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The Guardian
03-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Worcester wind back to life with second-tier return and vow to clear debts
Worcester Warriors insist they will be both sustainable and competitive when they return to English rugby's second tier next season almost three years after going bust. The club's new owners have had to provide stringent financial guarantees and commit to repaying rugby creditors left high and dry when Worcester went into administration with debts of more than £25m in September 2022. In the past clubs such as Richmond and London Welsh have been forced to start again at the foot of the English pyramid but a condition of Worcester's return to the new-look Tier 2 league is that outstanding debts to, among others, HMRC and DCMS will be settled by the end of the year. In addition, the new owners have already made substantial payments to the administrators. Worcester are now set to take their place in a 14-team league which will include the 12 existing Championship clubs and the top side in National One, which Richmond currently lead by 10 points with three games remaining. The Warriors will be based at their old ground at Sixways, latterly used for football, and the club's owner, Christopher Holland, says the club, whose last game was against Newcastle in September 2022, has long-term aspirations to return to the Gallagher Premiership. That scenario is slightly complicated by the fact that Holland also owns Wasps, who also went out of business in the 2022-23 season. If Wasps were also to return to the English leagues, he would only be allowed to own one club and have a stake no higher then 25% in another. There is no imminent prospect, however, of either Wasps or London Irish – the third top-tier English club to fold in recent years – returning to the Premiership, with Holland indicating the United Rugby Championship could be a likelier option. For the time being, Holland is more preoccupied with rebooting rugby in the West Midlands, a rich breeding ground for English talent which has nurtured the current England internationals Fin Smith, Ollie Lawrence and Ted Hill. 'Our budget is there or thereabouts with regards to the top five clubs [in the Championship],' said Holland. 'We are sustainable and we have planned for the resilience of this for some time. We would expect to be in the top 3 or 4, hopefully … once you've seen the teamsheet for the first time I think that'll probably answer most questions. There is a big energy to return to [the top tier] when we can afford to do so.' Worcester, however, have had to go through 'a very detailed and challenging process' before being admitted to Tier 2. 'It was three months of going to the dentist, effectively,' said Holland. 'All through that our sustainability and business plans were tested and retested. One thing we're not going to do is overspend. We'll spend within the budget. We're fortunate that the business plans we have here have been supported by the local authority and the planning authority with regards to enabling development on the car park at Sixways. We're going to take things slowly within the budget and then hopefully we will be able to increase our spend on the squad.' With the financial state of English club rugby still 'very fragile' to quote one insider, the return of Worcester is seen as potentially helpful in terms of boosting the profile and longer-term marketability of the league. 'The vision for this league is really ambitious and so much work and collaboration has taken place over nearly two years to establish a path towards a vibrant and self-sustaining competition,' said Simon Gillham, the Tier 2 board chair. 'Today marks a significant step forward with Worcester Warriors returning to professional rugby under new ownership in a heartland for our sport. We're really pleased [to] see their return to professional rugby as I'm sure are their fans.' Gillham, however, conceded that readmitting Worcester would not be popular with clubs who were not allowed similar leeway in past years. 'Worcester Warriors have been a fascinating case. We knew from the outset that whichever way we decided it would be a challenging and contested decision. We knew what we were letting ourselves in for. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion 'We put them through a very rigorous process which, sometimes, might have felt unfair. It was more than any other club which is in Tier 2. We demanded conditions and did not allow them any wriggle room. As a result they have provided us with a substantial financial guarantee. I think that is a first in English rugby, in terms of financial discipline and assurance.' The longer-term hope, furthermore, is that fresh life can be breathed into the Championship and that a more collaborative relationship can be struck with the Premiership at a delicate time in the history of the professional game. 'There is quite a lot of investor fatigue around at the moment, both in the Premiership and in Tier 2,' said Gillham. 'We have to address that very, very quickly. I can't say at this stage what the solution is, but what we have to do is get into the same room and sit around the table together. This is my personal opinion but I think that if we don't have a system of aspiration and jeopardy then we will implode.'
