Gallagher Premiership set to halt relegation for next five years
Rugby NewsWednesday, 29 July 2020 at 17:00
The Gallagher Premiership is set to be ring-fenced for four years from 2021 to 2025 under a radical plan to restructure English club rugby, according to reports.
There would also, under the current plan, be no relegation at the end of the 2020/21 season, meaning the league will have expanded to 13 teams for the following four seasons.
I News have reported that the suspension of relegation was 'contained in a 76-page blueprint that was backed last week by the 11 current second-division sides, and has now been presented to the Premiership clubs and the Rugby Football Union.'
Supporters of ring-fencing point to two primary benefits: that teams would play more expansive, entertaining rugby and that they would field more young, English-qualified players.
The trade-off is that it could be many years before another club replicates Exeter by rising through the leagues to the top division, as Ealing Trailfinders have tried to do in recent times.
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After the four years a “Promotion and Relegation Commission”, chaired by an independent QC, would decide on promotion from the 2025-26 season onwards.
Each season would end with an annual audit of each Premiership and The English Championship clubs to “indicate whether a PRL club is performing consistently badly or a TEC club is performing consistently well.”
We much prefer our idea of an American Football (yes they do some things well) based system.
If you don’t know the NFL structure, there are eight divisions. This will only be five in our Premiership version.
These teams play their own division teams twice (Home and away), and an assortment of other teams for a total of 16 games.
At the end of that, the five division winners, plus the three best performing other teams enter a playoff, very much like the European Champions Cup
Divisions are split up roughly by location, and division names are given based on the general area.
Obviously, the 12 Premiership teams made it in. The other eight all came from the Championship and were decided using a combination of recent league performance and best suited by location.
I’m expecting disagreements with some of these but cut me a little slack. Here are the divisions:
NORTHERN DIVISION
- Doncaster Knights
- Newcastle Falcons
- Sale Sharks
- Yorkshire Carnegie
LONDON DIVISION
- Ealing Trailfinders
- Harlequins
- London Irish
- Saracens
MIDLANDS 1
- Bedford Blues
- Leicester Tigers
- Northampton Saints
- Nottingham
MIDLANDS 2
- Bristol Bears
- Gloucester
- Wasps
- Worcester Warriors
SOUTHERN DIVISION
- Bath
- Cornish Pirates
- Exeter Chiefs
- Jersey
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LIST | Rugby internationals who lost a ton of weight in retirement
Below is a look at five players who lost a ton of weight after their rugby union careers ended.
1. Phil Vickery (England)
The World Cup-winning prop has transformed his body since hanging up his boots. Vickery, who won the 2011 series of Celebrity Masterchef, has recently opened his new Cheltenham restaurant, No.3, after the Coronavirus pandemic delayed first orders. He's literally half the man he used to be.
2. Matt Dunning (Australia)
When he was a prop for the Wallabies Matt Dunning weighed 130kg and was constantly mocked for his tubby frame. But since retiring from rugby union the 35-year-old has lost a staggering 40kg, dropping from 25 per cent body fat to just 11 per cent in six months.
3. James Haskell (England)
The former England flanker - who signed for MMA promotion Bellator last August - after his retirement from rugby has dropped a ton of weight ahead of his first fight. A trip into I'm A Celebrity Get Me out Of here sure did help him get lean. This sort of diet isn't recommended.
4. Lee Mears (England)
The former Bath and England international rugby player retired from the game due to a life-threatening heart condition. Trying to stay healthy has since became a priority and it's fair to say he's looking amazing!
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