership - in league with Premiership Rugby Ltd - that would reform the professional game precisely as they want, but not as Championship clubs, nor the bulk of the community game in leagues below tier two, desire. Unconsulted and ignored, the grassroots of the game have called ?enough?! They were not prepared to sit back politely to watch the Rugby World Cup being used as cover for the unnecessary acceleration of a reform that - to the extent that any of its secret contents can be known - appears to work against the interests of the rest of the game below the elite level of the national team and the Premiership.?

On Brian?s second point, the letter writers were not calling for specific types of change, but for an explanation of the motives behind the actions of the Executive and for the type of transparency and accountability that is expected of a representative body such as the RFU. Those representing the interests of the rest of the game are fed up with being treated as unimportant and inferior. They have spoken up. Brian should learn more about the realities of what has happened in recent weeks and months among this sport?s administrators before condemning those who he believes have risen above their allotted station to call for fair play.

Yours sincerely, Alistair Bow
Chairman, Nottingham RFC

Unfortunately it looks like he may have sold his book or bits of it to the Sun. Seeing Sun type headlines popping up on newsfeeds..

Apparently Farrell runs the team like the mafia - one headline.

Mike Teague and Peter Winterbottom on not watching the World Cup, boring England and Eddie Jones

Exclusive interview: Former England and Lions duo recall a different era for rugby and reveal why they will cycle across America next year
By Charles Richardson, Rugby Reporter 30 August 2023 ? 5:38pm


Ask Peter Winterbottom and Mike Teague, those two flankers of granite and iron, who were their toughest adversaries and the answers come as speedily as the ground was covered during their salad days on the English back row in the 1980s and 90s.

?Not Dean Richards!? Teague blurts, after having regularly ribbed his former back-row colleague throughout our chat. ?No, that?s easy, Wayne ?Buck? Shelford.?

?Michael Jones,? says Winterbottom. ?He was faster, stronger and tougher than me... so it was a bit of a struggle!?


Thirty years since the duo retired from the amateur game, however, and their most fearsome opponent might yet be to come ? but more on that later. Right now, the rugby chat comes thick and fast.

?I don?t watch the game anymore,? Teague, 63, says. ?I don?t watch England. The game has moved on. Stating the obvious. The game that I see now is not really a part of what we chat about. It?s a different game, ethos and mentality. I wouldn?t understand this generation of players; they wouldn?t understand me.

?I?m done with it, but, like anything, if I?m asked to do something ? like appear at the Slater Cup [between Leicester and Gloucester] ? then I will. I hadn?t been to Kingsholm for 10 years. It was lovely to see the Leicester supporters, and it was the first time that Dean [Richards] had been back doing something for his old club. We had a couple of pints and it was lovely to see the interaction between Deano and his fans and me with the Gloucester fans. I miss that part of it.

?But, no [I won?t watch the World Cup] and I didn?t watch the last one.?

Winterbottom interjects: ?Oh, you?re boring, aren?t you!?

?No, Wints, I?ve told you, I was never a great fan of Eddie Jones,? Teague replies.

?He coaches Australia now!? Winterbottom, 63, says.

?No, in the past. I look at it this way: you don?t go to a World Cup, in 2019, without Danny Cipriani, one of your best players, because you can?t control him,? Teague says, heartily. ?He was playing incredibly well for Gloucester and it was a travesty that the modern era never got to see how good he could have been.?

?I will be watching the World Cup but I won?t be going to France,? says Winterbottom. ?I don?t watch as much Premiership as I?d like, but I watch quite a bit of the southern-hemisphere stuff. And Esher every week.

?I?m not very hopeful for England. We laboured for a few years under Eddie Jones and I don?t see things changing quickly. The game has to be played with ambition and I don?t see that happening with England at the moment. The risk-taking is minimal ? but there are talented players! We should have a style of rugby that?s far more entertaining and easier to watch ? which, ultimately, will be more successful, I think.?
?The weight I needed for punching and hitting people in rugby does not lend itself to cycling?

Since retiring, neither has had anything to do with an England team which has grown increasingly beleaguered. Teague is still a builder, but he has nothing to do with Gloucester, his club, nor Teague?s Bar in the town ? ?It?s a sore subject; I never received any financial gain from that; I was conned, not by Gloucester, but that?s another story? ? while Winterbottom is chief taster for his wife?s cookery business ? ?I get sacked every week then reinstated immediately? ? and is invited to Harlequins? games at Twickenham, but is not a regular at the Stoop. The former openside is director of rugby at Esher RFC, whose first XV play in National 2 South East, but that is his only formal link to the sport.

The silver lining to that cloud is that they have the freedom to pursue passions and challenges outside of rugby, one of which, coming up next May, might be their most formidable yet. These titans of the back row for England and the British and Irish Lions will be cycling over 3,000 miles from San Francisco to New York to raise money for the My Name?5 Doddie Foundation, the charity funding research into a cure and treatment for motor neurone disease.


?What Peter said was: ?We?ve got to do it now because we might not be able to in a few years!?? Teague says. ?When we played together in the back row, I used to follow whatever Wints used to say and do. And he?s a great one for talking me into things ? like he did for the cycle in Australia for the 2013 Lions. I had no cycling experience, wasn?t used to it, out of shape, not really knowing anything about it and I thought I?d be fine. We ended up chuffing up this 13km hill ? a ?little peach? as they?d say in Australia ? and it was madness. That was the only time I?ve fallen out with you, Wints, you told me Australia was flat!

