The takeover of Bath and the mooted departure of Worcester owner Cecil Duckworth has Shaun Edwards considering the merits of the current Premiership system, in The Guardian.
"It makes you wonder about English rugby's priorities – whether we are right in our dedication to promotion and relegation. In the past I have come down on the pro side of the argument, if only marginally. I understand the English fascination with failure – the tall poppy syndrome. For instance, where else would attention have been so concentrated on a football club like Newcastle, when a great man like Alan Shearer was doing his high-wire act, wobbling, without a safety net.
"It has always seemed right to reward the kind of industry that Duckworth put in to Worcester on their way up. The drop also produced rugby that was never dull. Look at the table today and a third of the clubs are still dodging the bullet, so with the battle for the play-off places going on at the top there will rarely be a game with nothing on it.
"However, the bottom line is whether the Premiership will be a better place next season if Worcester, Leeds, Sale or Newcastle go down and are replaced by Bristol, Exeter or any of the other eight clubs battling it out in the Championship play-offs. I know Bristol were once one of the greats and that Exeter have invested heavily, but the Premiership feels right as it is."
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