RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney asks Championship clubs to help 'find resolution'
- Published
BBC Radio Cornwall spoke to Bill Sweeney at Saturday's Championship game between Cambridge and Cornish Pirates
Championship clubs must "come together" with the Rugby Football Union to "find a resolution" over its future, says RFU chief executive Bill Sweeney.
Clubs have said the RFU "threatened them with effective relegation" over objections to a new second tier.
In November all 11 clubs rejected the RFU's planned 'Premiership 2' model.
"I'm not sure it's a total blanket of opposition. Across most of the initiatives we're actually really close," Sweeney said.
He told BBC Radio Cornwall: "With misinformation and maybe slight misunderstanding out there, what we have got to do is come together over the next few weeks and see where the differences are and find a resolution which is in the interests of all of us."
Coventry chief executive Nick Johnston last week responded to the proposals by claiming the RFU is "playing God with people's wellbeing".
Sweeney refuted the suggestion the RFU wants a franchise system, adding: "We have never called it that - that's like the NFL or McDonald's... the clubs would have to pay us for the privilege of operating in the game.
"It's more, what standards do you want to have in the second tier that we can turn into a really investible model?"
Second-tier sides have been in talks with the RFU over the future of the club game since the demise of Wasps, Worcester, London Irish and Jersey Reds.
Sweeney claimed all parties want a better "geographical spread" of teams, with more clubs in the north of England, but also questioned "why wouldn't you want" to have the likes of Wasps, Worcester and London Irish back in the fold - something which Championship clubs oppose, saying they should play their way back through the pyramid.
"They are great rugby brand names, it's a terrible situation with them going bust post Covid," Sweeney told BBC Radio Cornwall.
"If they were to come back with strong business models, good financial investment in a good geographical location - why wouldn't you want to have them in the second tier?
"If that enables you to get more sponsorship excitement, possibly get a broadcast deal, it brings value.
"It's not a mechanism to try and get those three clubs back in, but if it means a more sustainable and better second tier then why not?"
'There would be increased funding'
Sweeney also said "Kent is a good catchment area", amid Wasps' plans to try to re-establish themselves there, adding: "We want a solution that works for everybody."
He also targeted a narrowing of the competitive gulf between the Premiership and Championship, confirming that promotion and relegation would not be ringfenced: "We'd like to see more Exeters happen. We haven't seen many clubs come through the Championship into the Premiership and stay there.
"We'd like to see clubs at the top of the Championship compete with those at bottom of the Premiership. You want that rotation."
He said he understands how Championship fans and club owners might still feel the RFU "doesn't care about them" after funding was slashed in the wake of Covid, but added: "We want and need a really strong and sustainable second tier to have a more competitive England national team. What we're doing is to improve upon the existing system."
The gap will not be narrowed simply by an injection of RFU cash, however.
"We've told them the level of funding for the next two seasons. There would be increased funding," he said.
"We want to see a strong second tier, [but] there is a limit to how much we can put in - we're trying to find a way to get external investment, potentially get a broadcast deal and hopefully get a more self-sustaining second tier."