Telegraph
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
My team taking on the private schools is answer to English rugby's prayers
For rugby union to broaden its footprint and flourish, it will require creative thinking and fierce enthusiasm. Steve Hanley, the former Sale Sharks wing who plundered 75 Premiership tries, possesses those qualities in abundance. Three years ago, he and Joe Clark, an ex-Sharks colleague, established Trafford Schools; an invitational team in Manchester for boys who attend schools that do not have matches on a Saturday. Their sons, Jacob and Dylan, had failed entrance exams, denying them a chance to enrol somewhere they could immerse themselves in rugby union by training three times a week as well as playing weekend fixtures. For Hanley, the setback stirred uneasy memories. 'I'm sure there's a bit of hidden PTSD driving all this,' he explains with a chuckle. 'It will be ingrained in me from when I didn't get picked for England Under-16s and England Under-18s. 'I went to school up in Cumbria, Cockermouth School. I played for the North of England Under-19s when I was 16 – three years young – at the old divisional tournament at Castlecroft. But I missed out on the England Under-19 trial every year until I signed for Sale Sharks. 'Two weeks after signing that contract, I was in the England Under-19 team. Then, in the same season, I played for the Under-21s, the A team, the sevens and the first team, all within six months. When I made my England debut at 19, I remember Clive Woodward commissioning a report, asking: 'How have we missed this kid and how many more are there like him?'' Hanley sought out Telegraph Sport after reading last month's investigation into how rugby union may be affected by rising fees at independent schools. It is his view that 'if you have fewer lads coming through the system, you're going to have fewer coming out the top'. And he is also concerned about over-reliance on those establishments. 'I have no animosity whatsoever towards anyone who sends their kids to private school if they can,' Hanley adds. 'The big issue I see is that the schools do such a good job that the Rugby Football Union have perhaps let those schools be the main way to bring kids through. And if you're not in that system then you can get completely bypassed.' Last October, on the back of an independently chaired review that warned of how rugby union was in danger of becoming a 'declining minority sport' with the perception of being dominated by 'posh white boys', Hanley contacted the RFU. His sentiment was succinct: 'I believe I've got the answer to your prayers'. By then, Trafford Schools had developed into a feel-good success story. The Greater Manchester borough of Trafford houses both Sale Sharks, vying for Premiership glory again, and Sale FC, sitting seventh in National One. Bowdon and Altrincham Kersal are two more strong clubs. Yet Hanley and Clark estimate that only two of 14 comprehensive schools in the area – St Ambrose and Altrincham Grammar School for Boys – play regularly on Saturdays. 'You have Sale Grammar, Urmston Grammar, Stretford Grammar, Ashton on Mersey School and Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College,' Hanley says. 'None of them play on a Saturday anymore. They might do rugby in PE every now and again but that's it.' With their boys entering Year 7, while still enlisted in the 'fantastic' junior section of the Trafford MV club, catering for 400 to 500 kids, Hanley and Clark staged tournaments for non-rugby playing schools. They wondered about how a combined side would fare against illustrious opposition. Then they made it happen with the help of local hero Greg Hawkins, who was awarded the British Empire Medal in 2015 for tireless volunteer work in rugby union. Wearing their club shirts inside-out as makeshift uniforms, a Trafford Schools Year 7 line-up took on Altrincham Grammar. Since then, the initiative has 'grown and grown'. They play in kit kindly donated by Sale Sharks and the Sale Sharks Supporters Club has backed them to the tune of £2,500 per season, covering balls, bibs, cones and tracksuits. Perch Group is another generous sponsor. Parents have not yet needed to pay a penny. Trafford MV and Sale FC have been immensely generous with their facilities and training sessions are staged in Carrington on Wednesday nights to avoid clashes with local clubs. Matches against prestigious rivals are on Saturdays, which allows players to fulfil their football fix on Sundays, if so inclined. 