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England’s Rugby Football Union (RFU), Premiership Rugby and the Rugby Players’ Association have unveiled the highly anticipated Professional Game Partnership (PGP) which will shape English rugby for the next eight years.
The agreement is revealed after 18 months of negotiation and collaboration between sports stakeholders with the aim of developing “world-leading English teams and thriving professional leagues”.
The PGP will provide head coach Steve Borthwick with greater control over an enhanced England Playing Squad (EPS) of up to 25 players. He will have the final say on all medical and scientific matters in sport, with Maro Itoje and Jamie George confirmed as among the first beneficiaries of the EPS deals.
The ten Premiership clubs will benefit from £33 million in funding, £5 million more than under the previous deal, over the first four years, with future funding based on a profit sharing model.
The two entities will work together to drive commercial growth, while the pathway and academy structures have also been revamped as the union attempts to better develop players.
“This eight-year commitment will reshape the rugby landscape and reset the professional game to support, showcase and fund our game for the next decade and beyond,” said Bill Sweeney, chief executive of the RFU.
“Although the RFU has suffered £150 million in revenue losses due to Covid and a £30 million increase in operating costs over the last four years due to inflation, we are in a stable financial situation. Today, we took a significant step forward by transforming our spending in professional gaming into a true investment partnership with shared strategy, goals and risks.
“The England national team benefits from having control over the IDPs, medical care and safety and security services of England’s best players at the top of their game and in the best possible shape to play for their country. And The community game benefits from well-run and funded academies allowing every young player to realize their potential and earn English teams which generate money to reinvest into the game as a whole.”
The agreement will see the creation of a new board with an independent chair and two other independent members alongside representatives from the RFU, Premiership Rugby and the RPA. One of the RFU members will be former referee Wayne Barnes, who ended his officiating career after overseeing last year’s World Cup final.
Although the future structure of England’s second tier still remains unclarified, the winner of what is currently the Championship will go on to meet the lowest placed Premiership club in a promotion play-off, provided they meet the criteria minimum standards.
“The new professional playing partnership is fundamental to the next phase of English club rugby,” said Simon Massie-Taylor, CEO of Premiership Rugby. “We have worked hard with the RFU and RPA to deliver more financial stability, better governance and a joint high performance plan that will help make the England men’s team and Premiership clubs as successful as possible.
“What we have learned from the challenges of recent years is how important healthy clubs and a successful England men’s team are to the rugby ecosystem – and also how important it is to work in partnership with players, the governing body and other rugby stakeholders.
It is the first time the RPA has been a signatory to the agreement despite the England senior team opting to part ways with the players’ union earlier this year. The organization has agreed a new minimum wage and helped create a player support fund, which will be administered and supported by Restart, the official charity of the RPA.
Christian Day, General Secretary of the RPA, added: “The inclusion of the Rugby Players Association as a signatory to the Men’s Professional Game Partnership is a landmark day for our organization, but especially for the players.
“The RPA will always exist to support, promote and protect our members. Build a proper safety net and strive to make England the best place in the world to play rugby.
“We are going through a period of what we believe will be positive change and unity for rugby union in England after a period of collective challenge. This new deal should begin to give players a sense of real value and, in doing so, can only improve their added value in the game they love.
