Questions over Champ playoffs with only two clubs applying for promotion
Arguments behind the scenes about the proposed transformation of the top tier of English club rugby into a franchise-based league are intensifying with just two Champ clubs seemingly now eligible for promotion this season,Only Ealing Trailfinders and Doncaster Knights have applied formally to be promoted to the Prem, with Worcester Warriors understood to have missed the deadline,A Rugby Football Union spokesperson suggested on Tuesday that the absence of Worcester’s name reflects the reality that the club is still “getting back on its feet” after its financial collapse in September 2022 with debts of more than £25m,But with Ealing unable to satisfy the Prem minimum standards for the past two seasons, and with Doncaster off the pace in 10th place, it raises fresh questions about the raison d’être of the scheduled new end‑of‑season Champ playoffs, unveiled this year amid much fanfare,Originally it had been intended that the playoff winner should qualify for a merit-based, two-leg showdown with the Prem’s bottom side, but other scenarios have since emerged.
One suggestion was that the Champ runners-up should be promoted in the event of the champions being ineligible.With Worcester out of that race this season and Ealing still awaiting the result of their application, that mooted loophole is set to be academic.It further complicates the endless debate around the future of the elite English club game.Following Red Bull’s takeover of the bottom-placed Newcastle the Prem owners are now firmly against relegation – described by the Prem’s head of growth, Rob Calder, as a “Victorian” concept.The formal removal of relegation for the next five years, however, still has to be ratified formally by the Rugby Football Union Council, potentially in February.
Prem Rugby remains intent on creating a closed franchise league along the lines of cricket’s Indian Premier League, which would centralise commercial operations and, crucially, remove the threat of relegation.There are doubts, though, whether a move to 11 or 12 Prem clubs will be logistically practicable in the busy period building up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup.Well-placed sources say there is still a desire, even so, to expand the Prem to 12 teams by 2030.“We’re all agreed on the need for expansion of the top 10,” one league insider said.The immediate stumbling block is Ealing’s suitability as a Prem side while they remain based at their Vallis Way ground.
“In the current state of affairs they can’t go up because they’re not prepared to ground share [elsewhere],” the same official said.“Either they decide to do that and meet the minimum standards, or they don’t and it’s the second team in the league who goes up.”That conclusion is fiercely disputed by Ealing, who said their ground can now potentially hold 6,000 spectators and is technically eligible to host Premier League football.“There cannot be a circumstance in which, if Ealing finish top, we would not be allowed into the Prem,” said Simon Halliday, the former Championship chair who is an adviser to Ealing.“That is still our position, otherwise we wouldn’t have applied.
If the RFU are serious about going from 10 to 12, the only way they’re going to do it is by bringing Ealing in and then bringing one more in,If they say no and say we’re going to stay at 10, you can’t take [expansion talk] seriously,”The west London club also insist that, as things stand, their multisport business model is more sustainable than that of many other Prem clubs,“It’s about the whole game and the message it gives to other aspirants,” Halliday said,“You could argue we have the perfect business model.
We don’t have our ground sitting fallow for two weeks,We don’t have an appalling deficit,Others do, which is why they’ve struggled so much and lose millions,”Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionWhat is clear is that few other Champ sides have the financial clout to challenge the elite,The existing Prem owners would love Wasps or London Irish – or both – to be reborn professionally after their financial collapses but that could be years down the track, if ever.
Cornish Pirates may conceivably be another future candidate, given the RFU’s desire for a wider geographical spread of top clubs across the country.Interestingly, it is understood that the RFU has been approached about the possibility of a top team potentially being based in Birmingham in future as part of the new multipurpose Birmingham City stadium project.The city’s existing top club, Birmingham Moseley, sit third from bottom in National League One, the third tier of the English men’s game.Saracens, meanwhile, have confirmed the England forward George Martin will be joining them from Leicester before next season.