?But, with your mates around you ? Roger Uttley did it, too ? it was magnificent. I?ve gotten into cycling more but I?ve realised that the weight I needed for rugby, for punching and hitting people, does not lend itself to cycling.

?Wearing Lycras sits fine with me now because when I looked along the line [in the Brussels to London ride, 2015] and saw Dean Richards wearing them... it was ugly. It was ugly. Clarkey [Ben Clarke] didn?t look much better, actually, and he?s younger than us!?


Would Richards be able to join them now? ?No,? Winterbottom replies bluntly, before Teague adds: ?Recently, we did this thing with Ed Slater, and like he was as a rugby player, Dean Richards can do anything he sets his mind to. And I was looking at the wattage he was putting out on the bike... unbelievable. And he was cycling for 45 minutes! I was slightly embarrassed ? I just didn?t tell him he was good! Peter is the best I?ve seen, though.?

?Jon Hall?s a hell of a cyclist,? Winterbottom says. ?I don?t think he does much now. There?s a non-stop ride across the States, Race across America, an annual event, and he did that in a team of four as a relay. He was bloody good ? way better than us. He was a good rugby player, too.

?Our challenge isn?t non-stop, though. It?s a 35-day cycle, with three rest days. We set off on May 19 and finish on June 22. We have stops just short of Denver, St Joseph and Indianapolis. We have cyclists who will do the whole thing and then others joining for the last eight days. One of Teaguey?s former team-mates at Gloucester, John Gadd...?

Teague interjects: ?Another underrated player!?

?Another guy from my time at Quins, Craig Luxton, who played for England B, he?s coming over from New Zealand to join,? Winterbottom adds. ?We?re hoping for about 15 cyclists. We?ll be living in Winnebagos for the whole trip. We?ll have a full support team with medic, cook, mechanic and some drivers of the vehicles; a convoy of Winnebagos going across the States. That?s the only way to do it. We?ve been looking at hotels but the problem is that you can cycle for 100 miles and you don?t actually go through a town. It?s very difficult to do this with hotels. So, the obvious thing to do was to be self-sufficient. It?s going to be quite an operation.

?It?s a chance for us to do our bit, while we?re still able to. And while people of a certain age actually know who we are!?

Of course, now, there is an added, personal incentive for Winterbottom and Teague. In June, the duo learnt of the passing of their former team-mate and dear friend, Paul ?The Judge? Rendall. The loosehead was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2022 and died a year later, aged 69, after having won 28 caps for England between 1984 and 1991. The duo, who themselves managed almost 100 caps for England and the Lions between them, have the fondest memories of their former comrade, including one from the build-up to the 1991 World Cup final which went down in squad folklore.

?It?s a cruel disease,? Winterbottom says. ?When Doddie [Weir] was diagnosed, we?d heard about Joost van der Westhuizen, obviously, but it really does hit home when someone closer to you gets it. Doddie lasted six years, which is quite a long time for someone with the disease to last. He did a massive amount of work promoting his charity, raising money and awareness for the disease. The Judge didn?t last anything like as long as Doddie.

?I just remember The Judge?s court sessions ? but I don?t really remember them all! They were just brilliant. He was in charge of team discipline and he was a brilliant judge; harsh but fair.?
?I knew the Judge and Doddie; it has become very personal for us?

Winterbottom and Teague giggle almost in unison, before the former continues: ?He was in a team of lots of characters, but he was the one who everyone looked towards. Teams with camaraderie and closeness, it doesn?t just happen. It?s because certain people make it happen and the Judge was one of those guys. He was a good player ? a great England player until Jason Leonard turned up. He then became uncle and Jason was nephew. He was just one of those guys that was always upbeat, having a laugh and positive.

Teague adds: ?The first time I?d come into the England team was the Calcutta Cup, Peter Wheeler was captain. I was there because John Scott and Bob Hesford were injured, so I was either playing or on the bench. The first person I roomed with at my first England experience was, luckily, the Judge. He said: ?I?m going to look after you, my son.? And he showed me the ropes. He was such a character and a lovely man. It?s destroyed everybody who knew him. He was like an old owl; full of knowledge and experience.

?In the week leading up to the 1991 World Cup final, the pressure went on the scrum machine and there was this almighty crack and snap ? like a broken leg. The Judge?s Achilles had just snapped. Jon Olver, the reserve front-rower, came over as quick as a flash and just said: ?Can I have your tickets??

?It was the Thursday before the final, the Judge hit the deck, Olver strolled over and we thought he was concerned about him and he just said: ?Can I have your tickets for Saturday??,? Winterbottom adds.

?With other people who you don?t know, you don?t have that connection to them so you don?t get the shock of someone contracting the disease. But I knew the Judge and I did know Doddie; it has become very personal for us. We?re doing it for someone who was very dear to our hearts.?

?That man in the wheelchair who I saw towards the end, it just wasn?t him,? Teague adds. ?I couldn?t believe... that could be any one of us. We were there for Doddie?s first cap, too ? he was obviously younger than us ? but you get to know these players. And a lot of them are just good lads, same with Ed Slater [who also has MND]. Real good guys.?

To honour the memory of those who have fallen foul of one of the cruellest conditions, the duo?s energy and emotion will now be firmly honed in one direction: the route from San Francisco to New York.

?To think that this time next year we?ll have cycled 3,200 miles across the US,? Winterbottom says. ?It?ll be an incredible achievement. From a personal point of view, it?ll be something we can take to our graves that we?ve done, and most haven?t.?

Teague, upon hearing that, cannot resist a final gag: ?And it might speed up the process of us getting there!?

‌If you would like to donate to ?Doddie?5 Ride USA?, then you can do so via JustGiving