Around this time of year the Christmas decorations go up and England’s top clubs start complaining about one of them having to go down. No wonder Nigel Melville, the Rugby Football Union’s interim chief executive, was ready with an instant quip at Twickenham when the inevitable subject was raised. “I wonder why we’re talking about promotion and relegation this week?” asked Melville rhetorically. “If you look at the table you can see why.”
He has a fair point. With the Premiership’s bottom seven teams separated by four points a lot of people are beginning to twitch already. Anyone hoping the good old RFU will ride to the rescue by ring-fencing the league between now and May, however, is set to be disappointed. “I think that’s called wishful thinking isn’t it?” Melville said. “Suddenly people want something to happen now. Well no, that’s not how it works.”
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As public slap downs go it was significant for two reasons. First Melville has been at the helm officially for only a few days, “holding the fort” following the abrupt decision of Steve Brown to resign in the wake of the union’s recent financial downturn. Second, it was the clearest possible indicator that the turbulence that has affected English rugby for much of the 23 years since the world game embraced professionalism is not yet entirely done.
Whether Melville will be the man to smooth everything out is, as yet, impossible to say. Even in his temporary nightwatchman’s role, however, the Yorkshireman sounds inclined to tell it straight, which is an encouraging start. If Bath’s Bruce Craig and others wish to pull up the Premiership drawbridge they will be allowed to do so only with the blessing of the wider game. The future of English rugby, it seems, will not solely be shaped by private equity investors intent on making a fast buck.
When it comes to making plans this particular Nigel is utterly determined the RFU will have its say. That is not to say a moratorium on relegation is out of the question but the permanent preservation of a cosy cabal is not, in Melville’s opinion, the way ahead. “If you think it through you can’t just leave the same teams sitting in there forever. I don’t think that’s a healthy situation.” He is equally insistent a regional spread should be sought. “I wouldn’t really want Newcastle or Sale to come down because regionally they are important to the game. It would be nice to have a Cornish team in there … they’re building a stadium and they have aspirations. It may be some years off but if you have national coverage I think that’s good for the game.”
This, of course, is not the same rosy vision held by CVC Capital Partners, whose revised bid to invest around £240m into the Premiership in return for approximately 30% control looks set to be approved this month. But as Melville was at regular pains to point out, it is not just about them: “There’s a knock-on effect. It’s not just about the Premiership. There are teams below investing to come up and teams below them. The whole system is attached. If you start shutting doors halfway through a season it has a huge impact on everyone below. Should Premier Rugby want to change their structure they can bring that to the professional game board for a vote and then it would be put to the RFU council. Nothing is going to change as regards this season.”
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At the same time, Melville is also aware the RFU needs to get its own house in order. Should another World Cup campaign unravel, the spotlight will once again fall on an organisation that has not got all its ducks in a row for some time now. As a former England captain and director of rugby at Wasps, Melville is well aware little will be achieved without collaboration between all the various parties and consideration for both the haves and the have-nots.
“I see it a bit like a family. You’ve always got the uncle with the funny hat, right? It’s a case of pulling together and moving forward. It’s not two separate games: the international game and everybody else. It’s one game. Bringing people together for the common good is an important part of the next three-to-four months. I think we’ve got to start putting rugby first … it’s a World Cup year. Let’s focus on rugby, because rugby’s very important to this organisation.”
If his mission statement has a slight touch of the Donald Trumps about it, the sentiment is reasonable enough. English rugby is brilliant at arguing around the edges, less so at finding perfect, lasting solutions. Melville may or may not be in the hot seat indefinitely but, either way, his term of office will be interesting.