Wider issues outweigh any need to ring-fence

JEFF PROBYN

A FRONT ROW VIEW OF THE GAME

As we come to the close of what was a most irregular season for everyone the question is, what have we learned about the state of our game?

With the last set of results this week unlikely to change anything, the Premiership is split between those who are planning for next season and those who still have a goal to aim for.

With no relegation this season we have seen the end of competition for those rooted to the bottom half of the table, with big scores a clear sign of the nonchalance with which they treat fans.

Results like Exeter’s 74- 3 annihilation of Newcastle may have made a great day out for the group of 8,000 Exeter fans allowed to enter Sandy Park for the first time this season, but even they must have been bored by the one-way traffic of such a onesided game.

With a vote coming shortly from the RFU council on whether to extend the lockdown ring-fence or not, I would hope those who have a vote consider the wider consequences of a league without competition.

Safe guarding the Premiership for a few years with an extended ringfence, even for just a few seasons, may seem a good idea by allowing the Premiership clubs the chance to recoup some of the money lost during the pandemic, but the impact on the wider game could be disastrous.

The ring-fence Premiership reminds me of the bad old days before leagues were established in 1987, where a small band of clubs saw themselves as ‘better’ than the rest and refused fixtures to any clubs that challenged their status.

No matter how good the junior clubs (grassroots) were, try as they might the senior clubs would block any approach unless they had a game called off and would then only allow a one-off fixture at their home ground. This created a need for a league system to allow improving teams the chance to climb the league with guaranteed fixtures against the ‘better’ clubs.

It took just eight years from the introduction of leagues to the advent of a professional game with a call for a ring-fence shortly after that as owners started to ‘jump ship’ when they realised that professional rugby was a long-term project rather than just a quick buck.

Most of the clubs in the Premiership have had the advantage of being able to develop their facilities over the years, while playing at the top of the league with all the financial benefits that bestows.

However, to expect a club in the Championship or below to finance the development of facilities that in all honesty will not be used until they reach the Premiership seems ridiculous as it’s probable that even then the facility may not be fully utilised, as is the case with many present Premiership clubs.

With the Premiership averaging around the same number of spectators for all games each week as a ham – around 82,000 – there is no real need for an increase in seating capacity across the game.

Currently the Premiership has a seating capacity of just over 221,000 including Saracens’ 10,500, which they don’t manage to fill. So why force clubs to invest millions on wasted capacity that may never be used before they are guaranteed promotion?

That said, if the Premiership are successful in persuading the RFU to allow them to extend the ring fence permanently or even for an extended period of time, we are likely to see a number of investors in ambitious grassroots withdraw their funding.

We may also see an increase in the number of players leaving the game, with no hope of ever playing the professional game at the elite level.

What has to be remembered is that even back in the days before leagues there was a way for young players to establish themselves as quality players and be able to gain entry to join the elite clubs.

Yes, there was an old boys network that provided entry (just as there single sell-out match at Twickenexists now) but there was also a representative game that gave players a chance to show what they could do and climb the ladder that way.

“Why force clubs to invest millions on wasted capacity before they’re guaranteed promotion?”

I know that for a fact because that is how I managed to reach the top of the game. My early rugby career as a school boy was hampered by not going to the ‘right’ school and playing in the Surrey schools ‘out term’ side. Surrey U15’s had two teams, the ‘out term’ for state schools and grammar, with the ‘in term’ for private schools with a combination team for the last games of the season.

However, without the chance of playing in any trial match held during the ‘in term’ period, those selected for England U15 were only ever chosen from the ‘in term’ squad.

My move to grassroots club rugby at 16 saw me playing loosehead for the first team within the first season and for Hertfordshire county within two seasons. After a few seasons the club, Old Albanians, encouraged me to move up the ladder by changing to a more senior club that was bordering first class.

While at that club I played representative county rugby for Surrey and built a reputation as a good player and was asked to join my first senior club, Richmond.

Within a season I was a regular first team player and county player for Middlesex and Surrey but I knew that, at the time, Richmond were a club that lived on its reputation with only one ex international, Nick Preston, playing for them. Fortunately, after moving from loosehead to tight and playing against the ‘84 Australian team, I was invited to join Wasps and within a season was part of the England set up.

With the county pathway gone, the only way for ‘missed’ young players to make it to the top is to join an ambitious club who may, like Exeter, make it to the Premiership.

With a ring-fence blocking all routes to the top of the game, the ambition to follow your dream vanishes so if it is approved there will be a number of young players who will feel there is no point in continuing and leave the game.