Questions over Champ playoffs with only two clubs applying for promotion
Arguments behind the scenes about the proposed transformation of the top tier of English club rugby into a franchise-based league are intensifying with just two Champ clubs seemingly now eligible for promotion this season. Only Ealing Trailfinders and Doncaster Knights have applied formally to be promoted to the Prem, with Worcester Warriors understood to have missed the deadline.A Rugby Football Union spokesperson suggested on Tuesday that the absence of Worcester’s name reflects the reality that the club is still “getting back on its feet” after its financial collapse in September 2022 with debts of more than £25m. But with Ealing unable to satisfy the Prem minimum standards for the past two seasons, and with Doncaster off the pace in 10th place, it raises fresh questions about the raison d’être of the scheduled new end‑of‑season Champ playoffs, unveiled this year amid much fanfare.Originally it had been intended that the playoff winner should qualify for a merit-based, two-leg showdown with the Prem’s bottom side, but other scenarios have since emerged
England’s Ashes approach is scrambling the brains of the next cricketing generation | Mark Ramprakash
The cracks are starting to show with this England team and with the narrative we’ve been fed for three years after another defeat. Their identity of always taking the aggressive option, of relentlessly putting pressure on their opponents, isn’t holding up to scrutiny. So far in this series they haven’t had the strength needed to achieve it, and they haven’t had the skills either.I was confident that they could win the Ashes this time, mainly because I thought there was quality in the squad and that they had adapted their game to add intelligence and adaptability to their armoury. It’s becoming clear that neither of those beliefs were completely true
Claressa Shields to open $8m deal with Detroit rematch against Crews-Dezurn
Claressa Shields will defend her undisputed heavyweight championship in Detroit on 22 February, returning home for a rematch with Franchon Crews-Dezurn in her first fight since signing a landmark $8m promotional deal. The bout will headline a Dazn card at Little Caesars Arena, the home of the NBA’s Pistons and NHL’s Red Wings where Shields attracted a near-sellout crowd for her most recent fight last July.Shields (17-0, 3 KO) and Crews-Dezurn (10-2, 2 KO) first met nearly a decade ago when they made their professional debuts against each other on the undercard of Andre Ward’s victory over Sergey Kovalev in 2016. Shields won a four-round unanimous decision that night in Las Vegas, a moment she still sees as formative. “I had just come off winning two Olympic gold medals, fresh out of the amateurs, and finding an opponent was tough,” she said in a press release announcing the fight
Peter Nichols obituary
My friend and former sports-writing colleague at the Observer Peter Nichols, who has died from Parkinson’s-related dementia aged 79, was a man of many talents: drama teacher, Time Out cabaret correspondent, athletics correspondent, London Marathon international race organiser, publisher and award-winning radio scriptwriter.Pete was a sporting Google long before Google was invented. He was a sharer, the go-to source at the seven Olympiads he covered. “Pete was utterly invaluable,” recalls the former Guardian head of sport Ben Clissitt. “His input was the Guardian playbook for our Olympic coverage
Phillies near $150m deal for Schwarber while Dodgers reel in top closer Díaz
Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies are finalizing a five-year, $150m contract, sources told ESPN on Tuesday. The deal would keep the National League home run leader in Philadelphia after a prolific 2025 season.Schwarber, 32, drew interest from several clubs, including the Mets, Red Sox, Orioles and Pirates, ESPN reported. Philadelphia moved late to retain him after falling in the division series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.The designated hitter hit 56 home runs and drove in 132 runs last season, finishing second in MVP voting
Alex de Minaur on his grand slam dream: ‘Some things may happen, some things may not’
The Australian is pragmatic about his chances of winning a major in the Alcaraz-Sinner era but knows he plays his best tennis when he doesn’t put pressure on himselfIt’s hard to think of anyone in tennis who works harder than Alex de Minaur, the Australian who next month will again carry the hopes of a nation as he tries to become the first home winner of the men’s title at the Australian Open for 50 years. No one is faster around the court, no one more diligent off it than the 26-year-old. It’s a work ethic that has helped him to 10 titles so far in his career and he ends 2025 as the world No 7, his highest year-end ranking, and having won the prestigious Newcombe medal for a fourth time.But in a sport where success at the very top level is ultimately judged by performances at grand slams, De Minaur has so far fallen short. He has made the quarter-finals of a major six times – including five of the past eight – but with Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner having split the last eight majors, opportunities are scarce
The ultimate unsung superfood: 17 delicious ways with cabbage – from kimchi to pasta to peanut butter noodles
Christmas dinner in a restaurant or kitchen carnage at home?
Christmas mixers: Thomasina Miers’ recipes for fire cider and spiced cocktail syrup
Jamie Oliver to relaunch Italian restaurant chain in UK six years after collapse
Maximum protein, minimal carbs: why gym bros are flocking to Australia’s charcoal chicken shops
Helen Goh’s recipe for edible Christmas baubles | The sweet spot