By NEALE HARVEY

Realist: Jon Sharpe

Proposal: Ed Griffiths

COVENTRY chairman Jon Sharp says a new ‘Heartland’ competition could provide salvation for clubs below the Premiership if ring-fencing becomes a reality.
Sharp believes the writing is on the wall. He claims self-serving Premiership clubs have lost sight of rugby’s values and that the RFU’s failure to rein them in has widened fault-lines within the game.
However, he is confident the Championship clubs can plot a sustainable future despite the growing threat of RFU funding to Tier Two being cut altogether...