News that two Championship clubs, Doncaster Knights and Ealing Trailfinders, have been denied promotion to the Gallagher Premiership reopens doubts about possible developments in the Premier 15s.
One basic question is whether it is best for the women’s elite league to align itself as closely as possible to the men’s.
The capacity of those two grounds falls well below the 10,001 minimum deemed necessary for the top level. So the Premiership remains unchanged for another season, a decision probably welcomed warmly by a majority of the twelve clubs. The phrase ‘closed shop’ echoes loudly again. That 10k figure was set at a time when delusions of grandeur were in full sway, rugby to emulate football in its attractiveness. It has helped to increase attendances, but some gates fall well short of the target.
The Prem 15s has allowed a sort of promotion in its five-year existence, two new clubs replacing two senior ones, but the grounds currently in use vary enormously in size and scope. It all adds charm to the enterprise.
Ground sharing
The two Championship clubs fail too in their ground sharing arrangements. This term can be twisted into all sorts of shapes. Normally it means sharing one ground with a club from a different sport. Wasps used Wycombe Wanderers ground for twelve years before moving to Coventry to link with Coventry City. They welcomed 28,000 to an early game there, a record for the Premiership. Attendances since then have been less impressive.
The principle is alive with difficulties. it’s rare for the arrangement to suit both clubs all the time. When London Irish were at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Reading FC would be reluctant to let the rugby players mess up their pitch when they had an important fixture in the offing.
It can help one of the two clubs, but rarely both to the same extent. It’s the difference between partners-in-arms and master and servant.
In the Prem 15s most clubs share their ground with their male counterparts (DMPDS, Exeter, Lightning, Quins, Sarries, Worcester) but not Bristol, Gloucester-Hartpury, Sale or Wasps.
You can argue it both ways: it’s better to have both halves of the club playing on the same field, it helps a sense of unity; playing on your own pitch increases your sense of ownership and identity.
Some more equal than others
Though playing standards continue to soar, the ten clubs tread a far from a level playing field.
Both the perennial leaders of the Prem 15s have recently announced signings from the USA, Alev Kelter to Saracens, Jenny Kronish to Quins. Perhaps the Prem 15s executive committee should consider limiting transfers, as per football. Under the latest regulations introduced last season clubs are limited to 40 players. Several have found themselves severely short of numbers over recent months. Are they happy that all 40 are up to first team standards? We have to assume yes. But it is perfectly possible for specialist positions (front row, scrum-half) to suffer. We have seen leading players asked to fill quite unfamiliar positions in emergencies.
It is the richest and most successful clubs who are announcing new signings as we reach the climax of the season. Who finishes where in the top four makes a huge difference – home or away for the semi-final? It is a nonsense if Club A can sign up, lets say, half the French national side for the last two rounds, while Club B is desperately hanging on to the services of its one Red Rose.
If a club really needs strengthening at this stage of the season, the executive committee should determine whether the request is strictly justified. Is it really a free world?
Grounds for Complaints
Once more, the huge disparities between the men’s and women’s versions of elite club rugby in England are made plain. Doncaster’s ground has played host to the Red Roses three times. Ealing’s ground was deemed suitable for the first ever Prem 15s final.
Prem 15s clubs have been shifting more and more to larger grounds. Quins rarely use Surrey Sports Park these days; Glos-Pury made another visit to Kingsholm, Bristol to Ashton Gate and Wasps the long trek to North Coventry.
Club treasurers will be anxious to know how attendances have been affected, and how much they can be expected to grow.
The case of Loughborough Lightning is especially interesting. Their link-up with Northampton Saints means a move of some 50 miles by road. I repeat a query I’ve made before: how many Loughborough students who regularly fill the terraces at Epinal Way were minded to undertake that journey and pay good money to get in? Are Lightning simply building a new audience down south? How often do they propose playing down there in future? Will supporters be seen at Franklin’s Gardens wearing Lightning favours, not Saints?
If ever the Lichfield-Leicester Tigers partnership came to Prem 15s fruition, it would face the same dilemma.
The league is reaching the end of its fifth season. At this stage next year we will (we assume) know precisely how the RFU has decided these and other issues. They will affect elite women’s rugby in England for the next decade or more.
