Well I’ve slept on things and I still can’t see how the professional rugby union fault lines can be sealed. I have just read the comments of Mark Souster in the Times and according to him the intervention of the International Rugby Board (IRB) will finally ‘knock heads together’ to come up with a solution. The only problem with this is that any solution without the English clubs is no solution at all and they have the BT Sports money to cushion them.

So if the IRB solution is some form of Heineken 2 this still doesn’t seem to answer the problems of the Welsh regions for the basic reason that the English won’t be there and nor will the French or at least in any real meaningful way. What this all means is that you are stuck with a competition which no sponsor will want to touch for the money being asked and so the whole thing will slowly wilt and die.

I really do feel I’m repeating myself but if the English clubs do not take part the European competition has no future and it doesn’t matter how many fine words are issued by national Rugby boards it is just the hard brutal fact. I really don’t like writing those words because they do seem at the very least very patronising to the Irish and Scots but neither have the financial firepower to support their professional set ups – which probably explains why they are so adamant about the continued success of the current set up. But things have changed and unfortunately that will deeply effect professional rugby in their countries.

I guess the whole thing could be decided not by the IRB but by the High Court in London should the Welsh regions carry out their threat to sue for restraint of trade. It might just be worth remembering that the last time something like this was tested, the Bosnan case in professional football, the sporting authorities lost and there is a good chance that that would be the outcome here. The only solution will be found when it addresses the interests of the English clubs so that they are happy to join the European competition. At the moment the solutions on the table don’t come close to that.

I hope that sane heads will prevail and some form of a solution can be found rather than something that will fall apart within six months and that, I’m afraid, includes recognising that the world of professional rugby has changed and this really has to be addressed. Trying to force the clubs into a straight jacket designed not to serve their interests won’t be that solution.

Simon Marchini
http://www.simonmarchini.co.uk