'About 30 per cent of our lads play football on a Sunday,' says Hanley, whose son, Jacob, was on the books at Oldham Athletic. 'But I reckon we've picked up 15 or 20 lads who'd never played rugby at all. They've come to these schools tournaments we put on, usually with those white socks pulled up over their rugby socks, and they're rapid. Give them a couple of years' coaching on their skills and they can be brilliant at rugby.' Kicking and clinic with @HanleySteve11 — Trafford Schools Rugby (@traff_sch_rugby) June 27, 2024 Initially, fixtures were tricky to organise because of ties between traditional schools. Hanley and Clark offered up Trafford Schools as stand-ins in case of cancellations. They found they had several friends and acquaintances working in the sector and gradually built a fixture list. Trafford Schools are now represented by 10 different schools in the borough and have Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 teams. Jacob Hanley, Dylan Clark and Freddie Wigglesworth, a scrum-half like his father Richard who was this week named as an assistant coach for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia, represent the latter. Interestingly, Freddie attends St Bede's College, a fee-paying school that does not have a rugby union programme. He qualifies for Trafford Schools because of his affiliation to Bowdon RFC in the borough. Statement results this season have included a draw with Wirral Grammar and a narrow victory over Kirkham. Kirkham and Wirral are currently ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, among Under-14 A school sides in England according to the Schools Rugby website. 'I'm pretty confident that our Year 9s would give most teams a game,' suggests Hanley, who has ambitious plans. He has been gently lobbying for Trafford Schools to enter the national competitions like the Continental Tyres Cup and the Rosslyn Park Sevens, without a serious breakthrough so far. The 45-year-old also wants to set up another safety net, this one for players who drop out of the Sale Sharks set-up when the regional development player pathway is filtered down into a far smaller senior academy intake. This is a renowned pinch-point for participation because players may not cope with the disappointment and step away from the game entirely. Hanley states that a new entity for 15-18 year-olds called Trafford Rugby Academy could lean upon Sale FC as a vehicle to invigorate these youngsters and strengthen the community game at the same time. Already, Trafford Schools supports players that are too young to attend AASE [Achieving Academic and Sporting Excellence] c olleges. Hanley is realistic enough to concede that his connections have provided a leg-up – Alex Sanderson, the Sale Sharks director of rugby, is one of his best mates – but is game if the RFU is interested in rolling out similar initiatives around the country. 'Could these be set up by a Joe Bloggs without a recognisable name?' he asks. 'Maybe not, so they might need an ambassador.' Out of Jacob's exam disappointment, an exciting venture is gathering impetus. 'I wouldn't be involved in this if Jacob was somewhere like St Ambrose,' says Hanley. 'It's given us a kick up the a---, I suppose.' In turn, Hanley is booting his sport up the backside in the most constructive way.
BBC News
26-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Pirates bring in lock Etete until end of season
Cornish Pirates have bolstered their forward pack after signing 27-year-old lock Michael 6ft 7in forward moves to Pirates from National One side Blackheath on a deal until the end of the featured for Pirates in their friendly win over the Royal Navy earlier this month where he scored a try for the Championship has previously had time at Premiership side Bath, where he played played four Premiership Rugby Cup games in the 2022-23 season, and the Miami Sharks in Major League Rugby."Signing Mike gives us the opportunity to bolster the squad with his physical presence," Cornish Pirates coach Joe Walsh told the club website."His involvement in the Navy game was very positive. He looked good when the game opened up a bit, and he was very comfortable on the ball and running into space."As we look forward, we hope he can also impose himself, show more of what he has got, and push for a place in the matchday 23."
