A dismal weekend for England fans, but one which will hopefully come to be seen as the turning point in the English game and the time that change started, not only in terms of replacing one of the most ridiculous head coaches ever, but also in terms of the underlying structure of the game.

Previously in discussion I have used two arguments for not making radical changes to the English game.  One is that England won the world cup under the current system.  The other is that the French have a similar system, i.e. relegation, a longer season etc. and they manage quite well.  I now feel that those two arguments are no longer sufficient and that if English rugby fails to move on we will be left firmly in the second tier of world rugby and the game will diminish in this country, seeing a falling away of the dividends of 2003. 

England have now lost 7 in a row, and Argentina (who played very well with a commitment, passion, desire to win and clever management of the game) have their first victory over England at ‘Fortress Twickenham’.  France have been taken apart by the All-Blacks for the second time in two years, (it remains to be seen what they will make of the second test).  In the Heineken Cup, Toulouse – apparently the world’s wealthiest side and full of internationals, get taken apart by Ulster.  Yes, France are the reigning 6 Nations side but more through luck than judgement.

Fortress Twickeham  

After the world cup, I kept reading that the Premiership was the best and toughest league in the world etc., etc.  What is clear from GP clubs performances in the AWC and the Heineken Cup, as well as the national team, is that the GP offers poor quality rugby, played by southern hemisphere journeymen (hired by clubs desperate to avoid the RFU/PRL ‘penalty’ of providing international players to England), a smattering of very talented Englishmen and some pretty mediocre ones too. The Johnson’s and Dallaglio’s of this world, great England players and one-club-men playing for the pride of their club and the jersey, are getting few and far between.  This applies equally to English or overseas players, but I struggle to believe that the likes of Spencer really give a stuff about Northampton in the long-term?  Marshall certainly didn’t care about Leeds, and come to think of it much of the rest of the squad didn’t seem to either when the bell tolled. Basic skills are lacking amongst forwards and backs and collision rugby is ruining a generation of young men who unflinchingly play, yet will suffer the consequences in the future of some almost car-crash type injuries.

Meanwhile, the Magners League is beginning to steal a march on the rest of Europe.  Once quietly mocked as inconsequential, the performances of those clubs and their respective national sides is very impressive – witness the above mentioned Ulster result, Wales holding Australia to a draw (and almost winning), and Ireland, from whence come Munster – the HC champions, Ulster – last year’s champions & an impressive national performance against both NZ in the summer and yesterday against South Africa.  They can justifiably fancy their chances in the world cup next year of at least the semis.

Things need to change in the English professional game, for the good of the players, probably the clubs and certainly the national team.  I will now outline a suggestion to stimulate debate.  My ideas are borne of excellent discussions on a number of message boards, as well as reading around the subject in various newspapers and magazines.  Thanks must go therefore to the many supporters and editors who keep boards like this going and contribute ideas, which I have tried to bring together.  I am trying to avoid attributing blame to either the clubs or the RFU because I do not believe it is that simple, nor is the answer to be found in a “they said this” or “they did that” sort of argument.  We must look to the future and offer both parties something.

1. We must almost pretend there is no world cup next year.  There are few players of sufficient quality available and experienced enough within the premiership, regardless of the coaching team.
1. Example: England’s current AI props – Andrew Sheridan, Stuart Turner, Julian White & Perry Freshwater.  Turner remains uncapped after two bench polishes so yet to attempt the record for oldest international debutant.  White offers nothing – not even the scrummaging he was once renowned for and Freshwater is a New Zealander of half-english parentage, also the wrong side of thirty for a relative newcomer.  In the summer we took Graham Rowntree, who had effectively retired from rugby, to Australia because there was no-one else.  Where are the rest of the English props? Vickery – coming back from a very serious injury.  Any more?  Why not?  Look at the list of props throughout Premiership teams – French, Argentinean, Italian, South African etc. etc. etc.  No wonder we have nothing!  Argentina come here and beat England using players earning their crust in the Premiership or in France.  Why on earth does the English system help our opponents to get experience to beat us with?  It defies logic.
2. We should potentially consider 2011 as irrelevant and accept whatever happens there as a bonus.  The target needs to be 2015 and every cup thereafter.  I believe it could potentially take that long to turn around the current disastrous situation.
3. Relegation as we need to know it has to go, but…….
4. ……..central contracts are not necessarily inevitable or desirable. 

