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'Deep knowledge': Massie-Taylor replaces Childs as Premiership boss

By PA
(Photo by PA)

Simon Massie-Taylor has been appointed as the new chief executive of Premiership Rugby. Massie-Taylor will join from the Rugby Football Union where he is currently the chief commercial and marketing officer. He replaces Darren Childs, who resigned earlier this year, with Premiership Rugby describing Massie-Taylor’s appointment as a “key moment” for the organisation.

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Prior to joining the RFU in 2016, he was commercial director at the British Olympic Association. In a statement on the appointment of Massie-Taylor, Premiership Rugby said: “This is a key moment for Premiership Rugby as the business moves to accelerate the development of the full potential of the league, for the benefit of the players, the clubs and our fans.

“The Gallagher Premiership Rugby plan is to continue to build live TV and stadium audiences, while significantly increasing the league’s digital presence with investment in quality and digital fan engagement.

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“These are key steps on the path to grow commercial revenues, for reinvestment back into the sport, ensuring the longer-term success of our clubs and players in the Premiership, in Europe and on the world stage.”

Massie-Taylor said: “As we emerge out of the Covid period, it is an important time for our sport. I am looking forward to investing behind our product, working together with the talented team at Premiership Rugby, our clubs, owners and investors.

“I am very proud to be joining Premiership Rugby at such an exciting time for the Gallagher Premiership. Last season was an incredible one to watch as a fan, particularly the unforgettable final at Twickenham, and the current season has already provided some hugely entertaining rugby.”

Premiership Rugby said that Massie-Taylor’s start date would be confirmed in “due course” and the organisation’s chairman Andrew Higginson hailed his appointment. “Simon’s deep knowledge of commercial matters, passion for and understanding of the sport makes him uniquely placed to support Premiership Rugby in becoming the most competitive and exciting rugby league in the world,” Higginson said.

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Tom 2 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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