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The end of top flight relegation???

Not Mike Brown's Sock

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Ok, so I don't know how accurate this is, but apparently the premiership are going to have a playoff between the relegated and promoted side at the end of the season before closing off relegation for the next 5 years. They think this will allow financial security for the top their sides and allow them to invest in inferstructure without being worried about relegation.

https://www.rugbypass.com/news/controversial-relegation-shake-premiership-cards
 
I don't hate it,
They did something similar in league

Sucks for the teams in the championship though, hard for the top sides to build prem standard sides without the possibility of promotion
 
5 years is too long of a period for one team to receive security in the Prem and one to be banished to the Championship on the back of one game.
 
Maybe, but is this not a case of majority rule at the moment and could be benfifiben for rugby in the long term. If all the premiership clubs can invest in stadium upgrades and their grass root contact without being scared of relegation, it could attract more people to the sport in the long term?
 
How many other sports actually have promotion and relegation leagues? Other than football most big sports seem to operate in closed leagues.

Happy to be corrected!
 
How many other sports actually have promotion and relegation leagues? Other than football most big sports seem to operate in closed leagues.

Happy to be corrected!
Maybe, but then again is it a coincidence that it is the biggest sport in the world?
 
Its such a touchy subject. Part of me wants a 14 team Premiership with the current clubs + Bristol and Leeds but then if you ring-fence it clubs like Coventry and Doncaster are affected.

Irish somehow merging with Ealing would probably be sensible as another London based club isn't really what we need to grow the game nationally.

I think reducing it would be ridiculous given the financial strength of the English game. We need another top club up north and Im sure more can be done to drive the sport in and around Leeds.
 
Its such a touchy subject. Part of me wants a 14 team Premiership with the current clubs + Bristol and Leeds but then if you ring-fence it clubs like Coventry and Doncaster are affected.

Irish somehow merging with Ealing would probably be sensible as another London based club isn't really what we need to grow the game nationally.

I think reducing it would be ridiculous given the financial strength of the English game. We need another top club up north and Im sure more can be done to drive the sport in and around Leeds.

That's a good shout actually... Maybe get rid of the Anglo Welsh to compensate for extra games?
 
Feels like ring fencing by any other name.

And I don't think that's a bad thing in the professional era. It would mean that all clubs would understand where they stand and cut their cloth accordingly.

But it would need to have a fair geographical distribution and be done properly as part of a wider review. Maybe its 14 or 15 clubs playing each other once, not home and away.

Exeter's a fantastic story, but totally the exception to the rule.

And if you listen to certain commentators, having no relegation would mean the shackles would be thrown off and we'd be lobbing the ball around like the ABs in no time.
 
Does anyone know enough about the governance of the game to tell me who would have to agree to these proposals in order for them to be implemented?
 
Does anyone know enough about the governance of the game to tell me who would have to agree to these proposals in order for them to be implemented?
Premiership clubs, RFU and Premiership Rugby. Considering it was instigated by Premiership rugby, It seems that the only party who would protest would be London Irish.
 
Premiership clubs, RFU and Premiership Rugby. Considering it was instigated by Premiership rugby, It seems that the only party who would protest would be London Irish.

Thanks (sort of), when you say "RFU", what exactly do you mean? On the one extreme, this could mean it's a board level decision, on the other every CB or even club having a vote.

Also, does this mean that the 12 clubs in The Championship have no more say on this than any other club in the country? Wouldn't this represent a change in the decision making process? IIRC in the past, changes at level two have come in the form of the clubs putting up with undesirable changes in exchange for money, suggesting that they have some sort of power of veto, otherwise why offer the incentive?
 
Id advocate sacking the anglo-welsh off and get an English cup going but put measures in place to avoid prem clubs going too strong
 
Thanks (sort of), when you say "RFU", what exactly do you mean? On the one extreme, this could mean it's a board level decision, on the other every CB or even club having a vote.

Also, does this mean that the 12 clubs in The Championship have no more say on this than any other club in the country? Wouldn't this represent a change in the decision making process? IIRC in the past, changes at level two have come in the form of the clubs putting up with undesirable changes in exchange for money, suggesting that they have some sort of power of veto, otherwise why offer the incentive?
Well, the Union (board + premiership clubs I guess), Premiership rugby and the Rugby Players Association will be at the meeting. I assume that Irish will get a say now because they are still in the premiership, but not if it happens next year.
 
I don't agree that having relegation stifles teams as much as some make out. Majority of teams have zero fear of relegation most years. They just play what they perceive as winning rugby. Teams will still need to get top 6 and top 4 anyway.

I wouldn't say the pro 14 has ridiculously great rugby and some prem/top 14 teams like harlequins and La Rochelle have played very nice rugby in the past. Sometimes to their detriment.
 
I don't agree that having relegation stifles teams as much as some make out. Majority of teams have zero fear of relegation most years. They just play what they perceive as winning rugby. Teams will still need to get top 6 and top 4 anyway.

I wouldn't say the pro 14 has ridiculously great rugby and some prem/top 14 teams like harlequins and La Rochelle have played very nice rugby in the past. Sometimes to their detriment.


Indeed, I see relegation having very little to do with the style of rugby. Most teams in every league are trying to play a more expansive game anyway because that's what wins matches these days.


Stopping promotion/relegation is bad for English rugby. The premiership clubs are operating like a cartel now and there's nobody going to invest in teams in lower leagues, unlike in France where there has been great investment in lower league sides in the past few decades and we have seen new teams rise up which has resulted in new fans in new areas.
 

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