In the money...

Wow. Premiership Rugby’s exclusive £152 million 4 year deal with BT looks like being a bit of a game changer.

Not only will English clubs now be rolling in cash (and I wonder how long the salary cap will now last), the fact that the new BT deal will incorporate exclusive rights to European games from 2014 means that the clubs can now call all the shots. ERC may be upset but ultimately money talks – put simply Europe needs the English clubs more than the English clubs need Europe.

Of course, with money come money-related problems. No doubt players will expect a significant hike in salaries – as if we didn’t already have enough mercenaries in the game – and if we’re not careful rugby will become so reliant on TV money that the sport would simply collapse without it (although to be fair we may already have passed that point some time ago).

As for the humble rugby consumer, he/she is now expected to fork out yet another monthly fee to yet another TV supplier. I don’t suppose the suits at Premiership Rugby give a rat’s arse but they really should – there’s a limit to how much they can expect us to spend to watch what has often been, let’s be honest, a fairly mediocre product.

Justice

The decision by the RFU appeals panel on Friday to promote London Welsh to the Premiership (at the expense of Newcastle) is being hailed as a victory for common sense - in many ways rightly so.

There's no doubt that justice has belatedly been done, but a note of caution - having been in administration only 3 short years years ago, London Welsh now face challenging times financially as they seek to survive in a hugely competitive league.

And rumours that they may be interested in recruiting The Artist Formerly Known As Gavin Church hardly fills this writer with huge confidence.

Come on without...

Media coverage of Harlequins’ inaugural league title has been somewhat disappointing.

BBC Breakfast on Sunday, for instance, failed to mention Quins’ victory over Leicester at all, preferring to focus on England’s meaningless football friendly, the Monaco GP qualifying, Carl Froch, the second day of the Trent Bridge Test and the third round of the golf at Wentworth. And poor old Englebert Humperdinck’s disaster at Eurovison, naturally.

Meanwhile, much as the printed press can’t write any article about the England rugby team without mentioning dwarf tossing, so Quins’ victory cannot be reported, it appears, without reference to Bloodgate. Lazy, very lazy.

So let’s put this right. Quins were simply excellent on Saturday and it warms the heart to see so many English players playing such fast and accurate rugby. It all bodes well for the summer ahead.

Congratulations to Chris Robshaw, Joe Marler, Danny Care et al – simply marvellous. And Conor O'Shea's tribute to Dean Richards...

"This is a massive tribute to Dean who put so many of the structures in place"

...was pure class.