Lawrence Dallaglio won five Premiership titles during his 18-year stint at Wasps
(Picture: Getty Images)Former England and Wasps captain Lawrence Dallaglio has warned English rugby faces further drastic upheaval unless the RFU and Premiership Rugby come together to resolve the game’s financial plight.
Dallaglio also said the domestic game had never entirely cracked the professional era in more than a quarter of a century, saying it had “been kicking the can down the road ever since”.
His comments came after Wasps, where he spent all his playing career, went into administration yesterday, immediately making 167 players and staff redundant.
Speaking on today’s Evening Standard Rugby Podcast, he said: “There needs to be a coming together of the RFU and PRL (Premiership Rugby), and there needs to be financial transparency across the league. For me, the relationship between the RFU and PRL has to become a much stronger one.
“All these things are easy to say, but we need to do something about it, otherwise I’m not sure what rugby union will look like in 12 months’ time.”
Dallaglio was in the first raft of players to sign professional contracts in 1995. He said “we didn’t really know what we were doing” at that time and suggested little had changed.
He said: “Nobody knew how many hours to train a day, nobody knew how many days a week to train, we were just finding our way and, to be honest, the game has been kind of doing that since it went professional.
“I don’t think that the model has ever been fixed right from the start and we have just been kicking the can down the road ever since.
“There are lots of words bandied around in rugby like player welfare, like structured season, like financial stability. These are just words. What we now need is a moment in time where we actually do something about it.”
Dallaglio said he was heartbroken at the news of Wasps’ fate and the players and staff affected. He added: “It is so much more than a game of rugby — rugby is part of our lives.”
The former London-based side are the second Premiership club to go into administration in just three weeks after Worcester Warriors. Wasps were suspended by the Premiership last week and, like Worcester, will be relegated to the Championship for next season.
The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport committee will grill representatives of both the RFU and PRL in Parliament in the wake of the rapid demise of both clubs amid fears others could follow.
Next month’s session will examine issues around the financial structure and viability of the game, and look into the RFU and PRL together doing more to support clubs and the wider game.
DCMS committee chair Julian Knight said: “The fact that two of the country’s top clubs have suffered the fate of falling into administration raises serious concerns about the future of the sport and its financial viability. The RFU and Premiership Rugby have acknowledged the need to set a more sustainable path for club rugby. We will be pressing them to ensure they are putting the foundations in place to guarantee the health of the sport from the top level right down to the grassroots.”
The RFU have said they are ready to explore the idea of central contracts as a partial response to the financial crisis.
England head coach Eddie Jones selected one Wasps player in yesterday’s 36-man squad announcement for the autumn Tests in Jack Willis, who now club-less would potentially be in line for a first possible central contract.
Jones is confident Willis will be at his peak on international duty despite his club turmoil.
Willis is already working with England’s coaching staff before the squad come together in Jersey on Monday. Jones said: “He’s got to get on with it. Good players get on with it. Everyone feels for Wasps, I feel for their players, I feel for their staff, I feel for their fans. He’s got a history of resilience and he’s a good kid.”
