TWICKENHAM officials are set to vote on the future of Championship rugby following the unveiling of controversial plans that could significantly affect Jersey Reds’ long-term ambitions.
The Rugby Football Union council is believed to be considering a proposal that would introduce Premiership reserve teams into the second tier from 2024/25, alongside Championship clubs who are either partnered with top-flight outfits or pushing for promotion in their own right.
The latest set of plans follow years of debate regarding the structure of English rugby and comes while criticism of the RFU’s treatment of the league continues to spread.
In 2020, the governing body announced that it would be slashing in half its central funding for Championship clubs, to £288,000 per year.
That figure was then reduced further, to approximately £80,000 per club for last season.
It is understood that Championship clubs stand united in their opposition to the new-look system, which is being viewed by some as an avenue to revive the Premiership Rugby Shield [A League] – a development competition which has not run since the start of the pandemic in 2020.
Earlier this week, former Reds lock Charlie Beckett, now captain of Ampthill and a columnist for Talking Rugby Union, was among those underlining the disbelief held by players, coaches, officials and fans across the country.
‘A lot of countries and bigger clubs are benefitting from what clubs are doing in the Championship, what coaches are doing in the Championship, what players are doing in the Championship. Everyone appreciates that … the only people who seem not to appreciate it is the RFU,’ he said, speaking on Championship Clubs Podcast.
‘That’s what I do not understand. I can’t understand why our governing body doesn’t see value in this league. If it was just us in the Championship shouting about how great it is, maybe you could understand, but it’s literally everyone in the game, apart from the guys in charge. That’s what baffles me.
‘If you look at the [England] players going out against Italy in the Six Nations, the majority of them played in the Championship. How can anyone look at the maths of that and say “there’s no value in that league”?’.
Jersey Reds chairman Mark Morgan – previously a strong critic of the RFU’s actions towards the Championship – has declined to comment until the result of the RFU council vote is known.
