The state of Rugby Union in England

It is a well-known fact that the sport of Rugby Union across the board is in plenty of financial and other trouble at the moment. There is talk of making it a “summer sport” in the UK – and even the floating of the idea of it trying to create a merger with Rugby League in order to create a universal “oval ball” game.

I was speaking with a former top administrator within the English game this week who has long held the view that the Rugby Football Union has been a financial “basket case” ever since Union went professional in about 1995, having been run ever since then by a series of well-meaning but inferior time-servers who have consistently “gone for the fast buck” at the expense of the community (amateur) game – which is dying on its feet –  and generally made a complete mess of things.

I was reminded of our conversation overnight when I came across this piece upon the website of – THE GUARDIAN