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How does the Prem 15s’ Season look from here? – Part Two

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Becky Grey of the BBC has added yet another fascinating insight into the Prem 15s’ workings, especially its future. (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/60263526 )

By interviewing the CEOs of the top two clubs, Lucy Wray (Saracens) and Laurie Dalrymple (Quins), she reveals ambitions at the successful end of the operation. But the hopes the two bosses express don’t hang happily together.

Competition

They agree that the more competitive the league is, the better. Why then do they continue hoovering up the best players to reduce that competition?

Simple answer: to stay top of the pile. *See below for a list of their players capped by England.

Here’s a cross-section of the crème de la crème who have moved to those two clubs since the Prem 15s set sail in 2017:

Amy Cokayne (from Lichfield, via Wasps)
Ellie Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury via Wasps)
Holly Aitchison (Waterloo)
Lagi Tuima (Bristol)
Marlie Packer (Bristol)
Poppy Cleall (Bristol)
Rochelle Clark (Worcester via Wasps)
Sarah Beckett (Waterloo)
Sarah Bonar (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Tamara Taylor (DMP)

Needless to say, all of the them had best reasons for their move. But the trend mitigates against Wray and Dalrymple’s expressed wish for the tightest competition possible. It’s a pattern familiar in 21st century pro-sport.

The only other source of high-quality players is from beyond England’s borders. In the list above Bonar (Scotland) is the one example. Alev Kelter’s recent arrival at the StoneX Stadium presents the problem in its most acute form. Where does Lucy Wray see that competition coming from, those tight games, when she can sign up the best player the USA has to offer in mid-season? It’s little surprise that Kelter became Player of the Match in her second start for the new club. And of course she displaced an England-qualified player in the XV.

‘We want to be pushed every week’ (Dalrymple) Yes, maybe, but nor beaten, and there’s the rub. The closer the game, the more likely spectators are to turn up to the next game, the more sponsorship and coverage are likely to accrue. But both CEOs, treasurers and spectators want to see their own team win.

When England beat Scotland 80-0 at Twickenham in 2019, I wondered how compelling a spectacle that was (http://4theloveofsport.co.uk/2019/03/17/six-nations-last-round-2019-roses-in-full-bloom/). Would more people turn out to watch the next one-sided contest? It’s the same with the Prems. There are more close and unpredictable matches than in past seasons, but by my calculations there have been no fewer than twelve results with a 50+ points difference. That is far too many.

Going professional

Wray wants to see a fully professional set-up within the next decade, but recognises that funding is a stumbling-block. She probably doesn’t mean full-time employ, since even national unions have their doubts about that type of contract. Part-time terms are likely to remain the preferred option.

To my mind the problems spread way past mere money. How many of the current players want to sacrifice a post-rugby career for short-term gain on the field? Income from a contract is unlikely to mean a life of luxury. The way the RFU established the league in 2017 meant that the ten clubs existed on very diverse life-support systems. Even with equal funding from the top the clubs’ treasure-chests were far from equally full.

It’s no surprise that those based in London were the first to pick up sizeable sponsorship, far beyond the reach of several of their rivals. That disparity at once led to the transfers mentioned above and persistent league positions.

Solutions, what solutions?

Fortunately the RFU has some very sharp brains at its disposal. Will the day ever dawn when it steps in to manage the clubs more closely, to even up the funding they have available, even – I hesitate to pen this – to say no to transfers they disapprove of? At first glance this looks like restraint of trade. But football operates ‘transfer windows’, so it is possible to limit movement.

Some things won’t change

Grey’s report presents the two CEOs as being of a like mind. But one thing will not change: their overriding desire to win the next Sarries-Quins clash, come what may. That means building and retaining the strongest squad possible.

Both have worked with vision and enterprise to expand the women’s game. Sarries’ 1,000% increase in sponsorship revenue since 2019 is an outstanding achievement. They and Quins deserve huge credit, but their desire to see an increase in competition (‘pushed all the way’) is unlikely if only they – and a tiny handful of other clubs like Exeter – have the wherewithal to assemble near-England strength teams week by week.

*A list of current Quins and Sarries’ players capped by England at Fifteens:

Aitchison, Beckett, Botterman, Breach, Brown, Burford, Clapp, Clark, Cleall P., Cokayne, Cornborough, Cowell, Edwards, Fleetwood, Galligan, Green, Harper A., Harrison, Kildunne, McKenna, Packer L., Packer M., Scott, Tuima. (24).