Money!

[Rugby News]

There is a problem in English domestic rugby right now, and it's money. Not the money in the clubs, but the desire for it from the Unions. In the RFU, the mentality now is to strangle every penny out of every corporate as much as possible, by whatever means necessary. The AIââ'¬â"¢s are now meaningless compared to years gone by, but are played at the same time as competitive Premiership matches. Consider the scenario; Newcastle loose 18-16 after a last minute penalty is missed. 3 points dropped. Come the end of the season they finish 2 points behind Bristol and are relegated. When they lost that competitive game, Wilkinson was sitting on the bench for 78 minutes at Twickenham before making a late replacement for Cipriani, but otherwise doing nothing because England are still spanked by the All Blacks. Wilkinson is Gosforths best goal kicker and maybe would have slotted that late penalty, thus keeping them in the top flight. Now Newcastle are relegated with massive (potentially crippling) financial losses. They need to streamline their academy, so many young players talents may go wanting and they are forced to recoup despite no money left in the club. Theyââ'¬â"¢re knackered, but itââ'¬â"¢s okay because some corporate got to see ââ'¬Å"That Wilkinson bloke who kicked a ball in 2003ââ'¬Â¦ Heââ'¬â"¢s like rugbys Beckham, ââ'¬Ëœimââ'¬Â. If the unions worked with the clubs to develop the domestic game and make it bigger, they would be able to develop more stars for the international game as more youngsters would develop an interest. The bigger pool of talent would push standards up for the England selectors to choose fromââ'¬Â¦ Low and behold thereââ'¬â"¢s a decent national team. Play the internationals when important matches are not being played domestically and the clubs donââ'¬â"¢t suffer. Plus, ââ'¬Å"Wilkinson vs Ciprianiââ'¬Â on your doorstep may get more casual fans to go and watch then ââ'¬Å"Wilkinson or Ciprianiââ'¬Â on the tellyââ'¬Â¦ Maybe they might just become a proper fan of the game instead of a casual observer. Or we can carry on living in the dark ages. Never mind though, Iââ'¬â"¢ll be wearing my club shirt this weekend and every other weekend until May.

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