If Ealing Are The Best, What Are The Others Like?

Let’s hope that the members of the RFU Council were watching Saracens annihilate Ealing Trailfinders in the first leg of the Championship final, as the game should have removed any doubts about the need for an extension to the moratorium on promotion and relegation.

- Colin Boag

Almost everyone expected Sarries to win, but the manner of their victory was quite shocking, and rings alarm bells about the standard of the Championship.

There wasn’t a facet of the game where Ealing caused Saracens a moment’s concern: they were physical, but not physical enough, their skills were a level below what was required, and tactically they were naïve.

If Ealing are the best the Championship has to offer, then how moderate must some of the other teams be? Of course, Saracens aren’t just any Premiership side, and how would the Trailfinders have fared against Worcester, Gloucester or Newcastle? My hunch is that while the scoreline would have been closer, the result would have been the same.

The big message, however, is that the Championship is simply not fit for purpose. English rugby needs a proper second tier, and the time is right for the Championship sides, the RFU, and the Premiership to get together to see whether there is any common ground.