Nick Westby: Carnegie only Yorkshire club likely to end on right side of moat

“It’s not something that’s particularly in our hands.

“What we wouldn’t want to happen is for the Premiership to be ring-fenced and we’re on the other side of the moat.

“We’ve got to do what we have to do sooner rather than later, to make sure we’re not in that position.”

So went the words of David Dockray, the new chairman of Yorkshire Carnegie last week.

Barely in sports administration two months and already he is adept in the art of saying plenty without committing his organisation to a definitive position.

Who can blame him? Yorkshire Carnegie have hardly played themselves into a position in the Championship this season to be throwing their weight around in the discussion about expanding the Premiership and pulling up the drawbridge. But it is a conversation they will be keen to be involved in.

And just three days after Dockray first met the local media who follow Carnegie’s interests, the debate over shutting off the Premiership from promotion and relegation surfaced once more.

A report in a national newspaper on Friday stated that the majority of Premiership clubs are in favour of expanding the Premiership from 12 to 14 teams and scrapping relegation at the end of the 2016-17 season; two years from now.

Owners and shareholders met on Monday to discuss the proposal. One of those shareholders is Carnegie, who like their Championship rivals Worcester Warriors and Bristol, are former established top-flight clubs who were awarded a share in the Premiership due to their longevity in the competition.

Those three, who have the infrastructure in place, would be in a prime position to be invited into a ring-fenced Premiership in the summer of 2017.

The odd-ones out at present are London Welsh, the team bottom of the Premiership who have not won a game all season and have collected just one point.

Their inability to compete has thrust the issue of ring-fencing back to the top of the agenda. The weekly mis-matches between Welsh and any of their opponents has compromised the competition and raised questions about the strength of the second tier, which on face value is getting more intense by the year, but in reality, is proving too big a gap to bridge.

Money is the issue. Representatives of Carnegie, Rotherham Titans and Doncaster Knights met with their fellow Championship clubs at Headingley a month ago to discuss the issue of requesting from the RFU an increase to the central funding the second-tier clubs receive.

Currently around £370,000, it pales in comparison to the money the Premiership clubs receive. Established teams receive £4m while Welsh were awarded only £1.5m on winning promotion.

There is also a new television deal to be thrashed out for the start of the 2017-18 season, which would fit perfectly with a new structure.

Promotion and relegation has been a part of English rugby union since the mid-Eighties, but after 2016 it is no longer protected when the current ‘heads of agreement’ between the clubs and the RFU expires.

The ramifications of ring-fencing are far reaching, so much so, that Stuart Lancaster was quizzed for his thoughts at his press briefing on Friday to name his England team to face Ireland in Dublin yesterday.

“I’m sure my opinion will be asked and I guess I’ve seen it from all ends,” said the England head coach. “I can see it from a player development point of view. I’ve been at a club that has been promoted and relegated, and live within a county… So I understand how it feels.

“As the national coach now, I know the implications it would have on the national team and the structure of rugby within this country. So I like to think I have a rounded view of it.”

Note that Lancaster did not go as far as to say he would support it or not – too many other elements to consider – but it is clear the issue is going to be a big one for the future of the game.

That club he spoke of was, of course, Leeds, and the county he lives in, Yorkshire.

Carnegie have not been this far from the Premiership equation in 15 years, but with ring-fencing they might be closer than ever.

Their rebrand last summer from Leeds to Yorkshire was not about proclaiming to be the county’s No 1 team.

It was about saying this new model, built on an integrated, county-wide academy system and a few million quid of investment, is the best way to achieve a sustainable Premiership club. And it is the region’s only chance, let’s be honest.

Rotherham Titans are the county’s top team on the pitch, they proved that nine days ago by emphatically dispatching their White Rose rivals.

They may force their way into the promotion play-offs for a second straight season, but they are not equipped to play against Saracens, Northampton and Bath, for example.

They have far more pressing issues to address, like where they will play next season.

Doncaster Knights have a relegation battle to win. Re-establishing themselves in the second tier is a big enough challenge.

Carnegie have the stadium, the facilities, the finances and a plan in place to be on the right side of the moat when the drawbridge is hauled up. Increased attendances and a team fit for the elite would have to follow.

But they are the Broad Acres’ only hope.

If ring-fencing is given the green light then the power-brokers must be open-minded about how a 14-team Premiership develops.

Rugby league offers examples. The Super League licence system worked to an extent, guaranteeing clubs a three-year stay in the top flight which gave them time to stabilise finances and build.

It also gave clubs below the line three years to come up with a plan and the infrastructure to win a place in the elite. How much would Rotherham Titans benefit from that as they search for a new home?

The flip side was how quickly seasons became stale, with the clubs at the bottom having no play-offs or survival for which to strive. If Premiership clubs aren’t happy with Welsh’s lack of competitiveness this year, multiply that by three in 2017.

Union officials should also observe how the new Super League format develops, with the top 12 split after two thirds of the season to give teams outside the top bracket a chance to prove their worth.

Whatever form it takes, it is clear that the clamour for the drawbridge to be pulled up is only going to grow.

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Brailsford’s exit appears well-timed

Ed Clancy and his Great Britain team pursuit squad claimed a much-improved silver medal at the track cycling world championships last week, but there was no silver lining to be found.

Their second place was one of only two silvers the entire British Cycling squad managed.

No gold medals for the team that revolutionised track cycling.

While Clancy and company rose from eighth a year ago to second in Paris, their efforts were not matched by their colleagues at the Manchester Velodrome.

For over a decade Britain set the bar on the boards, topping medal tables at world championships and Olympic Games in Beijing and London, by some distance as well.

Eighteen months out from the next Olympics, British Cycling is struggling.

Dave Brailsford has left to concentrate on the road and a new team of coaches and sports scientists has come in to try to build on the foundations he laid.

Maybe Brailsford got out at the right time. The master of marginal gains had wised up to the fact that rival nations had matched Britain’s development, and have now accelerated past it.

For the first time in a decade or so, British Cycling have some catching up to do and they are running out of time.