Paul Rees looks back on a sobering season for the professional game in England and wonders what happens next

The more things change, the more the stay the same. The French saying, coined in the 1840s, contends that upheaval does not affect reality on a deeper level but merely cements the status quo.
It could sum up the Premiership. The table at the end of the 1998-99 season contained three of the four clubs who were in the top four this month -Harlequins for Sale was the exception.
The table was 14-strong because owners at the time felt that more was better. They were fighting politica...