Exclusive: RFU insist they will retain key role in spite of crunch votes
The RFU has insisted it will retain its key role across English rugby regardless of the outcome of two crunch votes this week which could see Prem Rugby ringfenced.
On Friday the RFU Council will vote on proposals outlined in a recent Governance and Representation Review and is also set to approve plans, dubbed Project Forge, which will separate the top flight from the remainder of the pyramid in the short-term before league expansion is introduced in coming seasons.
The member-owned RFU has insisted that such a move – which has been worked on by a number of stakeholders including Prem Rugby, the RFU and Champ Rugby’s Tier 2 board – would not weaken the oversight council, or the sport’s governing body.
“I think we’re all focused on the same thing, which is to make rugby from a commercial perspective attractive for investors,” RFU chief commercial officer Claudio Borges told City PM. “And that’s what’s important.
“We’re working collaboratively with a number of stakeholders in that process – Prem Rugby and Champ Rugby – to make sure that we’re ultimately doing what’s best for the sport.
“I’m not necessarily concerned about making what we’re doing redundant. I think it’ll be the other way around – we’ll just make it even more powerful in terms of what we’re trying to deliver for the sport.”
RFU future secure
The Men’s Professional Game Partnership, which runs until 2032, ensures the RFU will have a major say in the running of the club game.
Project Forge could nonetheless trigger the biggest change to the sport in its professional history, with ambitions to firstly grow Prem Rugby to 12 teams before potentially expanding to 20 by 2040.
A points-based criteria system akin to the controversial one used in rugby league could help determine who stays in the league, and it comes after City PM revealed that Prem Rugby shot down proposals drawn up in the review – led by Deloitte and backed by merchant bank Raine Group – which could have seen minimum stadium requirements risen to 15,000.
The potential approval on Friday follows a meeting in October which saw the RFU Council endorse a plan that encouraged “the rationale and the need for change”.
Added Borges: “At the end of the day we are a member organisation and that’s why there’s a process on how these things are agreed and discussed and voted on.
“It’s definitely going to be an interesting week.”
Early candidates to join an expanded Prem Rugby in 2029 would include the likes of Worcester Warriors and Ealing Trailfinders, while London Irish and Wasps could formulate a return in time to be included.