FORMER Fylde and Lancashire coach Mark Nelson is furious about the RFU cutting the County Championship’s funding and hopes county rugby can somehow make a revival.
In recent years, the RFU have slashed County Championship funding leading to uncertain futures for counties without a Premiership club such as Yorkshire, Kent and Cornwall.
Durham have just pulled out of this year’s competition and Eastern Counties have decided they can’t compete and have dropped a level below the County Championship, throwing this year’s competition into disarray.
In the past, county volunteers would identify and develop young talent, with many going on to the highest levels – but without funding Nelson believes many will walk away.
He said: “If everything is set around the Premiership academies people will walk away and then the game will have no on the ground administrators.
“The admin of the game is done mostly by the counties and constituent bodies. The three county senior cups are named after some of the most significant people in the game: Bill Beaumont Cup, Jill Burns, and Jason Leonard. So the RFU know it’s an important competition, but they aren’t getting behind the game.”
Nelson is county rugby’s most successful coach having secured eight wins in the Bill Beaumont Cup – more than anyone else.
Historic clubs like West Hartlepool, Liverpool St Helens and London Welsh have been forced into liquidation in recent years and Nelson believes more will follow suit if the RFU fails to fund the County Championship and support the counties as the player pool could dry up.
He said: “If you purely have a diet of club rugby, a lot of players will only play at a couple levels and if they don’t get to National One, they won’t play outside their group of local clubs making the game limited and without any representative opportunity.
“County rugby is a fundamental part of the experience and structure of the game.”
Nelson draws on comparisons with New Zealand and how their game is high quality from grassroots to the top.
“In New Zealand, the numbers are smaller, but the quality is higher because people are encouraged to play the game, and the quality as you cascade down the game is still high,” he added. “If we have that in this country, it will also benefit the top end of the game.
“I can’t describe the lower levels of the game as grassroots or the community game –I don’t believe that exists, I believe it’s one game that is based purely around the national side.”
The RFU have reacted in recent weeks forming the County Championship Organisation Committee (CCOC) and this year’s finals will be at Twickenham, but Nelson says there is still more to be done.
He said: “The RFU put together the CCOC and thankfully after battling for it, the final this year will be at Twickenham. However, the funding is very limited, and this has been an issue across the board that we need to improve. It’s got to be put at the forefront of players, coaches, clubs and the RFU’s minds that this is an aspirational pathway for players in the likes of Kent, Cornwall and Yorkshire.”
