The Wheel of rugby turns - Promotion and Relgation

Recently, and by recently, I mean yesterday, there have been reports in the Telegraph about the next meeting between the Premiership stakeholders and what the main topic on the docket is to be. In December, the theory was, because of some shouting by a certain chairman, that the topic would be the salary cap, and scrapping it entirely. If we recall, this was followed immediately by rumours that two clubs were being investigated for spending beyond the salary cap. These noises very quickly went away, and now we have another theory. 

Eliminating the promotion and relegation and ring fence the Premiership. 

What a terrible idea. The whole promotion and relegation keeps the Premiership exciting all season. If we seal the clubs, even with expansion, very quickly we would lose the tight knit nature of the league. Look where we are now! 7 games left, and the gap between second placed Bath and seventh place Wasps is just four points. The gap between Gloucester and London Irish is twelve points, and yes, we have an outlier in bottom place. London Welsh might be an argument against relegation, but my counter for that is the Exeter Chiefs. Look where they are now! They are developing players that are within the England set up, they're beating the top clubs and fighting hard for a top four spot. Their academy is one of the best, and they are here to stay. Who knows when we will discover the next Exeter? 

London Welsh may have been a failure this year, but I think that is more to do with their treatment of their team, rather than their excuse about money. Ok, the funding is unfair. The newly promoted team gets about £2 million less than their established counterparts, but when you send out 25 players who got you promoted and bring in another 25, you not only irritate every player who ever wore the shirt in that season, but you seriously disrupt the flow of the team.

I'm all for expanding the Premiership. It will make the season last longer, and it'll make the bottom third even more exciting. However, if we keep the current format, we need to change something. I think I have an idea. Scrap the Championships play-offs. They keep the team's going two weeks longer than the Premiership, meaning their pre-season is caught up by the delayed holiday for the players. The Championship is a great breeding ground to blood players, give them competitive game time. Chris Pennell is a fabulous example of a man who has thrived so much, he's still in the England set up. It should remain as competitive as it is, but not at the expense of the player welfare.

So how about this? We get rid of the Championship play offs. We instead offer a financial incentive for the top four places, and for the team who comes first, give them an ultimate prize. Let them play off against the bottom placed Premiership team. At Twickenham. On the day of the Final. Give them a taste of what the Premiership has to offer. An 82000 audience, from all across the rugby world. Give the teams a clear message: if you want to be at the top table, you better goddamn fight for it. It's the same message we gave Wasps in the European Champions Cup, and they have proven themselves to be contenders. We have the Home of English Rugby, so let's use it. Neutral ground, we open the home up, we let these two teams go at it hammer and tongs to fight to be in the Premiership. We need promotion and relegation in our league. It sets us apart from the Super 15, but we do need to amend something to extend the longevity of our players. Rest weekends or a restructure of the league to move our internationals. But that, I think, is a story for another time.