English rugby set for radical overhaul as they move towards Ireland and All Blacks contract model – report

Colin Newboult 03 Oct 2023 10:44 AM

RFU CEO Bill Sweeney and chairman Tom Ilube alongside England head coach Steve Borthwick.

England are set to introduce a new system which will give head coach Steve Borthwick greater control moving forward, according to reports.

The Telegraph are claiming that the Rugby Football Union and Premiership Rugby have reached an agreement on a £128m deal.

It means that players will be placed on ‘hybrid contracts’, which will replace the current 45-man elite player squad system.

What it entails

Under the new model, Borthwick would be able to select a core group of 20 players in which he has a say over conditioning, game time and position.

Those individuals will also be who the head coach thinks will be the foundation of the England team ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

In return, clubs will be paid more than the £40,000 they currently get for providing a player to the EPS squad.

“This is about creating a winning England and winning clubs,” one senior source told the Telegraph. “It is a win-win for clubs and country.”

It is a move towards the model employed by Ireland and New Zealand, who have a central contracting system.

Compared to those countries, it is slightly watered down, but it still marks a huge change in the English rugby landscape.

Borthwick will also come under greater scrutiny, something which is being backed by the professional game board.

“For the first time the England coach will have to be more transparent about his decisions and be held to a much greater account,” one senior source close to the Professional Game Board (PGB) told the Telegraph. “In future it will be able to bare its teeth. Eddie (Jones) seemed to treat the PGB with disdain, those days are over.”

Support for central contracts

Moving to central contracts has been mooted for some time, with Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall a big supporter of the idea.

Although the RFU and Premiership Rugby have not gone quite as far as that, this is getting towards what McCall suggested in March.

“It should be top of the agenda, central contracts. If there is an opportunity to do something a bit differently and for club and country to work very closely together over a particular player,” McCall said earlier this year.

“Maybe share his salary? We all know the top international players will be unavailable for half your programme anyway.

“Probably down the years it has been unfair on the club to pay that player his full salary if that’s the case.

“You need to understand as well that as soon as the RFU starts to contribute towards someone’s salary then you lose a bit of control over that player, but I think that’s the right thing to do.”

England