by The traumatic extent of the collapse of three Premiership clubs last season extended beyond the devastating impact on the players, staff and supporters of Worcester, Wasps and London Irish.
Subsequent headlines understandably focused on the plight of those directly involved, but their dramatic demise also left the Rugby Football Union facing a less heralded crisis: what to do with the three academies attached to the clubs, which span a line of talent supply totaling around 2,000 young players?
The ultimate aim of the development programmes, which begin at the under-14 age group, embedded in each of England’s 14 academies, is to first develop players capable of playing for their Premiership team, and then for the senior team. National side.
However, with only a small elite reaching that level, DPPs are also seen as instrumental in developing players with the skills and commitment to enjoy rugby within the community game.
Therefore, the ramifications of the collapse of the three clubs threatened to be much deeper than the immediate impact for the professional game and left the RFU with no option but to intervene and take central control to limit the damage to both the elite and for the grass. Roots game.
Regulations under the existing professional playing agreement between the RFU and the clubs ensure that players developed within the boundaries of each academy must progress to the Premiership club that oversees it.
So, in the dramatic days that followed the collapse of each club, the RFU faced not only the logistical challenge of taking control of each academy structure, but also determining how players who were ready to move on to professional contracts would be allocated to the Premiership clubs. outside their academies.
‘Some would have lost the opportunity to go to university’
If the demise of Worcester and Wasps in the first half of last season at least gave the governing body breathing space to merge their respective academies into a new RFU Midlands academy, jointly supported by Premiership Rugby, last November, the collapse of London Irish in June left little time to restructure and limit the impact on rugby and players’ academic development.
“The worst affected were the under-18 players who had signed contracts with the Irish and had to look for new clubs,” said Don Barrell, head of programs and performance pathways at the RFU.
“Then there was the sixth grade group, the under 17s, who would be looking to sign contracts next year. “They were given priority during this period to make sure we were really aware of their needs.”
Conor O’Shea, the RFU’s executive director of performance, has also been involved in discussions with players and their parents to find solutions.
“Some parents approached us and we had conversations with them,” O’Shea said. “For now [of Irish’s collapse] Some players would have missed the opportunity to go to universities like Leeds, Manchester or Bristol because they were going to stay in London.
“We have had to give them a path for next year almost like a gap year. We had to make sure the under-18 program was implemented immediately and then those within the program returning this season were taken care of. It is an exceptional area given London Irish’s links with schools in the region. “We had to make sure there were adequate facilities too and as always happens with the rugby community, people came forward to offer us facilities to use.”
The RFU could at least draw on its experience by stepping in to take control of the Premiership academy that had been run by Yorkshire Carnegie in 2020, establishing a centrally managed Yorkshire academy as its replacement.
“It ensures players can stay, educate themselves and live in their local area.”
Where possible, staff were recruited to provide continuity in the provision of training and development, and parents and players were assured that they would not be disadvantaged by remaining with their current academy, even if it was no longer attached to a club in the Premiership.
“We’ve had to quickly help people see that they still have every opportunity,” Barrell added. “So we have worked with Premiership Rugby to make some changes to the regulations for those players in each of the programs so that they can basically move on to another program when they finish their time at the academy. If you look at Wasps/Worcester, I think we have 10 people who have already been offered contracts as they come out of their senior six years from those two patches. “The same thing happens in Yorkshire.”
To prevent any illegal ‘raid’ into new academies, Premiership clubs must first register their interest with the RFU, and the academy director will then speak to the player and their parents to ensure the process is transparent.
“When a player reaches his sixth senior year, we allow him to start looking for relationships with other clubs and make an informed decision,” Barrell added. “It is controlled from the middle and is not clandestine and ensures that young players can stay, educate themselves and live in their local area without any impact.
“I suppose the only difference is that they will need to move somewhere, but they have a lot more options, compared to someone who stays in that local area and has no qualifying criteria to join another Premiership club.
“We have had some movements since January, only a few were people and I understand it perfectly. I think some parents just want the best for their kids and felt like they would miss out.
“But we are working as hard as we can and we can honestly say we don’t think you will. You will get the same staff in terms of numbers, and we have tried to keep as many staff as possible, so there is a real consistency between the programs when we take them on. We have tried to simply incorporate their staff into any new configuration. So, in terms of impact, it has been the lowest we have been able to reach.”
