Does This Change The Future Of English Rugby? | Rugby Pod Discuss EPS Contracts

The 17 players chosen for the EPS contracts have been announced! Big Jim and Andy Goode sit down to dive into the details, highlight the positives, and discuss the impact not only on the current squad but also on the future of English rugby.

0:00 The Details
5:40 Winners & Losers
10:40 How Much Should Players Earn

[stusayspoo]

Does the central contract then make it more difficult to bring in a new player on form and replace a player on a contract? Will players on form find it more difficult then to break through?

[richjackson]

An honest transparent conversation, and unintentionally shines a light on the true commercials and reality of professional rugby union.

£600k to play elite club rugby in France?

The average EFL Championship player is on £10k per week (£520k per year) - that’s about 600 players in total.

Rugby union essentially is heading for collapse at professional level within 5 years, the lessons of Wasps, Worcester and London Irish haven’t been learned. The RFU laid off loads of staff this year and it looks like it’s using those savings to fund the contracts?

[chrismawby]

My feeling is, people like Tom Willis will eventually go to France if he keeps being overlooked by England and he is not the only one.

[henrymilleruk]

It’s amazing for Kupoku as an individual but so gutting to hear he is getting the big bucks offer in France as I wouldn’t blame him to stay but would be so excited to see him play in England senior side one day

[jeremyfisher]

Love the pod but…. On fire! DNA! Top Bloke! The English language has a lot. Of

[johnfletcher]

The problem I foresee with players making a big proportion of their salary on royalties on merch etc is that players in some positions like fly half, kicker, etc who get longer on the ball, will get more limelight and consequently more fans and more sales and more money. The unglamorous props who have their head stuck in icky places for 70 out of 80 minutes will suffer financially as a consequence. It also incentivises people to be eccentric and show off (rather than actually play well). It’s a bit like the WWF where personalities are the commodity and the talent is secondary. Having said that, boxing has been like that for donkeys years and there’s no short of money there, so if it works for Eddie Hearn, maybe it will work for the RFU

[andreemurray]

Total waste of money the RFU are a waste of time they don't care just interested higher ticket prices

[beejallison]

Care and valuing your best players goes well beyond just pay packet so I think this def helps with this good stuff

[MattRose-fn]

I hope they're only one year deals; otherwise you'll find players, whose form is rock bottom, in the England squad... Ireland suffer from this, Peter O'Mahony is in the Ireland squad when he's 1} injured and 2} hasn't played more than 20 minutes this season. It also encourages dissent among fans, simply because a club may have more contracts.

[Munkey]

Ben Earl to shine in the Autumn Internationals...

[StopTheRot]

This looks like an issue to me. Does it mean there’s a financial incentive to pick someone on the central contract - even off form - over someone that’s not? Presumably those that aren’t on it still get a match fee. We are now in the strange position where it could, potentially, cost an extra £150, 000 to pick the form team (extreme example I know).

[Carl-sh]

Why pick 3 fly half’s in the list it’s splitting the camp there should have been a list of 25 players on the list

[Kid_Senekal]

wow, incredible amounts of money if you add the match fees and image rights (especially in SA Rands!! 😭😭😂)

[peterweston]

These contracts should not be about what you have done, but about what you are going to do in the near future right?

[beejallison]

Good move by England ..international Rugby is the biz love all the rest too tbh😊

[MikeyC]

They've held back 8 contracts, so this Autumn series is all to play for! CCS and Baxter are givens as theyve made the
23. Unfortunately some positions England are shit, which is obvious (THP&CT).

[ashleysoudah]

surprised underhill didn't get an eps contract.

[juliahawkins]

Because e.g. A prop may not be used once the younger props come through.

[DannyBy]

Lads, I’m so bored of all this open discussion around pay in rugby. Think it started with Nick Easter’s now infamous comment in the changing rooms when England were booted out of our home WC in the group stages - and it’s never left since. A decade on and it’s now become commonplace and completely distracting everyone from what the game is all about.

Not having a pop at you individually or the channel. You’re after clicks and views, and you have mine on this video. However, I’m sure I speak for many of the Northern Hemisphere’s rapidly declining fan-base when I let you know that I couldn’t give a flying fuck whether Curry, Genge or any of these lads are paid 20-25k a game, or £20. The more we glamourise salaries and bonuses (especially within a sport that ISN’T FINANCIALLY SUSTAINABLE, let’s remind ourselves of that), the less we are able to focus on captivating new audiences, re-building grass roots rugby in England and preserving the game for the future.

These lads are playing for England and deserve to get paid for doing so - great. That should be the extent of the conversation. Let’s have half a brain cell and take the conversation elsewhere towards more pressing matters.

Yours,

An England fan.

[RickONeill-]

Whatever happened to your boy who was going to be tearing up the NFL with his special rugby skills? You remember, the one who compared himself to Deebo Samuel and claimed he was running the 40 at World Record times in training? Was Jim using his special insight again, watching how players get up off the deck to determine ability? 😂😂😂