A parliamentary report by the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) select committee has stated that (men’s) Premiership rugby in England is in disarray. Specifically, its finances are not under control.
While these findings come as no surprise, they have a chilling effect on women’s rugby as represented by the Allianz Premier 15s League.
The last few months have seen Worcester Warriors and Wasps men’s clubs removed from competition – every weekend sees two matches on the fixture-list cancelled. The women’s sections of the two clubs have been directly affected, Wasps devastatingly so.
The committee’s chair, Damian Green MP, speaks of ‘inert leadership’ by both the RFU and the PRL, the body charged with administering the men’s league.
The name of Simon Massie-Taylor, CEO of the Gallagher Premiership, crops up once more. He is condemned for his inability to keep a proper watch on member clubs’ finances. Bill Sweeney, CEO of the RFU, is likewise accused of complacency and inert leadership.
Yet Massie-Taylor was invited to join the committee formed to construct a 10-year-strategy for the AP 15s. There he stated his hope to see more of ‘his’ clubs join a new-look league.
He has had his wish with the addition of Leicester Tigers to the ranks. We have yet to hear which will be the ninth and tenth clubs added to achieve the full complement. That cannot be fair on the applicants, especially the established clubs, playing each weekend without knowing whether their presence will be summarily curtailed or not.
It leaves everyone concerned with the AP 15s operation wondering about their future security. It now has its own company in charge of its interests, the Women’s Premier 15 Ltd (WP15). They have committed themselves to increased professionalisation, despite all the warning signs from the men’s game. Sweeney admitted that annual losses averaged about £4 million per Premiership club.
The DCMS committee was concerned about the lack of attention to player welfare. The RFU and the PRL have responded by claiming that it lies at the heart of their concern. We are left wondering how many players, male and female, agree with this reassurance.
In the case of Worcester Warriors, (the women’s section adjusted their name to University of Worcester Warriors), the committee condemned the RFU, the PRL and the club for failing to heed warnings about the conduct of one of the two owners, Colin Goldring. Last year Goldring, a trainee solicitor, was banned from working in the legal profession without permission, yet the club accepted him as a fit and proper person to be in charge of the club.
As for Wasps, the committee condemns what it sees as its its thoughtless move to Coventry. The position of the women’s section was unique among the AP 15s clubs; they survived as a separate entity (Wasps FC) close to its earlier location in London, but Wasps’ unravelling of player strength has had a devastating effect. They announced a decision to move to Coventry to use the same CBS Stadium as the men’s side.
It would be fascinating to know how many of the players who remained loyal to the club are minded to follow that move. Many will have careers in London that make the switch a real poser.
The committee’s findings could hardly be more damning. The use of words such as ‘disastrous’, ‘unscrupulous’, ‘stained’, ‘lack of safeguards’ and ‘debacle’ are as strong as I can recall from a parliamentary committee.
Our thoughts and concerns must go to all the players directly affected by these failings.
