SO as the new season starts for the top tiers there is now a route between Championship and Premiership via a playoff, but the financial dice remain heavily loaded in favour of the highly privileged PRL clubs.
Despite their privileges, including a contractual claim to a lion’s share of RFU funding, however, they have all been spending more than they are taking in. Yet they have just raised their salary cap figure. By retaining their monopoly over England players, they are exerting upward pressure on their budgets, while limiting the extent to which top English players can boost...