THE RFU/Premiership/ Championship panel charged with restructuring the English club leagues is in place, and is trying to grip with the thorny issues threatening to tear the game to shreds.
The panel consists of the RFU’s Bill Sweeney and Conor O’Shea, the
Premiership’s Simon Massie-Taylor and Nigel Melville, the Championship’s Simon Halliday, Steve Lloyd, and Ian Connell, the National League’s John Inverdale, and Sir Ian McGeechan. Given that the RFU and Premiership panellists all supported the ring-fencing of the top league in 2021, whereas the Championship clubs want the restoration of promotion-relegation and a fair funding system, there is a divide which will take some bridging.