By NICK CAIN

The Championship’s unanimous rejection of the RFU’s plans to turn it into a ‘Premiership 2’ franchise league is a serious obstacle to RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney’s bid to deliver a new eight-year Professional Game Partnership (PGP).
In a statement released by the 11 clubs in England’s second tier professional league on Friday, the Championship clubs opposed the closedshop franchise system proposed by the RFU, and enshrined in the controversial PGP, in which the chief executive is trying to rubber-stamp a divisive funding bonanza for 10 Premiership clubs believed to be wo...