Rugby unions vs R360 spat is the sport’s failures in a nutshell
When I look from the outside at the recent statement spat between many of the leading rugby unions and the rebel R360 start-up, I cannot help but hark back to the 2020 election for chairman of World Rugby.
In the blue corner was the incumbent Sir Bill Beaumont, backing the status quo but wanting to forge ahead with a global sport for all. And in the red corner was his former deputy, Agustin Pichot, who wanted to shake up the establishment and thrust rugby into a dynamic decade. No need to guess who won – it is obvious.
And that’s nothing against the former England captain, but just another example of rugby as a sport choosing to play it safe and protect its own garden when the neighbours are building extensions.
I feel similarly about this eight-union statement and R360 – it’s the establishment shutting up shop before they’ve heard the plan.
Now, I am not saying R360 will or won’t work, and I am not saying it will be profitable or not profitable after year one, as those involved have previously said. But it doesn’t feel like we’ve heard enough to be given such a snap judgement.
And some of that is laid at R360’s door, because its backers could have been much more open from the start with those involved laying out ambitious plans – given the model was never to set up a league, like LIV Golf, and then buy players into it once up and running.
But the point stands, we don’t have enough of the plans confirmed to write it off. After all, so much of the game is haemorrhaging money.
R360 spat
Look at the Prem, where no team is making a profit, or over in Australia, where a British and Irish Lions tour every 12 years wipes their often ballooning debts; the game is in trouble.
There are always ways that rebel leagues, or alternative ideas, can be done better – take a look at the 10s series that flopped in the Caribbean or RugbyX at the O2 – but the attitude from the unions, in my view, has not been great.
These unions have financial responsibilities of their own and leagues like R360 promising to pay players a wedge alleviates those funding commitments – such as England’s central contract funding. They could even scrap their match fee given some of the reported figures being thrown about in association with R360 contracts.
And it is the same with the women’s game. I have two daughters and the Women’s Rugby World Cup was incredible. But it doesn’t look like a fully stable career yet.
R360 could be the answer to the women’s game and those Red Roses who are on top of the world shouldn’t be judged if they take cash that would never be on offer in the PWR and other domestic leagues.
It is very rugby to have a proposal in place – however perfect or flawed – which includes US investors wanting to create NFL-style events in the States and to snub it. There’s a Rugby World Cup across the pond in the coming years and there’s no way that country will be ready through organic growth.
Maybe R360 could have put its point across better, or maybe World Rugby and key unions could have listened harder. But rugby has been here before, and it’ll no doubt be here again. Whether anybody has the courage to change something remains the key question.
The Mad Dog
News of England legend Lewis Moody’s motor neurone disease diagnosis is utterly tragic. The forward put his head where most of us wouldn’t dare and that put him on a pedestal as one of the greatest.
The head of research at the MND Association, Dr Nick Cole, has said there is no “concrete” evidence of a link between the disease and rugby union. But research from the group does suggest there’s a “correlation” between traumatic brain injuries and MND; just not necessarily that traumatic brain injuries “cause” the muscle-weakening disease.
What we need is much more research, with rugby-specific models to advance our knowledge going forward. This would put players in a position to choose whether or not to risk a career in a brilliant sport.
Former England Sevens captain Ollie Phillips is the founder of Optimist Performance. Follow Ollie @OlliePhillips11