Premiership Rugby has called on clubs to open their books and give league officials greater scrutiny of their finances amid the desperate plights of Worcester and Wasps and fears that others may follow.
Worcester are resigned to being suspended from all competitions at 5pm on Monday when the Rugby Football Union’s deadline to meet a number of requirements, including an ability to make payroll and a “credible plan to take the club forward”, expires. Wasps, meanwhile, are more bullish that they can avoid administration but have a matter of weeks to find the £2m owed to HMRC to do so.
Simon Massie-Taylor, the chief executive of Premiership Rugby, admitted that Wasps’ decision to file notice of intention to appoint administrators last Wednesday took him by surprise while the chaos at Worcester – where the owners, Jason Whittingham and Colin Goldring, have been accused by staff of “broken promises” – has become a stain on the league.
Premiership Rugby’s powers of investigation over the salary cap were strengthened in 2020 to include an ability to examine players’ WhatsApp messages and bank records but, when it comes to clubs’ accounts, Massie‑Taylor believes they should be more forthcoming, acknowledging that the doomsday scenario is having to finish this season with 11 teams.
“We need to get better visibility of club finances,” he said. “It has always been a thing where Premiership Rugby hasn’t had full oversight. We can administer the salary cap but beyond that we haven’t got a clear picture so I am flying blind on a number of these things.
“The clubs are willing and with that we can have a proper understanding of our ecosystem and that will help find potential future investment at club level, it helps us on the commercial front and also sets an appropriate cost base for everyone as we manage our way out of that.”
Massie-Taylor also revealed that developments at Wasps and Worcester had accelerated discussions with the RFU over remodelling the league’s structure in the coming seasons. At present Premiership Rugby Limited is committed to a 13-team league with a view to go to 14 next season, but there is a growing consensus that fewer would be more manageable. The existing Professional Game Agreement between the RFU and PRL, which governs everything from international player release to central funding, is up for renewal in 2024 but talks are ongoing and have become more urgent given the financial landscape.
“We’re accelerating already developed plans or options around what happens with the league going forward – the structure of it, the format of it, the governance and regulations,” Massie-Taylor said.
“This is all part of the PGA process with the RFU which we are already in discussion about. That becomes even more important because we need to set some foundations here.
“If you look at the challenges, we need to create a product where future investors want to come into our market and we get there through growth, clearly, and we’ve got a plan we’ve been working to on that, but we also need the right structure there to get the foundations and the confidence for investment.”
Despite difficult weeks for both clubs, Worcester and Wasps claimed victories over the weekend. It will be business as usual for Wasps this week but the director of rugby, Steve Diamond, has given Worcester the week off.
Reflecting on Worcester’s plight and the lack of forthcoming information from Whittingham and Goldring, the forwards coach Nick Easter said: “For people in such a high position, the lack of communication is quite astonishing. That’s the first thing you show in terms of leadership – honesty and communication. In terms of what it’s been like, it’s been mental torture and torment. That says it all.”
