The news from Warriors could hardly be more distressing. They become the first club to withdraw ‘voluntarily’ from the elite league. Four others were unceremoniously ejected by the RFU. That makes five in six years.
Belinda Moore, CEO of the PWR, expresses her deep disappointment, but it begs the question whether the newly formed company in charge has any better control over the financing of the participant clubs than the RFU did for the Premier 15s. It announced back in 2017 the sum of £2.4 million to support the new venture. That seemed like a gold-mine, but it turned out to be nowhere near enough to prevent DMP Sharks, Firwood Waterloo, Richmond and Wasps from being removed from the presence.
Worcester’s fate was sealed when Cube, the company that had agreed to support them, decided to terminate its funding. More expressions of deep regret.
Sadly, disappointment and regret don’t help solve the ongoing problems facing what was supposed to be the best league in women’s rugby. When the money runs out, who’s there to support it? Obviously not the RFU or the PWR company so recently established to do precisely that.
You don’t need to be a born pessimist to wonder which will be the next club to go under. The structure depends far too heavily on the presence of a benevolent billionaire. The position is very similar to the men’s game, which has seen four clubs drop out of the Gallaghers Premiership.
Future Prospects for the Warriors
Now we suddenly have a large number of talented rugby players without a club. How many of them will be able to find another one in the PWR willing and able to offer them terms? It’s only weeks till the start of a new league season.
Beyond them come the fates of the coaches and other support staff. Jo Yapp is one of the most distinguished female coaches in the world. If this bad news had come a few months earlier, would the RFU have bothered inviting John Mitchell to take the reins of the Red Roses, when they had a more than adequate replacement ready and, I hope, willing?
Of course Warriors could take the same decision as others in the past: to continue in a lower league. But the structures for 2023-23 are already in place, and we know from past experience that most players leave a failing club for new fields. Of the Red Roses squad now in New Zealand no fewer than eleven once played for sides no longer in the top league.
The League Structures
This late news leaves the 2023-23 programme looking shabby. At the very least, it means a bye for one team every week of the season, never a welcome sight. You have only to glance at the Gallagher fixtures in each round to see the impoverishment that brings.
Nine or ten?
I have believed from the start that the choice of ten clubs to form the elite league was the right one. Now we have to wonder how the PWR views the future. Will they invite other clubs to put in requests for admission next season? There have been plenty enough of them sounding distinctly interested.
At least they will be well aware of the pitfalls awaiting them if they fail to find the necessary backing.
