URC and Gallagher Prem merger: 'A lot of people want this to happen' says former Scotland star
Jim Hamilton believes the English top flight and the multi-nation competition are likely to combine in the next few years
Former Scotland player Jim Hamilton says that a merger between the United Rugby Championship and England’s Gallagher Premiership is ‘going to happen’.
The 63 times capped lock played for Edinburgh in the old ‘Magners League’ as it was known before becoming the Pro12 when Italian clubs first joined in 2011. By that time the ex-Leicester Tigers man had returned to England with Gloucester and then ended his playing career with a successful stint at Saracens after a season in France with Montpellier.
Hamilton was speaking on ‘The Rugby Pod’ alongside former England and Wales internationals Andy Goode and Dan Biggar. He commented that “a lot of people” want the merger to happen, particularly if private market managers CVC have their way.
“This for me is happening,” he said. “If anything realistically is going to happen, I can see this happening.
“I think this will happen in the next two or three years and I think the South African teams will drop out and potentially be in a Champions Cup and it will be the URC that won’t have the South African teams. Maybe that’s why the Welsh teams are holding off.”
The discussion comes on the back of reports last week that the South African Rugby Union could withdraw their clubs from the European competitions. That would mean the four teams who currently compete in the URC (Sharks, Stormers, Lions and Bulls) no longer participating in the Investec Champions Cup or EPCR Challenge Cup.
On the URC and Premiership merger, Hamilton continued: “ With CVC, I’ve spoken to someone who was involved with this deal and I’m like ‘why don’t they come out and get on a podcast?’ and they go ‘Why?’ They don’t need to do that, let it all unfold, let the house burn down a little bit more and then we’ll come in with the fire extinguishers, and we’ll tell you how it’s going to go down’.
“A lot of people want this to happen by the way, as much as there might be people coming out saying ‘we don’t want this to happen’. There’s a large majority of influential people that want a merge between the Prem and the URC without the South African teams to happen.”
Your next rugby read: Glasgow Warriors and SRU exploring potential U-turn on Murrayfield as URC final venue
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.