Telegraph
28-02-2025
- Sport
- Telegraph
Controversial tackle-height change has ‘reduced head contacts'
Two years ago the sudden and controversial decision to lower the tackle height in the community game sparked outrage across English rugby. Now, the Rugby Football Union has revealed that head contacts and red cards were reduced in the aftermath. Such was the uproar over the RFU's decision in 2023 that the governing body released an apology at the time, releasing a statement saying: 'In our desire to act quickly to reduce head impacts and concussions, we have upset many of you. We fully acknowledge we got the engagement wrong, and we are truly sorry.' The data, which is still in its early stages, is drawn from analysis of 200 matches across the National Leagues, the university system's BUCS Men's Super Rugby and schoolboys under-18 level to examine the effects of lowering the tackle height to below the base of the sternum. In BUCS matches, tackles above the sternum following the law-change dropped from 42 per game to 28. In National One, the average number of head contacts dropped from six to three. A knock-on effect from lowering the tackle height was an increase in offloads and a reduced number of breakdowns. At National League level, the number of average tackles per game dropped from 259 to 225, while offloads increased on average from 19 to 23. The number of red cards issued for dangerous play under Law 9.13 notably decreased, while the number of reported concussions in men's levels three to nine stabilised, having steadily increased since 2009-2010. The concussion numbers for the women's game remained similar to previous seasons. Discussing the Domestic Law Variation, Paula Carter, RFU board and council member and chair of the RFU's head impact prevention and management steering group, said: 'The RFU takes player welfare incredibly seriously, and we are determined to promote the many benefits of our game alongside analysing data and science to make our sport as safe as it can be. 'These early results of the initial impact of the reduction in the tackle height are positive indicators that the community game, where most of the rugby is played in England, are benefitting from the decisions we are taking relating to welfare and injury prevention. We are grateful for all the work the community game is doing to make this a success.' The figures provide a welcome update on how that law change is progressing after its introduction in 2023 triggered a backlash from players, with one describing the process as 'a total shambles'. The RFU was also heavily criticised for the manner in which the radical development was first introduced, with critics pointing to 'a lack of transparency and communication'. Plan to empower clubs in decision-making The tackle height update is part of a published response from the RFU following a roadshow around the country to speak with aggrieved clubs after last year's bonus scandal surrounding chief executive Bill Sweeney. Having met already with representatives from 400 clubs, and with more roadshow events in the pipeline, the RFU has announced that action will be taken in multiple areas. The most interesting proposal regards governance reform, with Sir Bill Beaumont, the interim chair of the RFU board, proposing an additional motion, ahead of the special general meeting to be held on March 27. The motion calls for the RFU's 'governance and representation review' to be expedited, giving clubs more decision-making power at a local level. 'We want to create a new relationship between clubs and the union – with stronger engagement in how the game is run,' the RFU says in a document titled 'Our Commitment To The Community Game'. 'We anticipate this accelerated governance review will enable the union to move to a regional structure where more decisions can be made locally, with greater flexibility achieved in competition management and devolved funding to help local decisions to be made to drive participation growth, aid player retention and support club sustainability.' Beaumont urges clubs to back Sweeney In the letter, Beaumont urges RFU members 'to vote in favour of this resolution which can bring about meaningful governance change and against the motion that members have no confidence in the Chief Executive Officer', adding that the RFU board 'unanimously supports Bill Sweeney remaining as CEO'. Addressing the push from the group known as Whole Game Union, made up of the Rugby Football Referees Union and Championship clubs who called for the SGM, Beaumont warns that a vote of no confidence in Sweeney 'risks sending the Union into paralysis and creating a costly leadership vacuum'. Whole Game Union responded to the RFU's announcements in a statement, stressing that the letter calling for the SGM had been signed by 152 clubs 'and is supported by scores more at every level and in every region'. The statement continued: 'It is only because of the Whole Game Union's ability to corral the dissatisfaction of English Rugby with its leadership that Sir Bill and his board belatedly discovered the need to go out and meet clubs. None of the proposals in his letter would have been forthcoming if our Union was just a few malcontents stirring a pot. The pot was already boiling. 