Today, on Friday, the 55 member RFU Council will convene for an online meeting which threatens to trigger English rugby’s second Great Schism.

This time the bitter dispute polarising the game is promotionrelegation, whereas the first split in 1895 came when 22 Northern clubs resigned from the RFU over its strict amateur code before setting up Rugby League.
Any optimism that the pandemic would bring about a new spirit of co-operation and working towards the common good in English rugby appears to be a forlorn hope.
Instead, the game is on the precipice of another damaging rift with community...