Clearer vision and cheaper tickets needed to enhance Premiership allure

On the face of it the mission statement should be simple enough: show club rugby union to as many people as possible, both live and on television.

Make it affordable, family-friendly and fun. Invite players and coaches to spread the gospel. And, once you have people’s attention, redouble your promotional efforts. Any business sitting idly on its hands is going nowhere.

So why is it that Premiership rugby still ricochets from one crisis to another? No one can entirely legislate for a monarch dying on the eve of a season. Or the financial stress at Worcester. Or Covid-19. But by the time the Bristol v Bath and Sale v Northampton games were belatedly postponed on Friday, tens of thousands of fans were in limbo bemoaning a frustrating lack of organisational clarity. Even before a ball had been kicked it was patently obvious the English game is not as collectively well aligned as it should be.

Sure enough, it emerged the decision was influenced by a couple of clubs not involved in Friday night’s scheduled fixtures – who were then happy to play the same weekend. Trying to find common ground between 13 sides with contrasting agendas had, once again, proved impossible. As a consequence the rearranged Bristol game could not be televised as planned, going ahead without a television match official and with a reduced attendance.

One of those things? Only if you believe it was a rare blip in the otherwise serene world of English club rugby governance. And only if you ignore some of the other flashing amber off-field warning signs on the opening weekend. Early days, clearly, and extenuating circumstances clearly existed. That said, of the six Premiership clubs hosting weekend games, four saw lower crowds than for their opening