Two years on from £264m PGP at Twickenham, England have yet to see on-field payoff with World Cup a year away

This month marks two years since the Rugby Football Union and the Premiership clubs met at Twickenham and announced a £264m professional game partnership to "reshape the rugby landscape"; with a World Cup 12 months away, England are not being described as world-leading despite the investment.

The PGP was billed as "historic", promising "world-leading English teams and thriving professional leagues" and giving the England head coach the ability to award 25 enhanced contracts and increase control over selected players. Steve Borthwick was not at Twickenham for the announcement; how much additional control he has remains contested and described in the article as being answered in "shades of grey". At the time the deal felt significant to the head coach, but the RFU chose to modernise the game in collaboration with clubs rather than seize greater autonomy while clubs remained financially weakened by the pandemic.

On the domestic front the Premiership has shown clear signs of commercial and entertainment growth: try-fests have become commonplace, relegation has been formally ended and moves towards a franchise system are under way. Executives point to improving metrics and better-aligned marketing departments as evidence the Premiership is becoming a more vibrant commercial product, while the threat of R360 has been staved off and investment is described as steadily coming in. The article notes clubs rely heavily on the £3.3m a year they each receive from the RFU and that history may judge the RFU's collaborative approach as prudent if investment increases further.

The central criticism is that a flourishing domestic league has not translated into a world-leading England side; the piece frames this as a debate over whether the Premiership is failing to produce battle-hardened Test players or whether Borthwick lacks sufficient control. Eddie Jones’s predecessor is characterised as having a belligerent approach — illustrated by his "Donald Trump of rugby" barb at Bath’s co-owner Bruce Craig — while Borthwick has adopted a more communicative style. Practical failures have been cited, including the handling of Immanuel Feyi-Waboso’s shoulder operation, which the article calls "a glorious failure", and incidents such as Bath’s Ollie Lawrence arriving at England camp with an injury Borthwick did not know about.

Directors of rugby report ongoing negotiation over minutes and player management: Rob Baxter says there are "creases to be ironed out" but expresses optimism that most have been, and he recounts discussions with Borthwick about how many minutes Henry Slade would play in a particular week. The England coach retains final say on "sport science matters", a term the article describes as nebulous, because clubs continue to control many aspects of weekend selection. Baxter warns the post-autumn internationals period around the Six Nations will be the biggest test of cooperation, saying: "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. 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 describes expected tensions over player surgeries and management: "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 consecutive year Borthwick did not receive an extra week’s access to his squad before the autumn internationals; he held a mini-camp this month, plans another in late October, and the weekend before England face Australia his players will represent their clubs. Geoff Parling comments on the challenge of interrupted preparation: "I find it easier in the southern hemisphere... 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."

Player-side effects of the PGP are also described: enhanced contracts guarantee about £150,000 a year and provide security, though the article notes that can be undermined if an awarded player subsequently moves abroad. Maro Itoje says he was told, rather than asked, to take a much-needed break this summer, an example of the increased control teams can exert. The article adds that Borthwick has won some input into law interpretations in the Premiership for the coming season, and recalls Eddie Jones’s line — prompted by the Michael Jordan documentary — that "Defence is optional until the playoffs," a comment used as a caution about the potential downside of a franchise system without relegation.

At board level the PGP is viewed differently: clubs see the pathway to fresh investment and RFU executives believe the landscape is modernising and that England will eventually deliver; "through their lens, £264m is money well spent." The article closes by contrasting that view with another: "through another, however, it is two pence a week, and jam every other day."

Directors of rugby and national staff agree the crucial evaluation point is the season’s run-in to the World Cup, specifically the period after the autumn internationals and around the Six Nations, which they say will determine whether the PGP’s cooperation and organisation are judged positive or negative ahead of the tournament a year away.