English second tier gets Champ Rugby rebrand in new 14-club league
Ealing Trailfinders did not meet the Premiership's minimum standards this year despite winning the Championship. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer
English rugby union's second tier will be rebranded as Champ Rugby from next season in a move designed to raise standards and add greater aspiration and jeopardy for clubs. Beneath the glitzy launch, however, many questions still remain.
Simon Gillham, the Tier 2 chair, said that the new-look league of 14 clubs would bring a 'gripping conclusion to the season' – with the top six entering a playoff tournament for the right to face the bottom-placed Premiership club for a promotion place.
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However, Gillham confirmed that discussions have not yet concluded on terms for promotion, with minimum operating standards still to be agreed.
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The thorny issue of whether a promoted club will have to purchase a P-share, allowing them to participate in the Premiership's financial benefits and governance, has also not been decided.
Ealing Trailfinders did not meet the minimum standards for promotion this season despite winning the Championship, and Gillham refused to speculate on the chances of a club from Champ Rugby going up next year.
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However he insisted: 'We will do everything to be at the table and to make sure that there's proper aspiration and there's proper jeopardy. That is absolutely what we are determined to do.'
Another complicating factor is that Rugby Football Union chief executive, Bill Sweeney, recently warned that promotion and relegation 'does not work', while Premiership clubs are angling for a ringfenced league based on franchises.
But Conor O'Shea, who sits on the Tier 2 board as well as being the RFU executive director of performance rugby, said that 'grown-up conversations' would take place to ensure the dream of promotion remained a possibility.
'As it stands, at the end of next season there will be a promotion/relegation playoff based on minimum standards,' said O'Shea. 'We know that only Doncaster met them this year. The discussions are, how do we improve that? How do you make it accessible without breaking clubs?'
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'There is a heck of a lot of work to do,' he added. 'Our focus is the step change we want to make in the Champ. It's already a great competition, but we want all the standards across the board to grow.'
Organisers are yet to announce a title sponsor. However with the bottom club being relegated, and the 13th placed club facing a relegation playoff against the National League One runner-up, the hope is that more matches will matter, leading to greater interest and bigger crowds to raise revenue.
As part of England Rugby's strategy to attract new audiences, the launch video is voiced by the rugby influencer and YouTuber Max Brown.
'This is where we raise the bar,' Brown says as pounding music plays. 'Where standards are set. Where mettle is tested. Where stars rise. And where hype is realised. We build players who refuse to back down and clubs that demand respect. Communities fuelled by passion. Rivalries played out on a national stage.
'We live for the good of the game. Pushing it further. Driving English Rugby forwards. Match by match, moment by moment. This is the ultimate test. Welcome to the proving ground. This is Champ Rugby.'
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