Exeter’s strength in depth shines through, Northampton loves Taqele Naiyaravoro, and Aled Brew ‘won’t be doing that again’ Related: Controversial Leicester red card spoils eight-try classic as Wasps prevail Related: Freddie Burns insists that Todd Blackadder rumours are nonsense Team of the week Continue reading...
The takeover’s threat to club independence and existing regulations may have prompted its failure but it has opened up a debate about how the game can brand and run itself betterThe response of one Premiership club official to the takeover bid of the league by the private equity company CVC was succinct: the devil will be in the detail. An immediate cash injection for each side of £17m was the lure but a halving of income from central funds made the longer-term prospect look risky.And there was the issue of control. If a private company took a 51% stake in the Premiership, it would be in charge of the group of the Premiership, effectively making it a single entity like...
A meeting on Tuesday will consider a £275m offer for a major stake and discuss a few more ideas for progressRarely has professional rugby union scanned the horizon with such mixed emotions. In several parts of the world there is a sense of a sport which, financially, requires some fresh impetus to fulfil its potential. That is certainly the mood with England’s leading club owners as they meet on Tuesday to discuss the £275m bid from a private equity firm to purchase a major stake in the Premiership.This initial offer is set to be rejected but it is just the first example of how times are changing. There will be other plans on the table soon enough, some of them...
On the eve of Premiership Rugby’s decision over the purchase offer from CVC, they may want to consider how the private equity firm’s tenure in charge of Formula One turned outShould Premiership Rugby’s club owners reject the purchase offer from private equity firm CVC on Tuesday, as is expected, they might consider this a hospital pass rightly declined. The owners and rugby fans should be under no illusion about what to expect if the experience of Formula One’s ownership by the company is anything to go by. CVC expect a return from investment and they pursued that ruthlessly in F1.CVC owned F1 between 2006 and 2017, when it was taken over by Liberty Media. The then deputy team principal of...
Dylan Hartley makes an impact, Brad Shields suffers injury blow and George Smith’s red card proves costly for BristolGeorge Smith’s red card against Saracens has split opinion. Bristol’s Pat Lamis among those to think a yellow card would have sufficed and many observers have suggested it was on the harsh side. What counted against Smith, however, is that it was the kind of tackle that has been identified by the Rugby Football Union in its research as the most likely to cause head injuries, leading to the “armpit tackle” trial in the Championship Cup. There can also be no denying it was the decisive moment in the match – the scores were level at 18-18 until that point. Billy Vunipola...