Should more Championship teams be given the chance to play Premiership rugby?
Maybe one of the best features of the English Premier League is the amount of teams under threat from relegation. This system has worked well for some time now in football and many Championship supporters in rugby are calling for the same approach for their sides.
Why should they not call for this change? After having seen Exeter do so well this past season, other teams like Bedford and Bristol who have tasted Premiership rugby before are ready to enter the fray again.
Not only does this change make the Championship play off places even more valuable, but on the other end of the scale in the Premiership, the fight to stay up would become a much more tasty encounter. An all the more exciting prospect of increased physicality especially when surrounded by the diving professionals on show currently in ‘El Classico’.
So what’s stopping the RFU signing the dotted line to make this dramatic change to English rugby? Well clearly what rugby lacks in comparison to football is the support, and along with it, the cash and flash stadiums. The RFU definitely have a good reason to prevent this change then because with a requirement placed on the stadiums of the Premiership clubs, many Championship sides just don’t have the capacity to fit the bill.
Bedford are currently in the play-offs to join the Premiership along with Worcester, last year’s Premiership whipping boys. And even though Worcester obviously do have a large enough stadium, the Bedford Blues are struggling to find a second home.
But there is still some hope for clubs such as Doncaster Knights and Nottingham who play at their neighbouring Notts County ground. And even talks growing between Bedford and their closest football club of a shared stadium, the prospect of two or maybe even three teams potentially being promoted from the Championship is definitely on the horizon. Perhaps along with an evermore nervous brow of the weaker teams in the Premiership.
