English EPS Deal: 5 years in

by HammerofThunor Mon 24 Jun - 21:16

So the new EPS squad is due to be named soon and I thought it might be an interesting time to review the current system. It is an 8 year deal that began in the summer of 2008 and will end in the season following the 2015 World Cup. It has already been stated that there will be Championship representation in the meetings between the RFU and PRL so hopefully we'll see a system that is best for the two (largely) professional tiers of English rugby.

Current Agreement

http://www.rfu.com/news/2007/november/news%20articles/rfuandprlsignneweightyearagreement

3 Elite Player Squads of 32 players, Senior, Saxons and U20.
Each Senior EPS member will have training/management program agreed between the English Head Coach and club Director of Rugby. Similar things in place for Saxons and U20 players.
A Medical Protocol agreed for each Senior EPS member (i.e. England have medical control of players and can stop them being played by their club on medical grounds)
Extra release time for Senior EPS members (weekend before AI and 6 nations and the off weekends during 6 nations). Also minimum of 2 weeks prior to summer tour.
Details of U20 and Regional Academies
RFU pay PRL £102M over 8 years and a share of the profits from the extra AI organised every other year (for which the players are released) - works out at around £110M over the 8 years.
Clubs only receive money for having players in one or more of the EPS, having a certain number of EQP and running an RFU licensed Academy.
PRL shall be solely responsible for negotiating the sale of their own TV, media & sponsorship rights and giving direction to ERC in respect of England's position on the sale of the TV, media and sponsorship rights relating to European Rugby Cup and European Challenge Cup.
Creation of Professional Game Board - details and Terms of Reference are available in the above link.

So, a couple questions.

Has it been worth it? [£13.75M per year]
What changes would you like to see for the next agreement? [try to be realistic]

Relatively significant change since the deal was announced:
IRB release window for the NH now includes 3 days the week before the week before the AI and 6 nations. This had been 'paid' for in the original agreement.