England yet to see benefit of £264m RFU–Prem partnership with World Cup a year away
This month marks two years since the Rugby Football Union and Premiership clubs announced a £264m professional game partnership at Twickenham, and with the World Cup 12 months away England have yet to convert that investment into clear international advantage.
The PGP was promoted as “historic”, intended to produce “world-leading English teams and thriving professional leagues”, and one of its central provisions gives Steve Borthwick the ability to award 25 enhanced contracts and assume greater control over selected players. Steve Borthwick was absent from Twickenham on the day the deal was unveiled, and observers say precisely how much control the head coach holds remains “a question answered in shades of grey”. The RFU chose to modernise the game in collaboration with clubs that remain financially weakened by the pandemic rather than seize wider autonomy.
On the club side the Premiership has emerged as a more vibrant product: try-fests are described as 10-a-penny, the competition has formally ended relegation and is moving towards a franchise model, and executives point to metrics that suggest a burgeoning commercial offering. Less visible reforms, such as closer alignment between the RFU and club marketing departments, have been effective, the threat of R360 has been staved off and fresh investment is arriving.
Clubs continue to rely on the “£3.3m a year they each receive”, a dependence the RFU believes could lessen should investment escalate; that prospect would, the argument goes, reduce clubs’ incentive to demand access to their players. For now, however, that longer-term scenario does little to simplify Borthwick’s preparations for next year’s World Cup.
Critics argue the all-singing, all-dancing Premiership is not necessarily producing battle-hardened Test players and debate whether Borthwick has insufficient control or has failed to make full use of what he has. Eddie Jones’s predecessor approach was combative and protective of his environment, and Jones aimed criticism at outside interference, leading to his “Donald Trump of rugby” barb at Bath’s co-owner Bruce Craig. Borthwick’s method is presented as more collaborative; Bristol’s director of rugby, Pat Lam, said: “I’ve been here a long time and it has improved out of sight.” If the handling of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s shoulder operation last year was a test of the PGP it was a glorious failure, Rob Baxter conceded while adding there are “creases to be ironed out”.
Baxter acknowledged direct conversations with Borthwick, including about how many minutes Henry Slade would play in a particular week, but stressed the head coach cannot dictate whether, where and for how long all squad members appear each weekend. Borthwick retains final say on “sport science matters”, a phrase some see as nebulous because “every selection is based on sport science”. Baxter warned: “If you’re going to talk about cooperation, pre-planning and organisation of where things go, after these autumn internationals and the period around the Six Nations is the biggest test for it,” adding: “I don’t think there’s a DoR in the country not wondering what’s going to happen post-Six Nations with anyone who has a bit of a niggle that they can play with but needs to be dealt with before the World Cup. That will probably dictate whether there’s a positive or negative feeling about [the PGP].”
Sale’s Alex Sanderson, who must collaborate with England over player management, reflected similarly: “There’ll be stress over maybe four or five players who might need operations. It’ll be a stress but I don’t think it’ll fracture, it’s never going to be: ‘I say jump, you say how high.’. It’s going to be more mature than that.” For the second successive year Borthwick does not have an extra week’s access to his players before the autumn internationals; he held a mini-camp this month, will hold another in late October and the weekend before England face Australia his players will represent their clubs. Leicester’s Geoff Parling said: “I find it easier in the southern hemisphere. You have your players for half a season and then they’re away for half a season. For a player it’s a lot easier to learn everything about that gameplan and then reset. A player here has to learn one game, it could be completely different, then go straight back in and get back up to speed. It’s a big challenge.” England’s attack coach Lee Blackett added: “We’ve definitely finished campaigns better than we started.”
Players on enhanced contracts are guaranteed about £150,000 a year, a security that can complicate moves abroad but which aided decisions such as Maro Itoje being told, rather than asked, to take a much-needed break this summer. Borthwick would like more influence over law interpretations in the Premiership — “as the Guardian has reported, he has been successful in that regard for the coming season” — and would prefer fewer high-scoring blowouts; Eddie Jones’s comment that “Defence is optional until the playoffs” was cited as a warning about the competitive incentives a franchise system can create.
Directors of rugby say the true measure of the PGP will arrive after the autumn internationals and in the period around the Six Nations, a window identified within the sport as the biggest test of whether the partnership delivers for England’s World Cup preparations.