What a win for Bristol Bears at Franklin’s Gardens one of the hotbeds of English rugby.
If ever there was a game of two halves that was it. The Bears were error-strewn and pointless for 60 minutes and then things clicked and we went on for a memorable win. Can you imagine what this team could achieve if it cut down the unforced errors.
It was an afternoon for the ‘finishers’ as Henry Purdy and Lewis Thiede got the tries that secured the four points. They both joined Bristol from the Championship - Coventry and Ealing respectively.
Even before this victory and Saracens' relegation saga, most Bears fans were confident we wouldn’t be dabbling with a return to the Championship. So last week’s news that central funding to the second-tier league is being slashed by 50% isn’t going to cause Pat Lam any sleepless nights.
I think most rugby fans will have found the timing and the way the news was delivered to Championship teams deplorable. With clubs close to finalising squads for next season this sudden loss of revenue will affect players, coaches and back room staff.
Putting the crass way it was announced to one side, is this the right move for English rugby? Is there the demand and funding for a professional league below the Premiership? Sadly, I think the answer is no and in the long-term this might be the right decision for the game.
Premiership ring-fencing has been talked about for a long time, but now looks inevitable. The gap between the 13 Premiership-shareholding sides and the rest is just too great and things need to change.
On this week’s podcast I agreed with the idea of former England scrum half, Austin Healey, who favours a move to an NFL-style franchise model. This would allow the Premiership to be expanded in the future if a club has the ground, financial backing and catchment area to grow the game. Would a future franchise in say Birmingham or Liverpool do more to develop the game than a Hartpury or Ampthill in the Premiership?
Similarly, with this model any existing club that consistently failed to be competitive or got into financial troubles could have their franchise reviewed. What would have happened to Saracens in such a regime!
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