Interim RFU CEO Nigel MelvilleGETTY IMAGES
English rugby execs "shut the door on Premiership promotion and relegation being scrapped this season," according to Nick Purewal of the London INDEPENDENT. Rugby Football Union interim CEO Nigel Melville branded the idea "wishful thinking," after some Premiership clubs were "understood to be pushing for the English top-flight to be ring-fenced." Melville insisted there is "no chance of the rules being ripped up for this season and that promotion and relegation will remain in place this term." Asked if promotion and relegation could be halted for this season, Melville said, "I think that's called wishful thinking isn't it? Suddenly people want something to happen now. Well, no, that's not how it works" (INDEPENDENT, 12/4). In London, Robert Kitson wrote Melville said, "I wonder why we're talking about promotion and relegation this week? If you look at the table, you can see why." He "has a fair point." With the Premiership's bottom seven teams separated by four points, "a lot of people are beginning to twitch already." As "public slap downs go it was significant for two reasons." First, Melville has been at the helm officially for only a few days, "holding the fort" following the abrupt decision of Steve Brown to resign in the wake of the union’s recent financial downturn. Second, it was the "clearest possible indicator that the turbulence that has affected English rugby for much of the 23 years since the world game embraced professionalism is not yet entirely done." Whether Melville "will be the man to smooth everything out is, as yet, impossible to say." Even in his "temporary nightwatchman's role," however, he sounds "inclined to tell it straight," which is an "encouraging start" (GUARDIAN, 12/4).
PEACE DEAL: In London, Alex Lowe reported Melville revealed that a peace deal was brokered between England and the Premiership clubs "after a row erupted over the number of players who were injured" with the int'l team. Bath Owner Bruce Craig said last season that the injury rate with England was "unacceptable" and that "there has got to be significant questions asked about the duty of care." England men's national team head coach Eddie Jones responded by describing Craig as the "Donald Trump of rugby." That "outbreak of club-country hostilities" led to discussions at the Professional Game Board -- the panel that runs the elite game in England -- over how the RFU’s medics and the Premiership clubs "could work together more effectively." Melville said, "Bruce and a number of clubs were saying, 'We are getting injured players.' We sent it back to the sports science advisory group to look at why this was happening" (LONDON TIMES, 12/5).
