CAN we afford a PGP? The short answer, unfortunately, has to be a “yes” since, with the Premiership clubs controlling the contracts of all top players in England, some form of agreement between these institutions and the RFU for the release of international players has to be in place.
I say unfortunately, because it seems to me highly questionable as to whether rugby union’s support base here can sustain the costs of any conceivable variation of the terms of the existing PGA. Numbers can be switched from existing subventions paid to the professional clubs, by estab...