Let The Counties Reps Run Our Amateur Game

I was on the list of the people who received an email last week from serial correspondent Jeff Gage.

- Colin Boag

This time he set his sights on the actual and potential investments in the game by private equity firm CVC.

They’ve poured a goodly sum into the Premiership, and seem to fancy adding the Six Nations and the PRO14 to their list of investments. Rather than welcoming this as a sign of just how successful the game is, there are some who see it as a threat.

Naturally this all scares the living daylights out of World Rugby, as would anything that erodes their power base, while New Zealand Rugby’s CEO, Steve Tew, pitched in, claiming that the Six Nations were putting their own interests ahead of those of rugby as a whole.

Tew being against it is enough of a reason for me to be in favour, and the reality is he’s still smarting from the death of World Rugby’s Nations Championship proposals.

Of course he’s jealous of northern competitions attracting big-money investment, primarily because no-one much fancies throwing money at either Super Rugby or the Rugby Championship!

In his email Gage raises the perfectly valid concern about investment being needed in smaller countries, and specifically mentions the Pacific Islands.