Premiership II plans announced

Donnyknightfan wrote:

I may sound a bit cynical, but bar the 2nd team in ND1 having a chance to come up, i don’t see a lot to get that excited about. On paper, the top 6 teams having something to play for towards the end of the season is a good thing, and should create some drama. However, and here’s the crux of it for me, if we have a situation again next year where only 1 or 2 Championship Clubs meet the MSC, then the whole premise of the format change is a worthless gimmick. Because if hardly any teams in the division are eligible to achieve the prize that we’re supposedly playing for, then the whole thing loses any relevance.

I’m massively in favour of promotion, any club in whatever league should be able to aspire to get to the top. However, unless there’s a genuinely affordable and sustainable pathway for clubs to achieve it, and then be competitive in the Premiership, it’s not viable.

If it’s a 31 game season, only for the team that wins it to be denied promotion, then what is the point?.

I understand this view, and as an Ealing fan, I'm probably more jaded than most about the Minimum Standards Criteria. However, I think that the biggest benefit of this set up will be having regular rugby to go watch. With 26 league matches, and no cup, that means that every team gets a nice, predictable schedule where we can play every team once each home and away.

While I'll miss the challenge of playing the prem teams, and a couple of bumper crowds, overall the league should be stronger with no teams going 6 weeks without a match, and not needing to wait for Premiership breaks. Instead, it can just be rugby every weekend on a nice, consistent schedule. I've seen times this year where Ealing has played one home game in a month - absurd. We've also played London Scottish four times - also absurd.