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Promotion and relegation from rugby’s top flight is to be scrapped as part of a major restructure at the top of English club rugby after the Rugby Football Union council “overwhelmingly” voted to approve a move to a franchise model.
From next season’s 2026-27 campaign, automatic promotion and relegation between the Prem and Championship will be replaced by a criteria-based expansion and demotion model with 12 teams planned to be in the division from the 2029-30 season.
The RFU chief executive, Bill Sweeney, welcomed the move, saying: “We recognise that moving away from a traditional system of automatic promotion and relegation represents a significant change.
“However, it is equally clear that the professional game must evolve if it is to thrive. The previous structure was not delivering the financial stability, investment confidence or wider system benefits the game now requires.
“This reform is about safeguarding the future – creating a model that is ambitious, sustainable and capable of supporting the whole rugby community, from the grassroots to the international stage.”
A vote was put forward after months of work with leading stakeholders like the RFU, Premiership Rugby, Championship Rugby, Premiership Women’s Rugby and Rugby Players’ Association (RPA).
World Rugby deny liability in player brain injury case
ShowWorld Rugby has denied any liability after filing its first defence to lawsuits brought by hundreds of former rugby union players over neurological injuries, arguing such injuries are a “foreseeable and inherent risk” in playing the sport. Nearly 800 ex-amateur and professional players are suing World Rugby, the Rugby Football Union and the Welsh Rugby Union, in a case which began in 2022 and has been beset by delays including over disclosure of the claimants’ medical records.
The claimants’ lawyers say repeated concussive and sub-concussive blows left them with serious neurological conditions and allege the governing bodies breached their duty of care by failing to protect them from those risks.
The governing bodies have always denied liability and World Rugby filed its written defence to the lawsuits at London’s High Court on Thursday, which was made public on Friday.
“World Rugby denies that the claimants ... suffered any injury as a result of any breach of duty by World Rugby, as alleged or at all,” their lawyers said.
The defence states: “It is denied that rugby union carries with it a ’likelihood’ of head and brain injury. It is admitted that physical injury, including head and brain injury, is a foreseeable and inherent risk in the sport of rugby union, and that all those who participate in the game voluntarily accept this risk.“
World Rugby also denies that it “knew at any material time of any established science supporting an association between non-concussive head acceleration events ... and neurological injury“.
The latest preliminary hearing in the case is due to take place next month. The Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union and a lawyer representing the claimants did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The case is one of three similar actions working its way through the courts, with governing bodies for rugby league and soccer also facing litigation from ex-players. Reuters
Mike McTighe, chair of men’s Professional Rugby Board, added: “This is an important step forward for professional rugby in England. It’s long been clear that the previous system was not delivering the financial sustainability or long-term confidence the professional game needs.
“This agreement therefore represents a collective responsibility to change that, with all of the stakeholders involved coming together to design a model that provides greater certainty for investors, a clearer pathway for ambitious clubs and stronger foundations for the whole rugby ecosystem.
“We know there will be scrutiny, and rightly so. The proof will be in delivery: in improved stability, in renewed investor confidence, in tangible benefits to the women’s game and in sustained support for community rugby.”
Premiership clubs included in the top flight will have to operate a team in Premiership Women’s Rugby or fund a meaningful regional women’s development plan, or face fines for non-compliance.
An Expansion Review Group (ERG) will be set up to assess the readiness of the league, appetite of investors and which clubs are prepared for the expansion before clubs eager to join go through a formal Expression of Interest and tender process.
The Premiership chief executive, Simon Massie-Taylor, said: “The changes agreed today show unity across the game and will allow current and future club investors to confidently invest in our new growth plan and the wider English club rugby eco-system.”
