On Thursday, the makeup of next season’s expanded Championship was confirmed. (Photo Credit: Tim Anger)

The Tier 2 Board, the RFU and the Championship clubs have been involved in intensive work over the last two years, and now the new-look Championship will start next season.

An open tender to the whole game, approved by RFU Council, has been conducted in recent months. This was to decide who would join the league from 2025/26 as long as the league’s minimum operating standards and growth strategy were met.

As a result, from next season, the league will be made up of 14 teams which will include all 12 current Championship clubs, the promoted National 1 club (subject to meeting the league’s Minimum Operating Standards) and Worcester Warriors. Worcester are under new ownership after the new owner bought the rugby assets from the administrator of the insolvent entity.

From a National League Rugby perspective, the highest-placed club in National 1 – which also meets Tier 2’s MOS – will be promoted.

  • As it stands, Richmond are top of National 1. They have also already been assessed against Tier 2’s MOS and have expressed an interest in joining the league. If they win National 1, they will be promoted.
  • Richmond are 10 points clear of second-placed Rotherham Titans. Rotherham are currently undergoing the MOS assessment.
  • Third-placed Rosslyn Park are also 10 points behind Richmond but they will not be eligible for promotion having not submitted information for an MOS audit.
  • Rams, Plymouth Albion and Birmingham Moseley were assessed against Tier 2’s MOS and expressed an interest in joining the league.
  • If a club tops National 1 but does not meet the Tier 2 MOS, the place in the Tier 2 league will be offered to the next club in the National 1 table who has met the standards.
  • In terms of Worcester, the Tier 2 board were satisfied that the club has a clear and funded business plan in place to deliver future success. Worcester undertook a thorough evaluation process and were assessed against the league’s minimum operating standards, the league’s central objectives, as well as a commitment and ability to repay rugby creditors.

What was the process undertaken to select clubs?

In June 2024, RFU Council gave approval – in principle – for Tier 2 to be expanded to 14 teams and over recent months, the Tier 2 Board has been working on:

  • A self-assessment and gap analysis of the current 12 Championship clubs.
  • An audit of the potential winners of National 1 against the new Minimum Operating Standards (MOS).
  • An evaluation of responses to the ‘Request for Proposals’ to join the league. The Tier 2 Board is also considering what needs to happen longer term to clubs who have expressed an interest at this stage and may wish to come into the new Tier 2 in the future, as well as the potential impact of any change on National League Rugby and below.

At its November 2024 meeting, RFU Council agreed that the Tier 2 Board should move forward with a phased delivery of the new league from the 2025/26 season. This was to allow the Board time to properly consider proposals from interested clubs, and to allow clubs sufficient time to prepare for possible entry into the league.

What does it mean for National League Rugby for the rest of this season?

Due to the increase of Tier 2 to 14 clubs for next season, this has created a ‘relegation reprieve’ in National 2 which will be based on ‘Best Playing Record’.

In summary:

  • No relegation from Championship to National 1.
  • Clubs finishing in 14th and 13th positions in National 1 will be relegated to National 2. Darlington Mowden Park are already down.
  • The winners of the three National 2 leagues will be promoted to National 1.
  • Five teams instead of 6 will be relegated from National 2 based on ‘Best Playing Record’.
  • The teams in 14th place and bottom of the three National 2 leagues will be relegated to the Regional Leagues. As it stands, that would be Hull (Nat2n), Worthing (Nat2e) and Devonport Services (Nat2w).
  • The playing records of the clubs finishing in 13th position in the three National 2 leagues will be compared to determine the final two relegated clubs.
  • As it stands, Colchester (Nat2e) and Bournville (Nat2w) would be relegated. Colchester have 33 points and Bournville 34 points compared to Harrogate’s (Nat2n) 45 points.
  • The winners of the six Regional Leagues will be promoted to National 2 for next season. Rossendale, London Welsh, Oundle and Syston have already been crowned champions with two more titles to be decided.

National League Rugby Chairman John Inverdale said: “It [confirming Worcester’s place in Tier 2] was a decision the game had to make because fundamentally, to allow the brand of Worcester to die would be very reprehensible and very foolish given the fact you have got an 11,000 seater stadium and a potential commercial injection of wealth that the sport is not in a position to turn its back on.

“There will be some that say Worcester should have had to pay the same penalty as other clubs over the years and gone to the bottom of the pile, but the world has changed.

“The commerciality of the sport is very different to how it was then, and this is an opportunity for a rebranded and reconfigured Tier 2 to be given a massive boost at the start of next season. So many decisions have to be made for the benefit of the game as a whole and this is undoubtedly one of them.

“From a National League Rugby perspective, ‘expressions of interest’ – which engaged so many of the National 1 clubs – has been a great exercise because firstly, a lot of clubs have put together business plans for the future which will stand them in good stead and which all clubs at our level need but sadly a lot don’t have.

“Secondly, nobody’s time has been wasted in putting together these business plans because they will be used, if not now, but over the course of the next two/three years. The overwhelming majority of clubs in National 1 are supportive of Tier 2 because they can see the bigger picture.

“It has made the hierarchy of the RFU realise what good, solid, thriving and ambitious clubs there are in National 1. From a reputational point of view, the whole process has done the National Leagues a huge service.”

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