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RFU chief says Premiership 'nuclear option' is now 'on the table'

By PA
England line up for the anthems at Twickenham. (Photo by David Rogers/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

Bill Sweeney believes even the once “nuclear” option of central contracts for England players will be discussed to solve club rugby’s financial crisis.

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The Rugby Football Union chief executive revealed central contracts and two-tier deals will be floated as part of wide-ranging plans to reshape the sport in England.

Sweeney pledged the RFU will keep thrashing out a way forward with Premiership Rugby (PRL), with Worcester in administration and Wasps poised to follow suit.

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The RFU and PRL are already in talks on a new Professional Game Agreement (PGA), despite current terms not expiring until June 2024.

But with clubs racked with debt and benefactor owners adding the league’s main ballast, Sweeney wants radical changes to bring about self-sufficiency.

The RFU chief admitted in the darkest days of club-versus-country rows, the merest utterance of central contracts would have sparked internal war.

But the severity of rugby’s current plights means all parties are more open to major change than ever before.

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When asked if central contracts could be an option to alleviate financial burden on cash-strapped clubs, Sweeney replied: “I think everything’s on the table to be discussed.

“And everyone who’s around the table wasn’t part of the old days when there was animosity between club and country. And this is a fresher set of eyes that are looking at it.

“But there are certain phrases that are like nuclear buttons, and the phrase ‘central contracts’ tends to have that nuclear effect.

“There are higher-level salaries for those playing for England, and then there’s the amount of time they spend playing for their club.

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“So is there a different way that we can work with PRL and the clubs to mitigate the expense they are facing on that side of things and have a better structure in place? To achieve greater financial stability for the clubs and better preparedness for the national team.”

Asked if joint contracts shared between club and country could also work, Sweeney continued: “Possibly. And I would say that all of these possibilities are on the table, because of what’s happened.

“This has created an opportunity, albeit using a word like that doesn’t feel appropriate. But it’s a chance now to address ideas that have been knocking about for some time.”

Sweeney wants major governance reform in English club rugby, to stop another club going the way of Worcester and Wasps.

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The former British Olympics Association chief conceded that the current checks and balances on potential club owners may not be tight enough.

Asked about tests carried out on prospective owners, Sweeney said: “I think that would come under the heading of regulatory control and governance reform.

“We do have a current fit and proper test, but is it fit and proper enough?

“We do need to look at everything coming out of this experience.

“There’s probably a question linked into that with Worcester and how did they pass that going back in time. But we’re looking at everything involved in this.

“And that fit and proper test, are you somebody who can prove reputability as a new owner, and can you also prove you can provide financial sustainability for a club? That’s something we need to look at very, very closely.

“We’ve had a look at it and we’ll have another look at it going forward.”

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Worcester rugby director Steve Diamond understandably lamented the lack of intervention from either Premiership Rugby or the RFU as the Warriors went to the wall.

But Sweeney insisted the current regulations left the two governing bodies without the requisite power to take stronger action.

“I don’t think it’s accurate to say we stood to one side and let it all happen,” said Sweeney.

“We knew Worcester were in a precarious position because the winding-up petition was issued in August and it was October 5 when they had to pay the outstanding £6.5million debt to HMRC.

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“We were not in a position to put them into administration prior to the season starting, nor were PRL. And that goes to issues around governance.

“The only body that could have done would have been DCMS (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) because of Government loans as a creditor, and they were reluctant to do that as they wanted to find a credible bidder.

“The issue is what could have been done and how do we change that going forward.”

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Flankly 1 minute ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

4 Go to comments
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Nickers 10 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Very poor understanding of what's going on and 0 ability to read. When I say playing behind the gain line you take this to mean all off-loads and site times we are playing in front of the gain line???


Every time we play a lot of rugby behind the gain line (for clarity, meaning trying to build an attack and use width without front foot ball 5m+ behind the most recent breakdown) we go backwards and turn the ball over in some way. Every time a player is tackled behind the most recent breakdown you need more and more people to clear out because your forwards have to go back around the corner, whereas opposition players can keep moving forward. Eventually you run out of either players to clear out or players to pass to and the result in a big net loss of territory and often a turnover. You may have witnessed that 20+ times in the game against England. This is a particularly dumb idea inside your own 40m which is where, for some reason, we are most likely to employ it.


The very best ABs teams never built an identity around attacking from poor positions. The DC era team was known for being the team that kicked the most. To engineer field position and apply pressure, and create broken play to counter attack. This current team is not differentiating between when a defence has lost it's structure and there are opportunities, and when they are completely set and there is nothing on. The reason they are going for 30 minute + periods in every game without scoring a single point, even against Japan and a poor Australian team, is because they are playing most of their rugby on the back foot in the wrong half.

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Nickers 39 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

43 Go to comments
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LONG READ Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline? Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?
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