English rugby’s Champ era gets under way dogged by same old ups and downs

This weekend should, in theory, open the door to a brave new world. The old Championship, the second tier of English club rugby, has morphed into “the Champ” and, at first glance, the brochure looks promising. A freshly rebranded league, Worcester back in business, a live streaming partner in Clubber TV, talented players raring to go. And for the champion team, insist the organisers, the ultimate prize of promotion to the Prem.

Just try to cling fondly to this blissed-out vision for a moment, particularly in the rose-tinted aftermath of a wonderful Women’s Rugby World Cup. Because, sadly, it is in some danger of dissolving even before the RFU Council gathered on Friday to debate the Prem clubs’ pursuit of a franchise-based model that would curtail relegation for the elite.

Further details have been requested by council members with a full vote not anticipated for another four months. Simon Gillham, chair of Tier 2 Rugby, is also adamant that things are not as cut and dried as some Prem hawks are claiming: “The position of the Champ board remains the same. The lifeblood of sport is aspiration and jeopardy and we have to have a system that rewards sporting success and sanctions failure.”

What everyone really wants to know, though, is whether the promotion goalposts will once again be shifted in mid-season? On that front, Gillham cannot yet be wholly definitive. “The best-case scenario is that we’ve agreed there’s no relegation from the Prem and therefore the winner of this season’s Champ playoffs goes up,” he says. “The worst-case scenario is we haven’t managed to get to an agreement and the current legislation stays in place, namely a playoff between the last placed Prem side and the top side in the Champ.”

Interesting. It is well known that the Prem would like to expand to at least 12 teams and the return of a reborn Worcester, with their stadium and support, would fit snugly into that vision. But further down the track? Gillham makes clear that, in the new order, even some established Champ sides will need to smarten up their act imminently or risk others replacing them. “There are half a dozen clubs who are going to have to up their facilities in order to stay in the Champ,” he warns. “It may be some clubs feel they don’t want to make the investment. They might exclude themselves.”

All of which leaves the majority of Champ coaches and players eyeing yet more contractual and funding uncertainty. Take Bedford’s Mike Rayer, who has seen a lot of new dawns during his 20 seasons in charge at Goldington Road. “We’ve almost got to the point where it looks like there’s a bit of stability and suddenly there’s the chance of the drawbridge being closed up again,” says the former Wales international. “It’s been the story at this level for 15 or 20 years.”

At Coventry this week they have been lamenting the loss of a potential new American backer who withdrew over the lack of clarity surrounding potential admission to the Prem. And listen to Gillham’s predecessor, the former England centre Simon Halliday, who remains outraged at the way the Champ clubs have collectively been treated and at the idea of favoured Prem wannabes being hand-picked: “What the Premiership and RFU want to do is select a certain number of clubs to suit their commercial agenda. If the next two years are a shambles [for the Champ] they won’t really care.”

To which certain Prem owners will say the commercial gap between the two leagues has grown so wide that change has become inevitable. It is an easier argument to make in the wake of Newcastle’s shotgun marriage with the marketing behemoth Red Bull – but not at Ealing Trailfinders who have an equally bullish backer and yet are still, to their frustration, personas non grata. Having topped last season’s table and been privately told they were finally in the promotion frame, it is alleged they were subsequently “jilted at the altar” because of fears Newcastle would collapse if they were relegated.

Others wonder aloud about the integrity of the supposedly iron-clad eight-year deal between the Rugby Football Union and the Prem being amended only one year later. Elsewhere, the former England No 8 Nick Easter, now Chinnor’s director of rugby, remains firmly opposed to a franchise model. “The history of sport in Europe and the UK is about jeopardy and reward,” he says. “That’s what you’re playing for. That’s why we have the best fans in the world. It also puts bums on seats and drives interest. Look at France who have the most successful club model in the world. Yes, there are differences in municipality funding and TV income but that’s what works. Everyone loves it.”

It is a similar story at Caldy where their impressively committed head coach, the former England, Saracens and Sale hooker Matt Cairns, has also seen the debate from both sides. “It was brilliant the first year we were in the Champ when there was relegation. Loads of jeopardy, every game mattered,| he says. “For the last two years it’s been a bit dull. We noticed our crowds starting to drop a little bit. With English sport there’s as much interest in the bottom as there is in the top when there’s relegation involved.”

Easter, furthermore, flatly disputes the idea that relegation spells automatic oblivion: “I was with Harlequins when they went down in 2005. It was the best thing that happened to the club. They bounced back up, sorted their priorities out, got their house more in order, learned a lot and actually increased their fanbase. Northampton did the same thing.”

Either way, the entire long-running argument may shortly be academic. “The stepping stone between the Champ and the Prem is huge and we’re going to go to franchises,” was the blunt summary of Exeter’s chair, Tony Rowe, this week. But what about someone such as Lee Blackett, a product of Rotherham and Leeds who is now England’s attack coach? Not to mention all the ambitious youngsters just below the Prem who need somewhere to play?

In other words be careful what you wish for. As Gillham says: “If we close off the league, we will actually do a huge disservice to English rugby.” At the same time, though, he stresses the feuding has to stop. “The past is the past … the Prem and the Champ have got to work together.” All hail the Champ? Get along to a game this autumn and make your own mind up.

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