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RFU considers end to relegation

Apparently the Premiership clubs are arguing that it would harm long term investment. Whilst I’m lucky that Glos are usually top of the table contenders and relegation isn’t (hopefully) an issue for us I can’t imagine how this will work. Lame duck sides will be kept up and powerful sides will be limited in their ability to emerge.

At what point do we pull up the drawbridge? It was only a season or two ago when current Premiership leaders Bristol were in National League One, after all. Some great clubs have declined over the years through lack of attendance, while rugby has grown from strength to strength in other areas; trapping the game at a particular point in time makes a mockery of local rivalry and support.

The more I think about it I see this as being more in the interest of the country than the clubs; even though the RFU is arguing against it and the clubs for. If it goes ahead the fierce competition of the premiership will fade and audience numbers will dwindle, empowering the RFU and weakening the clubs.

Like Football, club Rugby is as important, if not more so, as the international game. This ain’t cricket, after all. Let’s not end up with a sterile toothless Saturday afternoon for the occasional shot at international glory. We play 90 days of international cricket a year; that allows the county game to be a little uninteresting. We only play 11 or 12 rugby internationals a year, yet European and Premiership club rugby is almost every weekend from September to April. I know which I prefer, anyway, World Cup chances or no.