'The desperation inherent in this letter to clubs can be summed up by the sudden realisation that they need to make promises to address the points made in the SGM letter. Our message remains that the board and the CEO have lost the dressing room.' Analysis: This is first step towards RFU regaining clubs' trust By Ben Coles To say that the Rugby Football Union is beginning to show signs of improving its communication with its members and the wider public means, given recent events, that a very low bar has been cleared. Friday's news, however, feels like a marked improvement, an implied mea culpa, which continues the work that began with Sir Bill Beaumont's return to the RFU to kickstart one of the great charm offensives in English rugby. Focus on this Bill, not the other Bill. While the bonus payment made to Bill Sweeney provoked a level of outrage so startling that the RFU never saw it coming, intel from the roadshow events suggests that the size of Sweeney's salary is not a primary concern for clubs. The Pontefract chairman Phil Atkinson described it as a 'red herring' in my colleague Ben Rumsby's piece covering one of the events. Teams want to know how their floodlights will be fixed and why they were not consulted properly about lowering the tackle height. Those issues matter more than the chief executive's pay packet. Releasing data on the impact of lowering the tackle height in the community game does not vindicate the RFU's failure to properly communicate such a fundamental shift in how the game is played. But it will at least help to persuade those concerned for the future of the sport that the change was necessary. Members likely knew already that something had to give. You can separate the professional and amateur games but the high-profile court case concerning former players and brain injuries, which has hung over the game in recent years, affects the overall perception of the sport. What members wanted was an opportunity to voice any queries and to push for answers, rather than to be directed without consultation. Improving county and regional governance, meanwhile, which should allow greater flexibility between areas of the country where player numbers differ and give counties more of an identity and voice, feels like a common-sense approach, too. Club vote will reveal success of Sweeney roadshow The tackle-height data is encouraging, absolutely, but it should be stressed that it is still in its early stages. A better picture will emerge over the coming seasons as more matches are studied and dissected, and you suspect the numbers will continue to trend down and up appropriately, as players continue to adapt. The aim of reducing head contacts and concussions was always creditable and worth exploring. The execution of it was just such a mess. Beaumont's letter does not hold back, 'urging' members not to vote against Sweeney in the forthcoming special general meeting, arguing that he is 'spearheading vital commercial and broadcast negotiations that will play a huge role in safeguarding our financial sustainability'. The success of Sweeney's speaking (but mainly listening) tour of the country will become apparent when the votes are cast at the SGM. It all feels like the start of a long road for the ruling body to win back everyone's trust. But a start nonetheless.
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Rams knocked off top spot following home defeat by Bishop's Stortford
SEB Reynolds admitted Rams must learn quickly after they suffered a second consecutive National One reverse, the 34-25 home defeat to Bishop's Stortford seeing them knocked off top spot. A brilliant start had the hosts in front as Rowan Grundy crossed on the left, but two converted maul tries from Isaac Bell and Will Rogers pushed Stortford in front. Rams struck back as Zach Clow dived over following yellow cards to David Hayes and Henry Peck, Mike Cooke following to temporarily reduce Bishop's to 12 men. Andrew Lamb was the home side's third try-scorer as they hit the front, only for a long-range Tom Mills penalty to nudge their opponents 17-15 up with the final play of the first half. Rams again flew out the blocks at the start of the second period, Axel Kalling-Smith with a super score, but a quickfire double from Mills and Chris Smith, the latter added to by star man Cooke, left the hosts 29-22 behind. Fraser Honey slotted a routine penalty to trim the deficit, but fittingly another strong set-piece saw Alex Rayment crash over before some stubborn Stortford defence helped them seal a first win in nine games against Rams. A disappointed Reynolds said: 'We came out of the blocks with some lovely rugby, scored a very good try, but discipline then put us down in our own 22 and their maul was extremely effective. 'I question the set-up of it, but you can only play what's there and they mauled better than us and it won them the game. 'We tried some different things to stop it and a couple of times it worked, we got a good sack early and a knock-on, but they rode those out. 'In fairness they also attacked well and scored off a maul by going to the width for a walk-in try, so they also attacked better than us.' Having hit back to lead shortly after the break, a repeat of seven days earlier at Sale, Rams failed to take control which the DoR admitted was his biggest regret. He continued: 'We've not been savvy enough when we've gone into the lead in the past couple of weeks. 'You need to maintain the lead, stay on top and take the game away from the opposition – we're leaving teams in the game and they're then building confidence. 'From there they get on top, it becomes a close game, and we know we're a target for a lot of sides – when you give a team a chance of beating us, they get even more motivated and, in the end, Stortford thoroughly deserved the win. 'Being more ruthless is something the side must learn. There are factors with missing players which are out of our control, but that's rugby and we've just got to get better.' Despite the frustrating loss, which leaves Rams three points adrift of new table-toppers Richmond ahead of next Saturday's trip to Birmingham Moseley, Reynolds found some plus points with the commitment of the team the greatest. He concluded: 'Some of our attack at times was superb, we had good pressure on them and forced three yellow cards, scored a couple of tries, and I thought James McRae in the air was fantastic. 'There are always positives to take – James Baker battling through injury to his finger, Ollie Cole keeping going shows the guys always fight for the shirt – but sometimes it just doesn't go your way.' Rams head to Birmingham Moseley next Saturday (3pm).
