Premiership players on verge of launching new union - reports

Premiership players are in advanced discussions over potentially launching a breakaway union after growing frustrated with the Rugby Players’ Association (RPA) and its response to the coronavirus pandemic according to a report by Charlie Morgan in Telegraph.

The players feel that the RPA  is heavily compromised because of its reliance on Premiership Rugby for funding according to the report with there also being a sense of injustice that the RPA “have not turned up” to protect their members since March, with Premiership clubs effectively “colluding” to impart pay-cuts across the league and then choosing not to sign one another’s players.

“Gloucester announced they were going to take pay-cuts and all the other clubs followed suit to do the same thing,” said one senior player from a Premiership club.

“PRL [Premiership Rugby Limited] is owned by the 13 clubs in the Premiership plus Newcastle Falcons and the clubs have colluded together to make the same cuts across the league, with Newcastle making 50 per cent cuts.”

He claimed that the decision not to sign one another’s players was tantamount to “collusion or price-fixing”.

Concerns over its ability to act as an independent mediator in talks with clubs were voiced to the RPA by players on Thursday.

“The other issue we have as rugby players is that the RPA has no leverage to act on our behalf because they are funded by PRL,” added a source.

“Unless they can be a truly independent organisation, we have no representation. Until we can have a uniform response to all clubs, owners and chief execs that says: ‘This is our stance’, we won’t be protected.

“They have closed the market, essentially, and they have done it because we have no representation from a union that can step in for us.”

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