Whatever we might say about the excitement etc. that relegation brings, the commercial reality of rugby union is that it is not sustainable and is generally a charade, e.g. Quins down and up in a season.  With football there is enough support base for most clubs that they can sustain a period of time in a lower division, so relegation is not the dramatic event it is in rugby union, in financial terms.  How many teams in National One actually desire or have the commercial set-up & squad for Premiership rugby?  I do not know, but suspect it is a minority. 

Therefore, I suggest a 14 team top-flight (our Super 14 J ) split into 7 teams in two pools. This would then offer 12 premiership matches in the regular season, followed by a semi final between Group A 1^st place and Group B 2^nd place, and another semi between the opposites, followed by a Grand final – 14 matches, considerably less than the 22 currently played in the season, and the additional pay-offs.  (Each team in Group A would play each other home & away, as currently, same for B)  Seasonal rotation would be necessary to ensure that Group A and Group B are not always comprised of the same teams.  No matches are to be played on international weekends, and players will be contracted to their clubs but with England Rugby having block releases of their EPS throughout the Autumn Internationals and the 6 Nations.  The Heineken Cup may remain unchanged, and the Anglo-Welsh cup reduced to a second team tournament.  A minimum summer break should be enforced.  By removing the international clashes, players should be less inclined to fill their squads with non-current England internationals. 

It is curious that so many clubs who are anti-central contracts claim that it would affect their support base – the presumption being that fans are less likely to pay to come and watch a team without their England stars playing, due to RFU restriction.  Simultaneously, clubs become reluctant to recruit or play home grown talent due to the effect of the international season, meaning they have no such stars to attract fans and fill their teams with non-English, non-international players.  Still the fans come, so what’s the answer?  At this rate there will be no England stars at all and if the play does not liven up, not many fans.

A franchise system would not work, as the English nation does not have such strong ties to particular areas or regions.  Instead, a club system as now would be preferable – the clubs have strong histories and traditions, but something needs to be done to reinstall pride in the jersey. 

Rugby union in England is at a crossroads.  It is my assertion that the current increasing crowds etc at union matches, and therefore commercial success, is a house built on sand.  Already the RFU are recording reduced profits, or losses, on the back of the decline in England’s performance and there is a high chance of this being replicated at GP level if the standard of play does not pick up.  I believe, for various reasons, that attendances at Wasps are down of late, particularly in terms of season ticket holders, and at Sale I have heard say that the situation is no ground expansion until regular sell-outs, but regular sell-outs will not happen given the nature of one of the stands.

My comments will not be widely popular, I welcome constructive debate and discussion and I fully expect and welcome challenges from those more knowledgeable than me regarding rugby.  My conflict of interest is that I came into rugby on the back of the world cup win, and am very glad I did.  It is the first sport I have taken to, and in such a short time it has given me a hell of a lot.  I hope to be involved in it for a long while to come, as a player and a spectator whatever the outcome of the current situation.  Because of my background I think that the long-term future of rugby as a professional and an amateur game relies on the England team and the RFU, which does excellent, but largely unrecognised, work at the local level – which after all is where the future of England rugby, both the national team and the clubs, is going to come from.

To fail to resolve the current problems would be a tragedy and a disgrace to the history of rugby union worldwide.  The current custodians of the game have a huge responsibility to start looking at the long-term and not just short-term profits.  I hope they do for the sake of all rugby fans in England.

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