Stuart Barnes weighs in on the impact of the global credit crunch on the English game in his latest column for the Sunday Times
"Here we go again. The monopolists may have been quiet for a while but with a scent of blood emanating from Bristol and Newcastle the `chatter’ as Harlequins Chief Executive, Mark Evans, described it, has started all over again. It was as recently as July 1st this year that Premier Rugby and the RFU signed a deal, a part of which agreed that a twelve team league with promotion and relegation would be in place for an eight year period.
"The financial downturn has given some of the predatory clubs an opportunity to take another bite at their smaller competitors and in the process swallow the concept of opportunity for all clubs. How cruel that the excesses of our financial system would be emulated by a few men who long to secure their own fortunes at the expense of all others."
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